Upanishads · Mahā 6.56
॥
Devanāgarī
अतीतः सर्वभावेभ्यो वालाग्रादप्यहं तनुः इति द्वितीयो मोक्षाय निश्चयो जायते सताम्
Transliteration (IAST)
atītaḥ sarvabhāvebhyo vālāgrādapyahaṃ tanuḥ iti dvitīyo mokṣāya niścayo jāyate satām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अतीतः सर्व-भावेभ्यःatītaḥ sarva-bhāvebhyaḥ“I am beyond all states”; “I have passed beyond every disposition”
वाल-अग्रात् अपि अहम् तनुःvāla-agrāt api aham tanuḥ“I am subtler than the tip of a hair”; “I am finer than even a hair's point”
इति द्वितीयः मोक्षायiti dvitīyaḥ mokṣāyasuch is the second, toward liberation; such the second, for the sake of release
निश्चयः जायते सताम्niścayaḥ jāyate satāmthe conviction that arises in the good; the resolve that is born in the worthy
Translation
“‘I am beyond all states, I am subtler than the tip of a hair’ — such is the second conviction, arising in the good and leading to liberation.”
Version
1c263b08d19f · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second conviction is the same as the second selfhood of 5.90, and the words are the same: “subtler than the tip of a hair”.
This expression, as noted, is from the Śvetāśvatara, where the jīva's size is so described.
Note that the first of the good convictions named is precisely this one — of minuteness and distinctness, not of universality.
The order deserves marking. Before saying “I am all”, one must cease to be the body; and the first thing that opens beyond the body is not immensity but subtlety.
Atītaḥ sarva-bhāvebhyaḥ — “passed beyond all states”. Not “composed of all”.
Vaiṣṇava Vedānta rests upon this conviction, holding it not a step toward the next but true in substance: the soul is minute and distinct, and that is its eternal station.