Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 100
॥
Devanāgarī
परमात्मेति । श्रोता मन्ता द्रष्टादेष्टा स्प्रष्टाघोष्टा विज्ञाता प्रज्ञाता सर्वेषां पुरुषाणामन्तःपुरुषः स आत्मा स विज्ञेय इति । न तत्र लोका अलोका न तत्र देवा अदेवाः
Transliteration (IAST)
paramātmeti | śrotā mantā draṣṭādeṣṭā spraṣṭāghoṣṭā vijñātā prajñātā sarveṣāṃ puruṣāṇāmantaḥpuruṣaḥ sa ātmā sa vijñeya iti | na tatra lokā alokā na tatra devā adevāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
श्रोता मन्ता द्रष्टा आदेष्टाśrotā mantā draṣṭā ādeṣṭāthe hearer, the thinker, the seer, the commander
स्प्रष्टा अघ्राताspraṣṭā aghrātāthe toucher, the smeller
विज्ञाता प्रज्ञाताvijñātā prajñātāthe knower, the perceiver
सर्वेषां पुरुषाणाम् अन्तः-पुरुषःsarveṣāṃ puruṣāṇām antaḥ-puruṣaḥthe inner Person of all persons
सः आत्मा सः विज्ञेयः इतिsaḥ ātmā saḥ vijñeyaḥ itihe is the Ātman, he is to be known
Translation
«…the highest Ātman: the hearer, the thinker, the seer, the commander, the toucher, the smeller, the knower, the perceiver; the inner Person of all persons — he is the Ātman, he is to be known. There are neither worlds nor non-worlds; there are neither gods nor non-gods**…»
Version
6c5941350498 · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is the answer to the request for «that which is devoid of distinctions», and it refutes that request in eight words in a row. Let us list them: śrotā, «hearer»; mantā, «thinker»; draṣṭā, «seer»; adeṣṭā, «commander»; spraṣṭā, «toucher»; aghrātā, «smeller»; vijñātā, «knower»; prajñātā, «perceiver». All eight are names of an agent — in Sanskrit tṛc-forms, agentive nouns ending in «-tā», denoting one who does. Not «hearing», but «the hearer»; not «knowledge», but «the knower». And the fact that of the qualityless are said, in a row, eight agentive names is an argument that cannot be sidestepped: what is devoid of distinctions has no distinction even between hearing and smelling — yet here they are listed one by one.
Of particular note is adeṣṭā, «commander, one who directs». Hearing and seeing, with great effort, could be interpreted as properties of consciousness in general; but to command means to address someone with a will, and no abstraction can bear this. One who commands has both a will and one to whom he gives commands.
And the passage is completed: sarveṣām puruṣāṇām antaḥ-puruṣaḥ, «the inner Person of all persons». Not «the inner essence of persons», not «the basis», but a Person within persons; and the word puruṣa is repeated twice, so that no doubt remains what is meant. This is the Vaishnava answer to advaita, and it is taken not from outside, but from the very book that itself asked to have the qualityless described. It asked for nirviśeṣa — it received adeṣṭā; and with this the dispute, in substance, is over.