Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 1.5
॥
Devanāgarī
तामसी दैत्यपक्षेषु माया त्रेधा ह्युदाहृता । अजेया वैष्णवी माया जप्येन च सुता पुरा
Transliteration (IAST)
tāmasī daityapakṣeṣu māyā tredhā hyudāhṛtā | ajeyā vaiṣṇavī māyā japyena ca sutā purā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तामसी दैत्य-पक्षेषुtāmasī daitya-pakṣeṣuthe tāmasic — on the side of the asuras
माया त्रेधा हि उदाहृताmāyā tredhā hi udāhṛtāmāyā is thus declared threefold
अ-जेया वैष्णवी मायाa-jeyā vaiṣṇavī māyāinvincible is Viṣṇu's māyā
जप्येन च सुता पुराjapyena ca sutā purāand by repetition it was born of old
Translation
"The tāmasic is on the side of the asuras; thus māyā is declared threefold. Invincible is Viṣṇu's māyā, and by repetition it was born of old."
Version
12809991f5fb · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is said ajeyā vaiṣṇavī māyā, "invincible is Viṣṇu's māyā." It is worth noting that māyā is called Viṣṇu's: it is not an independent power and not an adversary; it belongs. Of the meaning of the possessive here it was said when reading the Jābāla-darśana (10.2), where mama māyā, "My māyā" (Gītā 7.14), was cited; there is no need to repeat the argument.
Let us add here the second word: ajeyā, "invincible." That is, it is stated directly that it cannot be overcome. This admission, to my mind, is the soberest thing that can be said about this, and it is worth voicing without softening.
A person cannot conquer the power by which the whole world is held and by which he himself is made. Every attempt to overcome it from within is an attempt to lift oneself by one's own hair. Hence everything these books say about the way out is said not in verbs of conquest but in verbs of refuge and crossing: prapadyante, "they take refuge"; taranti, "they cross over."
The Vaiṣṇava side stands on this distinction and states it in a rule worth mentioning. Liberation is attained not by a person becoming stronger than māyā, but by her receiving the order to let him go; and that order is not given by him. Let us add the word japyena, "by repetition," standing at the end of the line: even here, where invincibility is spoken of, the means named is sound, not effort.