Upaniṣads · Śvetāśvatara 5.10
॥
Devanāgarī
नैव स्त्री न पुमान् एष न चैवायं नपुंसकः ।
यद् यच् छरीरम् आदत्ते तेन तेन स युज्यते
Transliteración (IAST)
naiva strī na pumān eṣa na caivāyaṃ napuṃsakaḥ /
yad yac charīram ādatte tena tena sa yujyate
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
न एव स्त्रीna eva strīnot a woman; by no means a wife
न पुमान्na pumānnot a man; and not a husband
एषःeṣaḥthis one; this soul
न च एव अयम्na ca eva ayamand neither is this; and not at all
नपुंसकःnapuṃsakaḥof neuter kind; sexless
यत् यत् शरीरम्yat yat śarīramwhatever body; that body which
आदत्तेādatteit takes on; it takes to itself
तेन तेनtena tenawith that very one; with just that
सः युज्यतेsaḥ yujyateit is joined; it comes to be bound
Traducción
It is not a woman, not a man, and not of neuter kind: whatever body it takes on, with that it is joined.
Versión
eaa06213f40d · publicado 28 jul 2026, 14:13:46 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The mantra says that sex belongs to the body, not to the soul. The soul takes a body — and with it receives everything that goes with a body: appearance, sex, age, social station.
The word ādatte, "takes on, takes to itself", matters: it implies that the body is given not at random but according to deeds, as the next mantra will say outright. But the taker of a body does not become the body; it is "joined" with it, yujyate — the same root as in "yoga". The bond is close, but it is the bond of two, not an identity.
The practical consequence is great, and the Upaniṣad draws it without any pathos. If sex belongs to the garment and not to the wearer, then everything we take ourselves to be on the strength of the body is a role for a term. Yet the text does not counsel contempt for the body: at 2.13 bodily signs are named the first marks of yoga, and at 1.14 the body is called the lower araṇi, without which no fire can be got.
And one more thing: by the same stroke every notion that someone is nearer to God by a bodily mark is annulled. At 4.3 it was already said, "Thou art woman and Thou art man; Thou art a boy or a girl"; here the same thought is said from the soul's side.