Upanishads · Varāha 3.11
॥
Devanāgarī
दिनकरकिरणैर्हि शार्वरं तमो निबिडतरं झटिति प्रणाशमेति । घनतरभवकारणं तमो यद्धरिदिनकृत्प्रभया न चान्तरेण
Transliteration (IAST)
dinakarakiraṇairhi śārvaraṃ tamo nibiḍataraṃ jhaṭiti praṇāśameti | ghanatarabhavakāraṇaṃ tamo yaddharidinakṛtprabhayā na cāntareṇa
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दिन-कर-किरणैः हि शार्वरं तमःdina-kara-kiraṇaiḥ hi śārvaraṃ tamaḥby the rays of the day-maker, the darkness of night
निबिडतरं झटिति प्रणाशम् एतिnibiḍataraṃ jhaṭiti praṇāśam etithickest, perishes at once
घन-तर-भव-कारणं तमः यत्ghana-tara-bhava-kāraṇaṃ tamaḥ yatthe darkness, however, that is the cause of the thickest existence
हरि-दिनकृत्-प्रभया न च अन्तरेणhari-dinakṛt-prabhayā na ca antareṇaby the light of Hari-the-sun, and not otherwise
Translation
"By the rays of the day-maker, the thickest darkness of night perishes at once; but the darkness that is the cause of the thickest existence [perishes] by the light of Hari-the-sun, and not otherwise."
Version
8e4f20f1f3db · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse where the book turns and now speaks directly: the darkness of the cycle perishes hari-dinakrit-prabhaya na cha antarena, "by the light of Hari-the-sun, and not otherwise." Two words deserve noting. Hari — a name of Vishnu; na cha antarena — "and not otherwise," that is, excluding every other means.
That is, after forty verses on undivided consciousness, a name is named, and it is declared there is no other path. Let us compare to the Shvetashvatara, where the same exclusion stands: nanyah pantha vidyate'yanaya, "there is no other path to the goal" (3.8); discussed when reading the Mahavakya (p17). Let us add an examination of the comparison, for it is sensibly built.
It is said: the darkness of night perishes at once from the sun's rays. This detail matters: darkness does not diminish gradually and does not struggle — it vanishes all at once, for it never was a thing. We examined this when reading the Mahavakya (p8): one does not fight darkness, one disperses it; and a person warring with his own faults is warring with an absence.
Let us add something else in the comparison worth saying. The sun does not come at our call: it rises of itself, and all that depends on us is not to sit in a closed room. And of the shutters, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (10.9).