Upaniṣads · Kṛṣṇa 2.4
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्माच्छेषादेव सर्वाणि समुत्पद्यन्ते । तस्मिन्नेव प्रलीयन्ते
Transliteración (IAST)
tasmāccheṣādeva sarvāṇi samutpadyante | tasminneva pralīyante
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
तस्मात् शेषात् एव सर्वाणिtasmāt śeṣāt eva sarvāṇifrom that very Śeṣa everything
समुत्पद्यन्तेsamutpadyanteproceeds
तस्मिन् एव प्रलीयन्तेtasmin eva pralīyantein him it dissolves
Traducción
"From that very Śeṣa everything proceeds, and in him it dissolves."
Versión
9752f3f62e21 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The line repeats the definition discussed when reading the Tārasāra (5.1): janmādy asya yataḥ, "that from which come birth and the rest" (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.2). It is worth noting that here it is applied to Śeṣa, that is, to an arrangement, not to Vāsudeva Himself. This circumstance is usual in the Pañcarātra: every arrangement has its own province, and creation and dissolution are ascribed to Saṅkarṣaṇa.
Let us add what is worth saying about the name Śeṣa itself. It means "remainder," from śiṣ, "to remain"; and in grammar the same word means "the rest," what was not included in a list. This name is technical in Vaiṣṇava theology and forms a pair: śeṣa and śeṣī, "that which belongs and the one to whom it belongs."
Rāmānuja's whole definition of the relation between soul and God is given through this pair: the soul is śeṣa, the Lord is śeṣī; that is, the soul exists for His sake, as a thing exists for its owner's sake. It is worth examining how this differs from slavery, for to the ear it sounds similar. Slavery is compulsion and therefore burdensome. Here the matter is one of nature: not "must serve," but "is thus"; and service, in this case, is not a duty but an action according to one's own constitution.
The comparison given is simple: the hand serves the body not by compulsion and not for reward, but because it is a hand; and no one considers it a slave.