Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 26
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वाधिष्ठानमद्वन्द्वं परं ब्रह्म सनातनम् । सच्चिदानन्दरूपं तदवाङ्मनसगोचरम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvādhiṣṭhānamadvandvaṃ paraṃ brahma sanātanam | saccidānandarūpaṃ tadavāṅmanasagocaram
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-अधिष्ठानम् अ-द्वन्द्वंsarva-adhiṣṭhānam a-dvandvaṃthe universal foundation, unpaired
परं ब्रह्म सनातनम्paraṃ brahma sanātanamthe supreme brahman, eternal
सत्-चित्-आनन्द-रूपं तत्sat-cit-ānanda-rūpaṃ tatthat having the form of being, consciousness, and bliss
अ-वाक्-मनस-गोचरम्a-vāk-manasa-gocaraminaccessible to speech and mind
Translation
"The universal foundation, unpaired, the supreme brahman, eternal, having the form of being, consciousness, and bliss, inaccessible to speech and mind."
Version
7a91eab50e49 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The second half of the book begins, and its style changes: from lists and bows it turns to abstract exposition, and holds to it to the end. Here sac-cid-ānanda-rūpa, "having the form of being, consciousness, and bliss," is named — the famous formula worth discussing, for it belongs to both sides. The word rūpa, "form," stands beside it both here and in Vaiṣṇava books; and this is no accident. The formula does not say "He is being, consciousness, and bliss" in the sense of properties, but that such is His form; and so it cancels neither person nor manifestness.
The Vaiṣṇava side reads it exactly this way, and the Bhāgavatam adds to it a word absent here: vigraha, "body." Sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, "having a body of being, consciousness, and bliss" — thus it is said of Kṛṣṇa in the Brahma-saṃhitā (5.1); that is, His form is not of matter, but of the very stuff He Himself is. It is worth noting also the qualification: avāk-manasa-gocaram, "inaccessible to speech and mind." How to understand this was discussed when reading the Kāṭharudra (31–32): it speaks of our means and does not deny the object. And this very line is a witness to that: it describes what is inaccessible to speech through four definitions in a row, and does so by means of speech.