Upaniṣads · Mahā 4.12
॥
Devanāgarī
निरिच्छे संस्थिते रत्ने यथा लोकः प्रवर्तते सत्तामात्रे परे तत्त्वे तथैवायं जगद्गणः
Transliteración (IAST)
niricche saṃsthite ratne yathā lokaḥ pravartate sattāmātre pare tattve tathaivāyaṃ jagadgaṇaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
निरिच्छे संस्थिते रत्नेniricche saṃsthite ratnewhen the desireless gem lies there; with the jewel abiding without wishes
यथा लोकः प्रवर्ततेyathā lokaḥ pravartatehow the people are set in motion; in what way folk come into movement
सत्ता-मात्रे परे तत्त्वेsattā-mātre pare tattveso at the supreme truth that is mere being; thus with the highest reality that is only existence
तथा एव अयम् जगत्-गणःtathā eva ayam jagat-gaṇaḥso likewise this whole host of worlds; just so this whole multitude of the world
Traducción
“As people are set in motion by a gem that itself desires nothing, so is this whole host of worlds — by the supreme truth that is mere being.”
Versión
f8559a3e3797 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The image answers the question that inevitably arises: if the Highest does not act, whence everything?
The answer: as from a gem.
The stone lies there and wants nothing — niriccha. And around it all seethes: it is sought, fought over, men sail across the sea for it. All this movement is caused by it, and not one movement has it made.
The word sattā-mātra — “mere being”. The Highest acts by the sole fact that it is.
This is an ancient and exact way of describing a causality that is not a push. Vedānta calls it presence, and the next two verses will examine it in detail.
Note that the image is not impersonal: the gem does not draw iron as a magnet does — it draws people by its worth. The cause of the movement is not force but excellence.