Upanishads · Kaṭharudra 20
॥
Devanāgarī
मनोमयेन प्राणोऽपि तथा पूर्णः स्वभावतः । तथा मनोमयो ह्यात्मा पूर्णो ज्ञानमयेन तु
Transliteration (IAST)
manomayena prāṇo'pi tathā pūrṇaḥ svabhāvataḥ | tathā manomayo hyātmā pūrṇo jñānamayena tu
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मनः-मयेन प्राणः अपिmanaḥ-mayena prāṇaḥ apiand breath, with the mental
तथा पूर्णः स्वभावतःtathā pūrṇaḥ svabhāvataḥis likewise full, by nature
तथा मनः-मयः हि आत्माtathā manaḥ-mayaḥ hi ātmāso too the self of mind
पूर्णः ज्ञान-मयेन तुpūrṇaḥ jñāna-mayena tuis full with the one of discernment
Translation
And breath, with the mental one, is likewise full, by nature; so too the self of mind is full with the one of discernment.
Version
70302f5788d8 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The chain continues: breath is full with mind, mind is full with discernment. And to every link is added svabhāvataḥ, "by nature." This word matters. Not "by chance," not "as it happened to work out," but by nature — that is, it could not be otherwise. Breath without mind is not the breath of a living being: it becomes bellows. Mind without discernment is not mind: it becomes mere whirling.
It is worth noting the order, and that it is not arbitrary. Every outer sheath is alive by what is within it, and dies without it; while the inner remains itself without the outer. Breath without a body is conceivable; a body without breath is a corpse. Mind without breath is conceivable; breath without mind is the working of bellows.
Hence the conclusion the whole mapping leads to, and it is worth voicing: the more inward, the more independent. And so one must seek oneself not where it is more visible, but where it is deeper. The Vaiṣṇava side carries this series to its end differently than the Advaitic one, and the difference is in the last step. There, the series ends with the inward turning out to be the only one; here, with the innermost turning out to be not one's own: at the very depth of a person is found not himself, but the One who holds him. The Gītā says: "the Lord dwells in the heart of all beings" (18.61); and this is not the fifth sheath, but the One with whom even it is filled.