Upaniṣads · Mahā 5.10
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रथमं चेतनं यत्स्यादनाख्यं निर्मलं चितः भविष्यच्चित्तजीवादिनामशब्दार्थभाजनम्
Transliteración (IAST)
prathamaṃ cetanaṃ yatsyādanākhyaṃ nirmalaṃ citaḥ bhaviṣyaccittajīvādināmaśabdārthabhājanam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
प्रथमम् चेतनम् यत् स्यात्prathamam cetanam yat syātthat first sentience which may be; the first awareness, such as it is
अनाख्यम् निर्मलम् चितःanākhyam nirmalam citaḥnameless, stainless, from consciousness; unnamed, immaculate, out of the conscious
भविष्यत्-चित्त-जीव-आदिbhaviṣyat-citta-jīva-ādiof the future mind, jīva and the rest; of the coming consciousness, soul and so forth
नाम-शब्द-अर्थ-भाजनम्nāma-śabda-artha-bhājanamthe vessel of names, words and meanings; the receptacle of designations, words and senses
Traducción
“That first sentience, nameless and stainless, proceeding from consciousness — the vessel of the future names and meanings: ‘mind’, ‘jīva’ and the rest.”
Versión
6e11eec1d5b6 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The first step of ignorance, and it is remarkable in that there is as yet nothing bad in it.
It is anākhya — “nameless” — and nirmala — “stainless”.
Why then ignorance? Because it is bhājana — “a vessel, a receptacle” for what is to come: for “mind”, “jīva”, for all names and distinctions.
That is, it is not an error but the possibility of error. A seed.
Hence the name in the next verse: bīja-jāgrat, “seed-waking”.
Note the fine point. The book does not count the very existence of a separate consciousness a fall. The fall will begin when this consciousness takes a name and starts to consider itself “this”.
Compare 5.2: freedom is abiding in one's own nature; bondage is the sense of “I”. Here it is shown where the sense of “I” comes from: first there must be somewhere to put it.