Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
शेषो ह वै वासुदेवात् संकर्षणो नाम जीव आसीत् । सोऽकामयत प्रजाः सृजेयेति
Transliteration (IAST)
śeṣo ha vai vāsudevāt saṃkarṣaṇo nāma jīva āsīt | so'kāmayata prajāḥ sṛjeyeti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शेषः ह वै वासुदेवात्śeṣaḥ ha vai vāsudevātŚeṣa, indeed, from Vāsudeva
संकर्षणः नाम जीवः आसीत्saṃkarṣaṇaḥ nāma jīvaḥ āsītby the name Saṅkarṣaṇa was a living being
सः अकामयत प्रजाः सृजेय इतिsaḥ akāmayata prajāḥ sṛjeya itihe desired: "let me create offspring"
Translation
"Śeṣa, indeed, from Vāsudeva was a living being by the name Saṅkarṣaṇa. He desired: 'let me create offspring.'"
Version
55fa833dab4c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The second section begins, which in this edition is the Saṅkarṣaṇa-upaniṣad appended to the Kṛṣṇa-upaniṣad. Its subject is the catur-vyūha, "the fourfold arrangement": Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha; and this teaching is the proper possession of Vaiṣṇava tradition, worked out in the Pañcarātra. It is worth setting it out briefly, for without this the line is mute.
From Vāsudeva proceeds Saṅkarṣaṇa, who presides over destruction and is linked with ahaṅkāra. From him, Pradyumna, linked with mind and creation. From him, Aniruddha, linked with intellect and preservation.
Here the order is given exactly so, and the following lines will confirm it. It is worth noting the word jīva, by which Saṅkarṣaṇa is here called: "was a living being by the name Saṅkarṣaṇa." This usage is peculiar: ordinarily jīva means a bound soul, not an arrangement of the Lord.
Here it apparently means that Saṅkarṣaṇa is the origin of all jīvas: they proceed from him, and he is their totality. The Vaiṣṇava side holds this position and distinguishes jīva-śakti from māyā-śakti: souls proceed from Him as sparks from fire, as was discussed when reading the Tārasāra (3.8). Let us add the verb akāmayata, "desired": creation begins with desire, not necessity; and the Taittirīya says the same — "let me become many" (2.6).