Upanishads · Varāha 2.14
॥
Devanāgarī
भासमानमिदं सर्वं मानरूपं परं पदम् । पश्यन्वेदान्तमानेन सद्य एव विमुच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
bhāsamānamidaṃ sarvaṃ mānarūpaṃ paraṃ padam | paśyanvedāntamānena sadya eva vimucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
भासमानम् इदं सर्वंbhāsamānam idaṃ sarvaṃall this shining
मान-रूपं परं पदम्māna-rūpaṃ paraṃ padamhaving the form of the measure, the highest step
पश्यन् वेदान्त-मानेनpaśyan vedānta-mānenaseeing by the measure of Vedanta
सद्यः एव विमुच्यतेsadyaḥ eva vimucyateat once is liberated
Translation
"Seeing all this shining by the measure of Vedanta — as having the form of the measure, the highest step — one is at once liberated."
Version
d35f6d34bd54 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Worth examining is the word mana, used here twice: mana-rupam and vedanta-manena. Mana means "measure, criterion"; in philosophical usage — pramana, "a means of valid knowledge." Schools count different numbers of pramanas: the Charvakas accept one (perception), Sankhya three, the Naiyayikas four, Vedanta six. But in every school of Vedanta, shabda, "word," that is, the testimony of scripture, is held the highest.
Here it is said: look upon everything vedanta-manena, "by the measure of Vedanta." That is, one is bidden to test the visible by the word, not the reverse. Worth noting is how far this diverges from our own custom. We test the word by experience: if what is said is not confirmed, we reject what is said.
Here it is the reverse: if the visible does not match what is said, the seeing is corrected. Let us say plainly what is dangerous about such an order, and what justifies it. It is dangerous in that it makes the teaching unfalsifiable: every objection from experience is deflected as an error of sight.
It is justified, however, in one case: when the object is by nature beyond the reach of experience. Of what lies beyond the senses, experience cannot testify, discussed when reading the Mahavakya (p1). The Vaishnava side holds to this order and grounds it thus: shabda is fit where the other measures are silent; and hence its commentators, when examining a disputed point, ask not "what seems to me," but "what is said."