उपनिषद् · Śvetāśvatara 3.11
॥
देवनागरी
सर्वाननशिरोग्रीवः सर्वभूतगुहाशयः ।
सर्वव्यापी स भगवांस् तस्मात् सर्वगतः शिवः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
sarvānanaśirogrīvaḥ sarvabhūtaguhāśayaḥ /
sarvavyāpī sa bhagavāṃs tasmāt sarvagataḥ śivaḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सर्वाननशिरोग्रीवःsarvānanaśirogrīvaḥwhose faces, heads and necks are everywhere; whose faces, heads and throats are on all sides
सर्वभूतगुहाशयःsarvabhūtaguhāśayaḥlying in the cave of all beings; dwelling in the secret place of each
सर्वव्यापीsarvavyāpīall-pervading; penetrating everything
सः भगवान्saḥ bhagavānHe is the Bhagavān; He is the Lord full of excellences
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
सर्वगतःsarvagataḥeverywhere present; reaching all
शिवःśivaḥbenign; gracious
अनुवाद
His faces, heads and necks are everywhere; He lies in the cave of all beings; He is all-pervading. He is the Bhagavān, and therefore everywhere present and benign.
संस्करण
e4cd8bbc6dd1 · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:13:46 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
In this mantra the word bhagavān sounds for the first time in śruti — the word that will become the chief name of the Personal God in the whole later tradition. It means neither "master" nor "holy one" but "possessor of bhaga", the fullness of opulences: majesty, power, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. That the Upaniṣad utters it here, after an enumeration of all-pervasion, matters: the all-pervading is called not a force but a Person.
The first half repeats the familiar: His faces and heads are everywhere. But beside it is set the opposite: He "lies in the cave of all beings", guhā-śaya. Guhā is a cave, a hiding place; in the śāstras it is the name for the heart. Again the same conjunction as at 3.7: immense outwardly — and hidden within.
And the conclusion is built on the word "therefore": since He is the Bhagavān, He is both everywhere and benign. Note the order: not "He is good because He is almighty", but "He is full of excellences — and therefore His all-pervasion is good". The presence of such a God does not weigh down or threaten; it is the presence of the Benign One.
The word śiva stands here in its original sense — "benign"; and the Upaniṣad puts the same sense into the name when it calls the Lord by it.