Upanishads · Varāha 2.54
॥
Devanāgarī
ईक्षणादिप्रवेशान्ता सृष्टिरीशेन कल्पिता । जाग्रदादिविमोक्षान्तः संसारो जीवकल्पितः
Transliteration (IAST)
īkṣaṇādipraveśāntā sṛṣṭirīśena kalpitā | jāgradādivimokṣāntaḥ saṃsāro jīvakalpitaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ईक्षण-आदि-प्रवेश-अन्ताīkṣaṇa-ādi-praveśa-antāfrom 'he looked' to 'entered'
सृष्टिः ईशेन कल्पिताsṛṣṭiḥ īśena kalpitācreation is contrived by the lord
जाग्रत्-आदि-विमोक्ष-अन्तःjāgrat-ādi-vimokṣa-antaḥfrom waking to liberation
संसारः जीव-कल्पितःsaṃsāraḥ jīva-kalpitaḥthe cycle is contrived by the living being
Translation
"Creation — from 'he looked' to 'entered' — is contrived by the lord; the cycle — from waking to liberation — is contrived by the living being."
Version
72f5cd75af92 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse is curiously constructed, and deserves examination, for it divides two contrivances. Creation is ascribed to ishena kalpita, "contrived by the lord"; the cycle to jiva-kalpita, "contrived by the living being." That is, the world as a whole is His work, while captivity is ours.
This distinction is, in my view, the finest thing in this part of the chapter, and it is worth saying why. It removes the old question: if everything is from Him, then captivity too is from Him, and He is at fault. The answer given here is clear: creation is His, and bondage is ours.
The Vaishnava side holds to exactly this, and states it through the distinction of srishti and samsara: the world is created and good; the cycle is not the world, but our condition within it, arising from turning-away. Of the word vimukha, "turning-away," discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (6.37). Worth noting too is the expression ikshana-adi-pravesha-anta, "from 'he looked' to 'entered'."
This points to two passages of the Chandogya and Taittiriya: aikshata, "he looked" (Chandogya 6.2.3), and tat srishtva tad evanupravishat, "having created this, He entered into it" (Taittiriya 2.6). Of the first, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (8.9), where Vedanta-sutra 1.1.5 was cited: only a conscious being can look; of the second, when reading the Mahavakya (p15): not "made it and withdrew," but created and entered.