Upanishads · Tārasāra 2.11
॥
Devanāgarī
ओमित्येतदक्षरमिदं सर्वम् । तस्योपव्याख्यानं भूतं भव्यं भविष्यद्यच्चान्यत्तत्त्वमन्त्रवर्णदेवताछन्दो ऋक्कलाशक्तिसृष्ट्यात्मकमिति । य एवं वेद
Transliteration (IAST)
omityetadakṣaramidaṃ sarvam | tasyopavyākhyānaṃ bhūtaṃ bhavyaṃ bhaviṣyadyaccānyattattvamantravarṇadevatāchando ṛkkalāśaktisṛṣṭyātmakamiti | ya evaṃ veda
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओम् इति एतत् अक्षरम्om iti etat akṣaram'oṃ' — this syllable
इदं सर्वम्idaṃ sarvamis all this
तस्य उपव्याख्यानं भूतं भव्यंtasya upavyākhyānaṃ bhūtaṃ bhavyaṃits exposition: the past, the present
भविष्यत् यत् च अन्यत्bhaviṣyat yat ca anyatthe future, and whatever else there is
तत्त्व-मन्त्र-वर्ण-देवता-छन्दःtattva-mantra-varṇa-devatā-chandaḥthe elements, mantras, sounds, deities, meters
ऋक्-कला-शक्ति-सृष्टि-आत्मकम् इतिṛk-kalā-śakti-sṛṣṭi-ātmakam itiwhose essence is hymns, fractions, powers, and creation
Translation
«'Oṃ' — this syllable is all this. Its exposition: the past, the present, the future, and whatever else there is; and whose essence is the elements, mantras, sounds, deities, meters, hymns, fractions, powers, and creation. Whoever knows thus».
Version
b3fd693ea252 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The line is taken from the Māṇḍūkya, and its opening is verbatim: oṃ ity etad akṣaram idaṃ sarvam, tasyopavyākhyānaṃ bhūtaṃ bhavad bhaviṣyad iti sarvaṃ oṃkāra eva — "'oṃ' — this syllable is all this; its exposition: the past, the present, the future — all this is oṃkāra" (Māṇḍūkya 1). The borrowing is obvious, and so is the addition: where the Māṇḍūkya has three times, here a long list is added — elements, mantras, sounds, deities, meters, hymns, fractions, powers, creation. It is worth noting that this addition adds nothing in substance. The Māṇḍūkya said "all this"; to enumerate after "all" is to repeat.
This trait is constant in later books, and we have noted it more than once: a short formulation once found is unfolded into a list. Let us say, however, what can be said in defense of such lists. The mind passes over the word "all," for it does not stop on anything. A list detains: the listener moves through it and pauses for a moment on each item.
That is, a list is an instrument of attention, not of information, and should be judged by that measure. The Vaiṣṇava side uses lists in the same way and has a famous model: the tenth chapter of the Gītā, where Kṛṣṇa lists what He is among every category of thing — "among luminaries I am the sun, among mountains Meru, among rivers the Ganges" (10.21–34). That list ends with words worth citing, for they explain the purpose of all such lists: "but what use is this multitude to you, O Arjuna? With a single fragment of Myself I support this whole world" (10.42).
That is, the speaker himself declares the list non-essential; it was needed so that the mind would pass through the world and find one thing everywhere.