Upanishads · Pañcabrahma p1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ पैप्पलादो भगवान्भो किमादौ किं जातमिति । सद्योजातमिति । किं भगव इति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha paippalādo bhagavānbho kimādau kiṃ jātamiti | sadyojātamiti | kiṃ bhagava iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ पैप्पलादः भगवन् भोatha paippalādaḥ bhagavan bhoand then Paippalāda: "Lord, O!"
किम् आदौ किं जातम् इतिkim ādau kiṃ jātam itiwhat was in the beginning, what was born
सद्योजातम् इतिsadyojātam iti"Sadyojāta"
किं भगवः इतिkiṃ bhagavaḥ iti"what [else], Lord?"
Translation
"And then Paippalāda: 'Lord! what was in the beginning, what was born?' — 'Sadyojāta.' — 'What [else], Lord?'"
Version
ad750d01ad02 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The book opens with a dialogue, and the dialogue is built as an interrogation: the questioner does not relent until everything has been named. The question is put thus: kim ādau kiṃ jātam, "what was in the beginning, what was born." The answer: Sadyojāta. This name means literally "suddenly born," from sadyas, "at once, in that very instant," and jāta, "born."
That is, the question "what was born first" is answered with a name that itself means "born instantly." The answer is witty and almost playful; and it is worth noting that the whole conversation is built this way: they ask — a face is named — they ask again. The five faces of Sadāśiva will be named in a row: Sadyojāta, Aghora, Vāmadeva, Tatpuruṣa, Īśāna. They were discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (6.21), where the five brahma-mantras were listed; here they are the subject of the whole book.
The Vaiṣṇava side does not teach five faces, and it is worth saying what she fills that place with. She has the catur-vyūha, "the fourfold arrangement": Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha; and the teaching on them is worked out in detail — who proceeds from whom, who presides over what. What the two teachings share is one thing, worth naming: one countenance appears in many forms, and these forms are not different beings. The dispute is only over whose countenance, and how many forms.
Let us add what generally lies behind such an arrangement. The one, in order to be accessible, divides itself according to the capacities of those who approach; and everyone approaches the form suited to his strength.