उपनिषद् · Śvetāśvatara 3.13
॥
देवनागरी
अङ्गुष्ठमात्रः पुरुषो ऽन्तरात्मा सदा जनानां हृदये संनिविष्टः ।
हृदा मनीषा मनसाभिकॢप्तो य एतद् विदुर् अमृतास् ते भवन्ति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
aṅguṣṭhamātraḥ puruṣo 'ntarātmā sadā janānāṃ hṛdaye saṃniviṣṭaḥ /
hṛdā manīṣā manasābhikḷpto ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अङ्गुष्ठमात्रःaṅguṣṭhamātraḥof the size of a thumb; a thumb's measure
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥthe Puruṣa; the Person
अन्तरात्माantarātmāthe inner soul; the Ātman within
सदाsadāalways; at all times
जनानाम्janānāmin men; in creatures
हृदयेhṛdayein the heart; within the heart
संनिविष्टःsaṃniviṣṭaḥis settled; is firmly lodged
हृदाhṛdāby the heart; through the heart
मनीषाmanīṣāby discernment; by insight
मनसाmanasāby the mind; by means of the mind
अभिकॢप्तःabhikḷptaḥis apprehended; is taken hold of
ये एतत् विदुःye etat viduḥthey who know this; those who know it
अमृताः ते भवन्तिamṛtāḥ te bhavantibecome immortal; are made imperishable
अनुवाद
The Puruṣa of the size of a thumb, the inner soul, is always settled in the heart of men. He is apprehended by the heart, by discernment and by the mind: they who know this become immortal.
संस्करण
6a857db82171 · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:13:46 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A mantra familiar from the Kaṭha too: the Puruṣa "of the size of a thumb" in the heart. The measure is disconcerting — how to reconcile it with "encompassing the universe" at 3.7? The Upaniṣad's answer is simple: what is stated is not a size but a place of meeting. He is measureless, but shows Himself in the heart, and for the contemplator His image there is proportioned to the span on which the gaze is fixed.
The word antarātmā, "inner soul", matters on its own: He is the soul of my soul, nearer to me than I am to myself. It is precisely this relation that Vedānta will later examine under the name of the antaryāmin, the Inner Ruler.
But the chief thing here is how He is apprehended: by three means, named in succession. Hṛdā, by the heart; manīṣā, by discernment, the power to distinguish; manasā, by the mind. The order is remarkable: the heart is named first. Not "by mind, discernment and heart", but the reverse. Knowledge of Him begins with disposition, and only then do distinction and thought come in.
Here too lies the seed of all the later teaching that God is "apprehended by bhāva", by feeling — words that will sound in this same Upaniṣad further on and on which Vaiṣṇava Vedānta will lean.
And again the refrain: "they who know this become immortal". It stands after the mantra about the heart, not after the mantra about cosmic scale — the knowledge that gives immortality is nearer than it seems.