Upanishads · Varāha 4.14
॥
Devanāgarī
पञ्चभूमिं समारुह्य सुषुप्तिपदनामिकाम् । शान्ताशेषविशेषांशस्तिष्ठत्यद्वैतमात्रके
Transliteration (IAST)
pañcabhūmiṃ samāruhya suṣuptipadanāmikām | śāntāśeṣaviśeṣāṃśastiṣṭhatyadvaitamātrake
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पञ्च-भूमिं समारुह्यpañca-bhūmiṃ samāruhyahaving ascended the fifth stage
सुषुप्ति-पद-नामिकाम्suṣupti-pada-nāmikāmnamed the place of deep sleep
शान्त-अशेष-विशेष-अंशःśānta-aśeṣa-viśeṣa-aṃśaḥwith all portions of distinction stilled without remainder
तिष्ठति अ-द्वैत-मात्रकेtiṣṭhati a-dvaita-mātrakehe stands in the non-dual alone
Translation
"Having ascended the fifth stage, named the place of deep sleep, with all portions of distinction stilled without remainder, he stands in the non-dual alone."
Version
95cc180b7f06 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fifth stage is correlated with deep sleep, and worth noting is that this likening, in these books, is high praise. We examined the argument from deep sleep when reading the second chapter (2.62) and the third (3.10); there is no need to repeat it. Let us add here something not said before, and fitting here.
If the Highest is likened to dreamless sleep, one should ask: how is it, then, better than sleep? The usual answer is: in sleep, ignorance is preserved in seed form, while here it is burned away. The answer is correct; but let us note this difference is neither observable from outside nor experienced from within: in both, there is neither content nor memory. That is, the difference must be taken on faith, whereas the whole teaching presented itself as knowledge.
From this the Vaishnava side draws its objection, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (6.35). It does not deny such a state and acknowledges it real; it denies that it is the highest. Its argument is brief: if the limit is likened to the unconscious, the limit is wrongly chosen; for the measure of fullness is not silence, but content.
And hence its own descriptions of the limit are full: there is form, companions, speech, activity; and of "those who came before," discussed when reading the Mahavakya (p19).