Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 113
॥
Devanāgarī
परायणम् । सर्वाणि ह वा इमानि भूतान्याकाशादेव जायन्ते । आकाश एव लीयन्ते । तस्मादेव जातानि जीवन्ति । तस्मादाकाशजं बीजं विन्द्यात् । तदेवाकाशपीठं स्पार्शनं पीठं
Transliteration (IAST)
parāyaṇam | sarvāṇi ha vā imāni bhūtānyākāśādeva jāyante | ākāśa eva līyante | tasmādeva jātāni jīvanti | tasmādākāśajaṃ bījaṃ vindyāt | tadevākāśapīṭhaṃ spārśanaṃ pīṭhaṃ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्वाणि भूतानि आकाशात् एव जायन्तेsarvāṇi bhūtāni ākāśāt eva jāyanteall these beings are born of space alone
आकाशे एव लीयन्तेākāśe eva līyanteand dissolve in space itself
तस्मात् एव जातानि जीवन्तिtasmāt eva jātāni jīvantiborn of it, the living live
तस्मात् आकाश-जं बीजं विन्द्यात्tasmāt ākāśa-jaṃ bījaṃ vindyāthence let him find the seed born of space
तत् एव आकाश-पीठंtat eva ākāśa-pīṭhaṃthat indeed is the seat of space
Translation
«All these beings are born of space alone, and dissolve in space itself; born of it, the living live. Hence let him find the seed born of space; that indeed is the seat of space, the seat of touch…»
Version
7b9d3bd655f3 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A discourse on space as that from which everything is born and into which everything departs is cited; and this is almost word for word the Taittirīya (3.1), with its famous test: from what beings are born, by what they live, and into what they depart — that is Brahman. This measure is excellent and deserves being remembered: source, sustenance, return. Three questions, and the highest is that which answers all three at once.
Here the answer given is ākāśa, «space» — the subtlest of the five elements, from which, in this scheme, wind, fire, water, and earth proceed. This answer, in the Taittirīya, is not the final one, however: there Bhṛgu ascends from food to breath, from breath to mind, from mind to discernment, and only then to bliss — and it is ānanda, «bliss», not space, that is named the highest. The difference matters, and deserves being spoken out. Space is what everything is placed within; bliss is what everything is done for. The first answers the question «where», the second the question «for what»; and a book that has stopped at space has stopped halfway.
Hence the Vaishnava reading is not satisfied with subtlety of principle. The subtlest is not the highest: space is subtler than earth, but it wants nothing and loves no one, and by it one can explain the structure of the world, but not why the world is dear to someone.