उपनिषद् · Subāla 3.1
॥
देवनागरी
असद्वा इदमग्र आसीदजातमभूतमप्रतिष्ठितमशब्दमस्पर्शमरूपमरसमगन्धमव्ययममहान्तमबृहन्तमजमात्मानं मत्वा धीरो न शोचति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
asadvā idamagra āsīdajātamabhūtamapratiṣṭhitamaśabdamasparśamarūpamarasamagandhamavyayamamahāntamabṛhantamajamātmānaṃ matvā dhīro na śocati
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
असत् वै इदम् अग्रे आसीत्asat vai idam agre āsītnon-existent was this in the beginning; in the beginning this was non-existent
अजातम् अभूतम्ajātam abhūtamunborn, un-become; unmanifested and un-arisen
अप्रतिष्ठितम्apratiṣṭhitamunestablished; having no footing
अशब्दम् अस्पर्शम्aśabdam asparśamsoundless, intangible; without sound or touch
अरूपम् अरसम् अगन्धम्arūpam arasam agandhamformless, tasteless, without smell; without shape, savour or scent
अव्ययम् अमहान्तम्avyayam amahāntamunchanging, not great; imperishable and not large
अबृहन्तम् अजम्abṛhantam ajamnot vast, unborn; not immense, beginningless
आत्मानम् मत्वाātmānam matvāhaving known this self; having understood this ātman
धीरः न शोचतिdhīraḥ na śocatithe steadfast does not grieve; the firm of mind does not sorrow
अनुवाद
Non-existent was this in the beginning — unborn, un-become, unestablished, soundless, intangible, formless, tasteless, without smell, unchanging, not great, not vast, unborn. Having known this self, the steadfast does not grieve.
संस्करण
2c8a70489f7e · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 4:12:03 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The third khaṇḍa begins anew and goes another way: not by a tale of creation, but by a row of negations.
The first word disconcerts: asat, “non-existent”. But the book's first mantra must be remembered: there both “existent” and “non-existent” were rejected. So here the word is taken not in its proper sense but as a pointer to what is not a thing. The non-existent is not emptiness, but that of which one cannot say “it is” as one says it of things.
Then come negations by the senses: soundless, intangible, formless, tasteless, without smell. All five senses are gone through, and not one takes hold of its object. Thereby it is said simply: this cannot be perceived.
But most remarkable are two negations in the middle: “not great, not vast”. What is denied is not smallness but greatness. The mind, hearing of the Highest, at once begins to inflate: enormous, boundless, infinite. The Upaniṣad stops this too: magnitude is also a measure, and there is nothing to measure with.
And the list ends with a conclusion that carries all that was said out of speculation into life: “having known this self, the steadfast does not grieve”. The same turn is in the Kaṭha and in the Gītā.
So it is for this that the negations are needed. Not in order to describe the indescribable, but in order to cease grieving: sorrow clings to what can be lost, and here is named That which cannot be lost.