उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 5.15
॥
देवनागरी
न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्रतारकं नेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतो ऽयम् अग्निः ।
तम् एव भान्तम् अनु भाति सर्वं तस्य भासा सर्वम् इदं विभाति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
na tatra sūryo bhāti na candratārakaṃ nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto 'yam agniḥ /
tam eva bhāntam anu bhāti sarvaṃ tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṃ vibhāti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
नnanot; no
तत्रtatrathere; in Him
सूर्यःsūryaḥthe sun; Sūrya
भातिbhātishines; is radiant
नnanot; no
चन्द्रतारकम्candratārakamthe moon with the stars (candra-tāraka); the light of moon and stars; the moon and the stars
नnanot; no
इमाःimāḥthese; the present
विद्युतःvidyutaḥthe lightnings (vidyut); the flashes; the gleams
भान्तिbhāntithey shine; they are radiant
कुतःkutaḥwhence then; still less
अयम्ayamthis; the present
अग्निःagniḥfire; Agni
तम्tamHis; Him
एवevaindeed; only
भान्तम्bhāntamthe Shining One (participle of √bhā); the Luminous; the Radiant
अनुanuin succession; after
भातिbhātishines; is radiant
सर्वम्sarvamall; entirely
तस्यtasyaHis; from Him
भासाbhāsāby the light (bhās — 'radiance'); by the radiance; by the beam
सर्वम्sarvamall; entirely
इदम्idamthis; the present
विभातिvibhātiis radiant; is manifested
अनुवाद
There the sun does not shine, nor the moon with the stars, nor these lightnings — how much less this fire! Everything shines only after Him, the Shining One: by His light all this is illumined.
संस्करण
ea6e48496635 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
An answer that has become a hymn of the whole Indian tradition. na tatra sūryo bhāti — "there the sun does not shine": there, in His presence, the sun is not the shining but the lit; na candra-tārakam — nor the moon with the stars; nemā vidyuto bhānti — nor these lightnings ("these" — the ones that have just flashed, the brightest of visible things); kuto 'yam agniḥ — "how much less this fire" — the household flame, man's pride.
tam eva bhāntam anu bhāti sarvam — "everything shines only after Him, the Shining One": anu — "after, following": the luminaries are not sources but mirrors; the whole ladder of the world's lights — sun, moon, lightning, fire — borrows from One. tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti — "by His light all this shines": the day, and the intellect, and beauty, and the very possibility of seeing. The answer to the pupil's question (verse 100) is given with a surplus: He is not merely self-luminous — He is the only Self-luminous; all the rest is bhāti anu, a reflection.
This verse the Kaṭha shares with the Muṇḍaka and the Śvetāśvatara, and the Gītā (15.6, 15.12) applies it to the Lord's abode and to His radiance: yad āditya-gataṁ tejo… — "the splendour that is in the sun, lighting the whole world, and that in the moon and in fire — know it to be Mine". For one who walks the path of devotion this is no astronomy of the heavens — it is the recognition of a Face: behind every beauty of light to seek the Shining One; the world is a stained-glass window, and once you have seen the Light behind the panes you can no longer look at the window as before.