Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 43
॥
Devanāgarī
घटाकाशमठाकाशौ यथाकाशप्रभेदतः । कल्पितौ परमौ जीवशिवरूपेण कल्पितौ
Transliteration (IAST)
ghaṭākāśamaṭhākāśau yathākāśaprabhedataḥ | kalpitau paramau jīvaśivarūpeṇa kalpitau
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
घट-आकाश-मठ-आकाशौghaṭa-ākāśa-maṭha-ākāśauthe space of a pot and the space of a hut
यथा आकाश-प्रभेदतःyathā ākāśa-prabhedataḥas by the division of space
कल्पितौ परमौkalpitau paramauare fabricated — the supreme ones
जीव-शिव-रूपेण कल्पितौjīva-śiva-rūpeṇa kalpitauare fabricated in the forms of jīva and Śiva
Translation
"As the space of a pot and the space of a hut are fabricated by the division of space — so the supreme ones are fabricated in the forms of jīva and Śiva."
Version
c47cc3fdd2bf · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Again space in a pot; this likeness was discussed when reading the Tripurā-tāpanī (108), and both objections were given there. Let me add here one, relevant to this version of the likeness, for here it is set differently. Here two bounded spaces are compared: in a pot and in a hut. That is, the likeness is no longer "brahman and the jīva," but "the jīva and Śiva" — both are called fabricated, and both are supposedly partitions within one.
This consistency does credit to its composer: if the differences are illusory, then it is illusory too that Śiva is Śiva. Many stop halfway at this point and declare only the soul illusory, leaving God untouched; here both are reduced to partitions. But this makes the chief difficulty all the clearer. If Śiva too is only space in a hut, then there is no one and no reason to shine as a witness (42), no one and no reason to give the supreme science (36), and no reason to go to him (37). The book itself said all this, and said it about someone.
The Vaiṣṇava answer to this image, besides the two already given, consists in a simple observation. The space in a pot and in a hut is indeed one — because space does nothing. It does not look, does not give, does not show mercy, does not remember. But of everything listed in this book, verbs are said: shines, gives, leads, looks; and the likeness with space fails at this point.