Upanishads · Parabrahma 4
॥
Devanāgarī
येन सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव । तत्सूत्रं धारयेद्योगी योगविद्ब्राह्मणो यतिः
Transliteration (IAST)
yena sarvamidaṃ protaṃ sūtre maṇigaṇā iva | tatsūtraṃ dhārayedyogī yogavidbrāhmaṇo yatiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
येन सर्वम् इदं प्रोतंyena sarvam idaṃ protaṃby which all this is strung
सूत्रे मणि-गणाः इवsūtre maṇi-gaṇāḥ ivaas clusters of gems on a thread
तत् सूत्रं धारयेत् योगीtat sūtraṃ dhārayet yogīlet the yogi wear that thread
योग-वित् ब्राह्मणः यतिःyoga-vit brāhmaṇaḥ yatiḥthe knower of yoga, the brahmin, the ascetic
Translation
By which all this is strung, as clusters of gems on a thread — let the yogi wear that thread, the knower of yoga, the brahmin, the ascetic.
Version
b0fdc014b105 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An image is given that is among the most beloved in Vaiṣṇava books: sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva, "like gems on a thread." It is taken almost word for word from the Gītā: "there is nothing higher than Me, O Winner of Wealth; on Me all this is strung, as pearls on a thread" (7.7). Let us examine the image, for it explains much. Gems on a thread: they are many, they are different, they are seen; the thread is one, and almost unseen. The gems do not turn into the thread and do not disappear into it; but neither do they hold together by themselves — remove the thread, and they scatter.
This is exactly the precise description of what we assert. The world is neither He nor without Him; the beings are real and distinct, and all hang on one. It is worth noting also that this image cannot possibly be read in favor of identity, and so it occurs less often in such literature than the others. One cannot say "the gems are the thread": there would be no necklace then. Yet here it is given, and given in a book that has just rejected both difference and non-difference (1.14); and this proximity suggests that the author was seeking a third — and found it in an image rather than an argument.