तद् ह इदम् तर्हि अव्याकृतम् आसीत् तत् नामरूपाभ्याम् एव व्याक्रियत असौ नामा अयम् इदंरूपः इति तद् इदम् अपि एतर्हि नामरूपाभ्याम् एव व्याक्रियत असौ नामा अयम् इदंरूपः इति सः एषः इह प्रविष्टः आ नखाग्रेभ्यः यथा क्षुरः क्षुरधाने अवहितः स्यात् विश्वम्भरः वा विश्वम्भरकुलाये तम् न पश्यन्ति अकृत्स्नः हि सः प्राणन् एव प्राणः नाम भवति वदन् वाक् पश्यन् चक्षुः शृण्वन् श्रोत्रम् मन्वानः मनः तानि अस्य एतानि कर्मनामानि एव सः यः अतः एकैकम् उपास्ते न सः वेद अकृत्स्नः हि एषः अतः एकैकेन भवति आत्मा इति एव उपासीत अत्र हि एते सर्वे एकम् भवन्ति तद् एतत् पदनीयम् अस्य सर्वस्य यद् अयम् आत्मा अनेन हि एतत् सर्वम् वेद यथा ह वै पदेन अनुविन्देत् एवम् कीर्तिम् श्लोकम् विन्दते यः एवम् वेद
tad ha idam tarhi avyākṛtam āsīt tat nāmarūpābhyām eva vyākriyata asau nāmā ayam idaṃrūpaḥ iti tad idam api etarhi nāmarūpābhyām eva vyākriyata asau nāmā ayam idaṃrūpaḥ iti saḥ eṣaḥ iha praviṣṭaḥ ā nakhāgrebhyaḥ yathā kṣuraḥ kṣuradhāne avahitaḥ syāt viśvambharaḥ vā viśvambharakulāye tam na paśyanti akṛtsnaḥ hi saḥ prāṇan eva prāṇaḥ nāma bhavati vadan vāk paśyan cakṣuḥ śṛṇvan śrotram manvānaḥ manaḥ tāni asya etāni karmanāmāni eva saḥ yaḥ ataḥ ekaikam upāste na saḥ veda akṛtsnaḥ hi eṣaḥ ataḥ ekaikena bhavati ātmā iti eva upāsīta atra hi ete sarve ekam bhavanti tad etat padanīyam asya sarvasya yad ayam ātmā anena hi etat sarvam veda yathā ha vai padena anuvindet evam kīrtim ślokam vindate yaḥ evam veda
At that time this was undifferentiated; it became differentiated by name and form: "such is its name, such its form". And to this day it is differentiated by name and form: "such is its name, such its form". He entered in here, to the very tips of the nails, as a razor is laid in its case, or the all-sustaining fire in its nest. Him men do not see: for he is incomplete [in each manifestation]: breathing, he is called breath; speaking, speech; seeing, the eye; hearing, the ear; thinking, the mind. All these are only the names of his acts. He who venerates one or another of them does not know: he is incomplete in this or that. Let them venerate him as the ātman: in him all these become one. The ātman is the track of all this: by it all this is known, as one finds [cattle] by a track. Renown and praise are found by him who knows thus.
55f95c3a635c · प्रकाशित 27 जुल॰ 2026, 12:43:11 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The greatest verse of the brāhmaṇa. The world, which was "undifferentiated" (avyākṛta), is unfolded by name and form — nāma-rūpa (as at ChU 6.3.2); but the Unfolder did not remain outside: "he entered in here, to the very tips of the nails" (ā nakhāgrebhyaḥ). Two images of that entering, of marvellous exactness: "as a razor into its case" — snugly, to the measure, the blade within; "as fire into the nest of the wood" — invisibly and everywhere, ready to come forth at a rubbing. God in creation is no lodger but an inlaid blade and a sleeping fire.
Why then is he not seen? The answer is brilliant: akṛtsno hi saḥ — "he is incomplete" in every single manifestation: in the breath he is only the breather, in speech only the speaker; "all these are the names of his acts" (karma-nāmāni). Every faculty and every deity is a partial predicate of him; whoever venerates the partial "does not know". Whole he is only as the ātman: tam ātmānam eva upāsīta — "let him be venerated as the ātman: in him all these are one".
And the last image is a track: the ātman is the padanīya, the "track" of everything that is; cattle are found by a track — he is found by the world. Creation does not hide the Creator but treads a path toward him: everything visible is the imprint of an invisible Foot. He who has learned to read the track walks through the world like a tracker toward his Master's yard; in this lies the whole art of contemplation, and bhakti will add only one thing: the track has an Owner, and he is waiting for the one who follows it.