Upanishads · Tārasāra 3.13
॥
Devanāgarī
तद्विष्णोः परमं पदं सदा पश्यन्ति सूरयः । दिवीव चक्षुराततम् । तद्विप्रासो विपन्यवो जागृवांसः समिन्धते । विष्णोर्यत्परमं पदम् ॥ इत्युपनिषत्
Transliteration (IAST)
tadviṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padaṃ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ | divīva cakṣurātatam | tadviprāso vipanyavo jāgṛvāṃsaḥ samindhate | viṣṇoryatparamaṃ padam || ityupaniṣat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् विष्णोः परमं पदंtat viṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padaṃthat highest place of Viṣṇu
सदा पश्यन्ति सूरयःsadā paśyanti sūrayaḥthe wise always see
दिवि इव चक्षुः आततम्divi iva cakṣuḥ ātatamas an eye stretched across the sky
तत् विप्रासः विपन्यवःtat viprāsaḥ vipanyavaḥthat, the inspired, the praising
जागृवांसः समिन्धतेjāgṛvāṃsaḥ samindhatewakeful, kindle
Translation
«That highest place of Viṣṇu the wise always see, as an eye stretched across the sky. That the inspired, praising brahmins, wakeful, kindle — the highest place of Viṣṇu. Such is the upaniṣad».
Version
aff85b3172af · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The book ends with two verses of the Ṛgveda (1.22.20–21), the most famous lines about Viṣṇu in all Vedic literature. Let us examine them, for every word here matters. Tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam, "that highest place of Viṣṇu." The word pada means "foot," "footprint," "place"; and in the hymn it denotes Viṣṇu's third step — the one by which he surpassed heaven, and which, according to the Ṛgveda, "not even the birds in flight see."
Sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ, "the wise always see." The verb is in the present tense: not "will see someday," but see continually. Divi iva cakṣur ātatam, "as an eye stretched across the sky": a comparison with the sun, which is the eye of heaven and visible to all.
This comparison deserves examination, for it is precise. The sun does not hide; it is open, and only one who has closed his eyes or gone indoors fails to see it. That is, the highest place is called not hidden, but manifest; and the difficulty lies not in it, but in the one looking.
The second verse adds three qualities to those who see this: viprāsaḥ ("the inspired"), vipanyavaḥ ("the praising"), jāgṛvāṃsaḥ ("the wakeful"). The last deserves noting. The condition named is not austerity, not learning, and not renunciation, but — not sleeping.
The verb samindhate, "kindle," is taken from the practice of the sacrificial fire: they fan it, that is, sustain it so it does not go out. Let us now look back over the whole book and say what is in it. It is short and structured as an ascent that ends unexpectedly. First — that every place is Kurukṣetra (1.1). Then — an analysis of the eight-syllabled name, in which all three are named: I, matter, Him (1.7). Then — an analysis of oṃ into eight parts, moving from sound to the fading of sound, and from fading to the inaudible. And at the top of this most abstract ladder are found not emptiness, but two: Sītā and Rāma (2.10).
It also has a passage that alone must be read against its letter — "I am Rāma" (3.10); and it is analyzed there too, by the word of the line itself: it ends with homage. There is also what is worth remembering apart from the disputes: the bear and the monkey standing first in the set of eight (3.2–3.3); the servant of the servant, to whom the dot fell (3.5); the purification of the lineage in both directions (3.12); and these last lines, where the condition of seeing is named wakefulness.