उपनिषद् · Śvetāśvatara 1.8
॥
देवनागरी
संयुक्तम् एतत् क्षरम् अक्षरं च व्यक्ताव्यक्तं भरते विश्वम् ईशः ।
अनीशश् चात्मा बध्यते भोक्तृभावाज् ज्ञात्वा देवं मुच्यते सर्वपाशैः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
saṃyuktam etat kṣaram akṣaraṃ ca vyaktāvyaktaṃ bharate viśvam īśaḥ /
anīśaś cātmā badhyate bhoktṛbhāvāj jñātvā devaṃ mucyate sarvapāśaiḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
संयुक्तम्saṃyuktamis joined; is coupled together
एतत्etatthis; all this
क्षरम्kṣaramthe perishable; the transient
अक्षरम्akṣaramthe imperishable; the untransient
चcaand; as well as
व्यक्ताव्यक्तम्vyaktāvyaktamthe manifest and the unmanifest; the evident and the hidden
भरतेbharatebears; holds up
विश्वम्viśvamthe universe; the whole world
ईशःīśaḥthe Lord; the Master
अनीशःanīśaḥpowerless; having no power
चcawhereas; while
आत्माātmāthe soul; the embodied ātman
बध्यतेbadhyateis bound; finds itself in fetters
भोक्तृभावात्bhoktṛbhāvātbecause it takes itself for the enjoyer; through the state of being an enjoyer
ज्ञात्वाjñātvāhaving known; having recognised
देवम्devamGod; the Deity
मुच्यतेmucyateis freed; is delivered
सर्वपाशैःsarvapāśaiḥfrom all fetters; from every bond
अनुवाद
In this world the perishable and the imperishable are joined, the manifest and the hidden; and the Lord bears the universe. But the soul, being powerless, is bound because it takes itself for the enjoyer; having known God, it is freed from all fetters.
संस्करण
699ddef1d029 · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:13:46 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The mantra puts in order what was called "the triad". The world is woven of two kinds: kṣara, the perishable, that which flows and diminishes; akṣara, the imperishable. And the same division is given in a second form: vyakta and avyakta, the manifest and the unmanifest — that is, the world unfolded and that subtle, not-yet-unfolded nature out of which it comes.
The verb chosen is a bodily one: bharate, "bears", holds up as one holds a load. The Lord does not watch the world from outside, nor did He set it going once upon a time — He holds it now; remove the Holder and there is no universe.
The second half is about the soul, and there one word decides everything. The soul is called anīśa, "powerless" — the same word as in 1.2. But it is not powerlessness that binds it: what binds is bhoktṛ-bhāva, "the state of being an enjoyer", the conviction that the world exists for my enjoyment and that I dispose of it. The fetters, then, are not laid on from outside — they are tied from within, by a claim to a role that does not belong to the soul.
Hence the untying too is described not as a breaking of chains but as a recognition: jñātvā devam, "having known God". One need only acknowledge that the Lord is He and not I, and the claim falls away of itself; and with it all the fetters fall at once, sarva-pāśaiḥ.
Note also the choice of the word deva, "God" — not "principle", not "being". What liberates is not a concept but a Face. The same thought will be repeated at 1.11 and carried through to the end at 6.23.