उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 6.1
॥
देवनागरी
ऊर्ध्वमूलो अवाक्शाख एषो ऽश्वत्थः सनातनः ।
तद् एव शुक्रं तद् ब्रह्म तद् एवामृतम् उच्यते ।
तस्मिंल् लोकाः श्रिताः सर्वे तद् उ नात्येति कश्चन ॥
एतद् वै तत्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
ūrdhvamūlo avākśākha eṣo 'śvatthaḥ sanātanaḥ /
tad eva śukraṃ tad brahma tad evāmṛtam ucyate /
tasmiṃl lokāḥ śritāḥ sarve tad u nātyeti kaścana //
etad vai tat
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
ऊर्ध्वमूलःūrdhvamūlaḥwith its root above (ūrdhva-mūla); rooted in the Height; upward-rooted
अवाक्शाखःavākśākhaḥwith its branches below (avāk-śākha); its boughs downward; downward-branching
एषःeṣaḥthis; such
अश्वत्थःaśvatthaḥthe aśvattha (the sacred fig); the aśvattha tree; the pipal
सनातनःsanātanaḥthe eternal (sanātana); ancient; the imperishable
तत्tatthat; he
एवevaindeed; truly
शुक्रम्śukramthe pure; the bright
तत्tatthat; he
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the sacred reality
तत्tatthat; he
एवevaindeed; truly
अमृतम्amṛtamimmortal; the imperishable
उच्यतेucyateis called; it is said
तस्मिन्tasminin It; upon It
लोकाःlokāḥworlds; realms
श्रिताःśritāḥthey rest; have found refuge
सर्वेsarveall; entirely
तत्tatit; that
उusurely; indeed
नnanot; no
अत्येतिatyetisurpasses; passes over
कश्चनkaścanaanyone; anything
एतत्etatthis; he
वैvaiverily; indeed
तत्tatthat; That
अनुवाद
With its root above, its branches below, [stands] this eternal aśvattha tree. He is the Pure, He is Brahman, He is called the Immortal. In Him all the worlds are established, and no one passes beyond Him. This, truly, is That.
संस्करण
b316e349ec02 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The last vallī opens with the hieroglyph-image of all Vedānta: ūrdhva-mūlo 'vāk-śākhaḥ — "root above, branches below" — eṣo 'śvatthaḥ sanātanaḥ — "this eternal aśvattha tree" (the sacred fig). The world is an inverted tree: its root is not in the earth but in the Height; all that grows, branches and bears fruit here is fed from above. The visible universe is the crown; the Invisible is the root, and therefore the crown is explicable only from the root, never from itself.
The image works in both directions at once. Upward: seek the cause of every thing not beneath it but above it — the sap in a branch comes from the root; the beauty, life and intelligence of the world are currents out of Him (verse 101 has just said this of light). Downward: the crown is a reflection; he who wants fruit tends the root — he who waters the branches loses even the branches.
The Gītā (15.1–3) will unfold this verse into a whole parable — and will say out what is compressed here: the axe of non-attachment cuts through the overgrown crown, "and thereafter the path from which men do not return". The seal tad u nātyeti kaścana — "no one oversteps Him" — stands here for the third and last time (after verses 80 and 94): what is said three times is final: the tree has one Root, the world one Bound, and He is also the only Door out of the crown and home.