स होवाच प्रजापतिः षडक्षरं वा एतत्सुदर्शनं महाचक्रं तस्मात्षडरं भवति षट्पत्रं चक्रं भवति षड्वा ऋतव ऋतुभिः संमितं भवति मध्ये नाभिर्भवति नाभ्यां वा एतेऽराः प्रतिष्ठिता मायया एतत्सर्वं वेष्टितं भवति नात्मानं माया स्पृशति तस्मान्मायया बहिर्वेष्टितं भवति
sa hovāca prajāpatiḥ ṣaḍakṣaraṃ vā etatsudarśanaṃ mahācakraṃ tasmātṣaḍaraṃ bhavati ṣaṭpatraṃ cakraṃ bhavati ṣaḍvā ṛtava ṛtubhiḥ saṃmitaṃ bhavati madhye nābhirbhavati nābhyāṃ vā ete'rāḥ pratiṣṭhitā māyayā etatsarvaṃ veṣṭitaṃ bhavati nātmānaṃ māyā spṛśati tasmānmāyayā bahirveṣṭitaṃ bhavati
Prajāpati said: “This Sudarśana, the great circle, is of six syllables; therefore it is six-spoked and six-petalled. For the seasons are six, and by them it is measured. In the middle is the hub, and in the hub these spokes are fixed; and all this is wrapped by māyā. Māyā does not touch the Ātman — therefore it is wrapped by māyā on the outside.”
aefceeea148b · publicado 29 jul 2026, 4:39:50 UTC
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The first ring: six spokes and six petals.
The ground given is double: the six-syllable mantra of Sudarśana, and the six seasons of the Indian count — spring, summer, the rains, autumn, winter and the dews.
That is, the diagram is measured by the year. This wheel is the wheel of the year; the spokes are the seasons.
Then the hub is spoken of: nābhi, “navel, nave”. In it the spokes are fixed.
And at last that for which the paragraph is written: māyayaitat sarvaṁ veṣṭitam — “all this is wrapped by māyā”; and at once — nātmānaṁ māyā spṛśati, “māyā does not touch the Ātman”.
Here is the whole diagram in two words. Māyā lies along the rim, outside; the centre does not know her.
Note how this relates to the third Upaniṣad, where māyā was named the mantra's power and said to create, guard and withdraw. There she acted; here it is said what she does not do.
The one does not contradict the other: the power by which everything is arranged does not reach him whose power it is.