Upanishads · Pañcabrahma 15
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वदेवमयं शान्तं शान्त्यतीतं स्वराद्बहिः । अकारादिस्वराध्यक्षमाकाशमयविग्रहम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvadevamayaṃ śāntaṃ śāntyatītaṃ svarādbahiḥ | akārādisvarādhyakṣamākāśamayavigraham
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-देव-मयं शान्तंsarva-deva-mayaṃ śāntaṃconsisting of all gods, peaceful
शान्ति-अतीतं स्वरात् बहिःśānti-atītaṃ svarāt bahiḥhaving transcended peace, beyond sound
अ-कार-आदि-स्वर-अध्यक्षम्a-kāra-ādi-svara-adhyakṣamoverseeing the sounds beginning with "a"
आकाश-मय-विग्रहम्ākāśa-maya-vigrahamwhose body is space itself
Translation
"Consisting of all gods, peaceful, having transcended peace, [existing] beyond sound; overseeing the sounds beginning with 'a'; whose body is space itself."
Version
7e592b993589 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is worth noting the phrase śāntaṃ śānti-atītam, "peaceful, having transcended peace." That is, it is said of Him both that He is peaceful and that He is beyond peacefulness. This device is constant in the upaniṣads, and we met it in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka: asthūlo'naṇu, "neither coarse nor fine" (3.8.8).
It is worth examining what it accomplishes. It takes from a definition its opposite: having said "peaceful," one immediately adds "and not only that," so it is not thought that He is peaceful in the sense that a calmed person is peaceful. This device is honest and necessary; but it has a limit, and the limit is worth naming.
If "and beyond that" is added to every definition, then in the end not a single affirmation remains; and there is nothing left to speak of. The Vaiṣṇava side names this limit and distinguishes two kinds of definitions. The first — by nature: infinite, beginningless, omnipresent. To these, adding "and beyond that" is fitting, for we take these words from the experience of the finite.
The second — by relation: merciful, receiving, hearing, answering. To these, adding "and beyond that" is meaningless, for a relation either exists or it does not; "beyond mercy" means nothing. Hence her books give few definitions of the first kind and many of the second; and her whole theology is, in essence, a list of what He does in relation to us.