Upanishads · Pañcabrahma 9
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वसौभाग्यदं नॄणां सर्वकर्मफलप्रदम् । अष्टाक्षरसमायुक्तमष्टपत्रान्तरस्थितम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvasaubhāgyadaṃ nṝṇāṃ sarvakarmaphalapradam | aṣṭākṣarasamāyuktamaṣṭapatrāntarasthitam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-सौभाग्य-दं नॄणांsarva-saubhāgya-daṃ nṝṇāṃgiving every good fortune to people
सर्व-कर्म-फल-प्रदम्sarva-karma-phala-pradamgiving the fruit of every deed
अष्ट-अक्षर-समायुक्तम्aṣṭa-akṣara-samāyuktamjoined with eight syllables
अष्ट-पत्र-अन्तर-स्थितम्aṣṭa-patra-antara-sthitamdwelling within eight petals
Translation
"Giving every good fortune to people, giving the fruit of every deed; joined with eight syllables, dwelling within eight petals."
Version
350202cd3491 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is worth noting aṣṭa-patra, "eight petals": what is meant is the lotus of the heart, depicted as eight-petaled. The image of the lotus in the heart is most ancient in the upaniṣads and goes back to the Chāndogya, where it is said: "in this city of brahman there is a small dwelling in the shape of a lotus, and within it a small space" (8.1.1). The book will return to this passage in the thirty-fifth verse.
It is worth saying about the image itself, for it is chosen precisely. A lotus opens: closed at night, open by day. And the heart in these books is described the same way — now closed, now open; and its opening is not produced by force but occurs in the light.
The Vaiṣṇava side holds this image and uses it constantly. Her books speak of hṛdaya-granthi, "the knot of the heart," which is untied; and the Bhāgavatam promises: "the knot of the heart is cut, all doubts are sundered, and the chain of deeds is exhausted, when He is seen" (1.2.21). It is worth examining the order in this verse, for it is telling. First — dṛṣṭe hy ātmani pareśvare, "when the Supreme is seen in the self"; and only then — the knot, the doubts, the deeds.
That is, the untying is a consequence of seeing, not a preparation for it. Let us add what follows from this for a person who undertakes to untangle himself on his own. To untie the knot from within is hard, for the knot is itself the one who unties. Hence in her practice one is not advised to begin with oneself: one is advised to begin with listening, and to leave the untangling to the one from outside.