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Upaniṣads · Dattātreya 1.3
॥
Devanāgarī
वटबीजस्थमिव दत्तबीजस्थं सर्वं जगत् । एतदैवाक्षरं व्याख्यातम्
Transliteración (IAST)
vaṭabījasthamiva dattabījasthaṃ sarvaṃ jagat | etadaivākṣaraṃ vyākhyātam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
वट-बीज-स्थम् इवvaṭa-bīja-stham ivaas in the seed of the banyan
दत्त-बीज-स्थंdatta-bīja-sthaṃin the seed of Datta stands
सर्वं जगत्sarvaṃ jagatthe whole world
एतत् एव अक्षरंetat eva akṣaraṃthis very syllable
व्याख्यातम्vyākhyātamhas been explained
Traducción
«As [a tree] stands in the seed of the banyan, so the whole world stands in the seed of Datta. This syllable has been explained».
Versión
6945a55349d1 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
A comparison with vaṭa-bīja, “the banyan seed,” is given, and it is one of the most famous in Indian literature; it deserves examination. The banyan is a vast tree, spreading by aerial roots into whole groves; and its seed is tiny, the size of a pinhead. This comparison stands in the Chāndogya (6.12), and the story there is worth citing in full.
Uddālaka tells his son Śvetaketu to bring a fruit of the banyan. — “Break it open.” — “I have broken it.” — “What do you see?” — “Seeds, very small.” — “Break one open.” — “I have broken it.” — “What do you see?” — “Nothing, revered one.”
And the father says: yato vai somyaitām animānaṃ na nibhālayase, etasyā vai somyaiṣo'nimna evaṃ mahān nyagrodhas tiṣṭhati — “that subtlety which you do not see, dear one — from it this great banyan stands.” And he adds: sa ya eṣo'ṇimā aitadātmyam idaṃ sarvaṃ tat satyaṃ sa ātmā tat tvam asi. That is, one of the four great sayings stands here, and it is worth noting at what point it stands.
It stands within a comparison where the invisible contains the visible; and the Vaiṣṇava reading of this passage was cited reading the Mahāvākya. Let us repeat the main point: tat tvam asi is said nine times in a row, each time with a new comparison; and every comparison speaks of the relation of source and issue, not of identity. The seed and the tree are not one: the seed is gone once the tree exists, and the tree is not the seed.
Their link is a link of origin; and this is exactly what the Vaiṣṇava side calls śakti-pariṇāma: it is not He who is transformed, but His power.