Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 9.2
॥
Devanāgarī
ऊर्ध्वरेतं विश्वरूपं विरूपाक्षं महेश्वरम् । सोऽहमित्यादरेणैव ध्यायेदोगीश्वरेश्वरम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ūrdhvaretaṃ viśvarūpaṃ virūpākṣaṃ maheśvaram | so'hamityādareṇaiva dhyāyedogīśvareśvaram
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ऊर्ध्व-रेतं विश्व-रूपंūrdhva-retaṃ viśva-rūpaṃupward-seeded, universal-formed
विरूप-अक्षं महेश्वरम्virūpa-akṣaṃ maheśvaramodd-eyed, the great Lord
सः अहम् इति आदरेण एवsaḥ aham iti ādareṇa eva'He am I' — with reverence
ध्यायेत् योगि-ईश्वर-ईश्वरम्dhyāyet yogi-īśvara-īśvaramlet him contemplate the lord of the lords of yogis
Translation
"Upward-seeded, universal-formed, odd-eyed, the great Lord — 'He am I' — let him contemplate, with reverence, the lord of the lords of yogis."
Version
d1173878e38a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A contemplation of a form is given, and this form is Shaiva: urdhva-reta ("upward-seeded," that is, celibate), virupaksha ("odd-eyed," three-eyed). But so'ham iti, "He am I," is added — and this combination deserves examination, for it is the knot of the whole dispute. So'ham is the famous formula of nondualist contemplation: "He — I"; some read it as hamsa, "swan," by the sound of the breath.
It is worth looking, however, at the word standing beside it: adarena, "with reverence." Adara means "reverence, respect, attentiveness toward someone"; and it requires there to be someone to whom it is directed. The combination comes out thus: contemplate with reverence that He is you.
This combination cannot be reduced to a single sense, and here lies the whole matter. One cannot revere oneself; reverence, by its very structure, is directed at another. The Vaishnava side points to such places constantly, and does not reinterpret them, but reads them as they stand: since one line contains both identity and reverence, identity here does not cancel relation.
The explanation it gives is the same achintya-bheda-abheda discussed when reading the Ganapati (1.3): one in substance, two in person. Let us add that there is a simple correspondence to this in experience. A person says of a friend "we are one" — and at the same time addresses him as "you," respects him, and can offend him. Neither of the two cancels the other; and it occurs to no one to declare one of them an accommodation for the incapable.