Upanishads · Gaṇapati 1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
त्वमेव केवलं कर्तासि । त्वमेव केवलं धर्तासि । त्वमेव केवलं हर्तासि
Transliteration (IAST)
tvameva kevalaṃ kartāsi | tvameva kevalaṃ dhartāsi | tvameva kevalaṃ hartāsi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्वम् एव केवलं कर्ता असिtvam eva kevalaṃ kartā asiyou alone are the creator
त्वम् एव केवलं धर्ता असिtvam eva kevalaṃ dhartā asiyou alone are the sustainer
त्वम् एव केवलं हर्ता असिtvam eva kevalaṃ hartā asiyou alone are the taker-away
Translation
You alone are the creator, you alone are the sustainer, you alone are the taker-away.
Version
224e627537d7 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three words for three actions: kartā, dhartā, hartā — creating, sustaining, taking away. All three are names of an agent: the suffix -tṛ (as in our "creator," "giver") forms a noun from a verb and denotes the one who does. And each time they are joined with kevalam, "only, alone."
It is worth saying why this matters for our question. An abstract principle is not an agent: it is, but it does not act. Only one who has will can act; and where there is will, there is a person.
The usual objection to this is well known and must be stated. It is said: creation, preservation, and destruction are the play of forces, and "agent" is merely a manner of speaking, a concession to the simple mind. This objection answers a question with a question. If the highest does not act, then whence comes what is done? The non-dual reading's answer is that it is not done at all, but merely appears so; but then one must ask to whom it appears — and any answer to that question restores a person.
The Vaiṣṇava side distributes the three actions among three, but names one source: Brahmā creates, Viṣṇu sustains, Rudra takes away — and the Bhāgavatam says that all three are forms of the one, assumed according to the three guṇas (1.2.23). Here all three are given to one, and given with the reinforcement kevalam. Such a construction is usual in hymns and signifies not a dispute with the others, but concentration: the one praying turns to one and, for the moment, does not look aside.