Upaniṣads · Pañcabrahma 16
॥
Devanāgarī
पञ्चकृत्यनियन्तारं पञ्चब्रह्मात्मकं बृहत् । पञ्चब्रह्मोपसंहारं कृत्वा स्वात्मनि संस्थितः
Transliteración (IAST)
pañcakṛtyaniyantāraṃ pañcabrahmātmakaṃ bṛhat | pañcabrahmopasaṃhāraṃ kṛtvā svātmani saṃsthitaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
पञ्च-कृत्य-नियन्तारंpañca-kṛtya-niyantāraṃruling the five deeds
पञ्च-ब्रह्म-आत्मकं बृहत्pañca-brahma-ātmakaṃ bṛhatconsisting of the five brahmans, the great
पञ्च-ब्रह्म-उपसंहारंpañca-brahma-upasaṃhāraṃhaving gathered the five brahmans back
कृत्वा स्व-आत्मनि संस्थितःkṛtvā sva-ātmani saṃsthitaḥHe established Himself in His own self
Traducción
"Ruling the five deeds, consisting of the five brahmans, the great; having gathered the five brahmans back, He established Himself in His own self."
Versión
dbc70ed26391 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here is the line toward which the whole mapping was leading: the five faces are gathered back, and one remains. Pañca-kṛtya, "the five deeds," are, in the Śaiva reckoning: creation, preservation, destruction, concealment, and grace (anugraha). It is worth noting the fifth, for it is a peculiarity of this reckoning and deserves respect.
The usual triad — creation, preservation, destruction — is an inventory of the world's mechanism. Adding concealment and grace shifts the discourse to relationship: He conceals Himself, and He reveals Himself. That is, into the very list of cosmic deeds is inserted what is done not to the world but to us.
The Vaiṣṇava side has no such fivefold reckoning, but she knows both added things and names them in her own words: tirobhāva ("concealment") and āvirbhāva ("manifestation"), discussed when reading the Mahāvākya (p10); and kṛpā, "grace." Let us add what follows from the joining of these two and is worth voicing. If concealment is His deed, then His invisibility is not our defect and not His absence: it is an action. He is hidden because He hides.