Upanishads · Varāha 2.45
॥
Devanāgarī
सङ्कल्पमात्रकलनेन जगत्समग्रं सङ्कल्पमात्रकलने हि जगद्विलासः । सङ्कल्पमात्रमिदमुत्सृज निर्विकल्पमाश्रित्य मामकपदं हृदि भावयस्व
Transliteration (IAST)
saṅkalpamātrakalanena jagatsamagraṃ saṅkalpamātrakalane hi jagadvilāsaḥ | saṅkalpamātramidamutsṛja nirvikalpamāśritya māmakapadaṃ hṛdi bhāvayasva
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सङ्कल्प-मात्र-कलनेनsaṅkalpa-mātra-kalanenaby the mere arising of an intention
जगत् समग्रंjagat samagraṃthe whole world
सङ्कल्प-मात्रम् इदम् उत्सृजsaṅkalpa-mātram idam utsṛjathis mere intention, abandon
निर्विकल्पम् आश्रित्यnirvikalpam āśrityahaving resorted to the indifferentiable
मामक-पदं हृदि भावयस्वmāmaka-padaṃ hṛdi bhāvayasvacontemplate my place in the heart
Translation
"By the mere arising of an intention, the whole world; in the arising of an intention is the play of the world. Abandon this mere intention and, having resorted to the indifferentiable, contemplate my place in the heart."
Version
4d0dc7fe57f6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse that cancels the prescription of the preceding one, and deserves noting. There it was commanded to abandon every reflection; here it is commanded mamaka-padam hridi bhavayasva, "contemplate my place in the heart." That is, the mind is not left empty: it is given an object, and the object is named by a first-person possessive pronoun — "my place."
This change deserves stating, for it is the very one discussed when reading verse forty-four. Emptiness is prescribed and, a line on, replaced by occupation; and this, in my view, is not carelessness but an inevitability: every teaching, once it reaches the point of prescription, is forced to give the mind something to stand on. Let us add the word mamaka-padam, "my place."
Pada means "foot, step, place"; discussed when reading the Tarasara (1.11). That is, one is told to contemplate not the self and not emptiness, but His place; and from this verse the book turns — the next two will be directly about service. Worth noting too is the first half: the world is produced by sankalpa-matra, "a mere intention."
This position is well known in Vedanta; but worth noting is whose intention is meant. If mine, the world would vanish when I sleep, discussed when reading the Panchabrahma (23). If His, the world is His intention, and what must be abandoned is not the world but one's own intention about it; and the line here, it must be said, rather admits the second reading, for it bids one abandon idam sankalpa-matram, "this intention," not every intention.