Upaniṣads · Mahāvākya p5
॥
Devanāgarī
तमो हि शारीरप्रपञ्चमाब्रह्मस्थावरान्तमनन्ताखिलाजाण्डभूतम्
Transliteración (IAST)
tamo hi śārīraprapañcamābrahmasthāvarāntamanantākhilājāṇḍabhūtam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
तमः हि शारीर-प्रपञ्चम्tamaḥ hi śārīra-prapañcamfor darkness is the bodily world
आ-ब्रह्म-स्थावर-अन्तम्ā-brahma-sthāvara-antamfrom Brahmā to the immovable
अनन्त-अखिल-अज-अण्ड-भूतम्ananta-akhila-aja-aṇḍa-bhūtaminfinite, all, having become the unborn egg
Traducción
«For darkness is the bodily world — from Brahmā to the immovable, infinite, all, having become the unborn egg.»
Versión
a9f8cd88af27 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Darkness is defined: śarīra-prapañca, “the bodily world,” and moreover the whole of it — ā-brahma-sthāvara-antam, “from Brahmā to the immovable.” This phrase is fixed in Indian books and means the whole ladder of beings: from the creator above to stone and grass below. Note that darkness is here not sin or ignorance, but embodiment as such: everything that has a body, Brahmā included.
This definition is stark, and it is worth saying where it is true and where insufficient. It is true in that it makes no exceptions. It is usually thought that higher beings are free; here it is said that even Brahmā is in the same position, for he too has a body and a term.
The Vaiṣṇava side confirms this and cites the words of Prahlāda, already quoted reading the Jābāla-darśana (2.6): “I have seen that even Brahmā comes to an end” (Bhāgavatam 7.9.24–25). It is insufficient in that it calls the whole world darkness, drawing no distinction within it. Here the Vaiṣṇava side does distinguish, and the distinction matters. The world is His power, śakti; darkness, however, is not the world, but the turning toward it as one's own. The Gītā speaks of three guṇas and calls darkness one of the three, tamas, not all of matter (14.8).
This difference is worth stating. If the whole world is dark, all that remains is to flee it. If only a certain aspect of it is dark, what remains is to discern; and discernment is harder than flight, but more fruitful.