उपनिषद् · Mahā 1.9
॥
देवनागरी
तस्य मध्ये महानर्चिर्विश्वर्चिर्विश्वतोमुखम् तस्य मध्ये वह्निशिखा अणीयोर्ध्वा व्यवस्थिता तस्याः शिखाया मध्ये परमात्मा व्यवस्थिता
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tasya madhye mahānarcirviśvarcirviśvatomukham tasya madhye vahniśikhā aṇīyordhvā vyavasthitā tasyāḥ śikhāyā madhye paramātmā vyavasthitā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तस्य मध्ये महान् अर्चिःtasya madhye mahān arciḥin its middle — a great flame; at its centre the great fire
विश्वर्चिः विश्वतोमुखम्viśvarciḥ viśvatomukhamall-flaming, facing everywhere; blazing universally, all-faced
तस्य मध्ये वह्निशिखाtasya madhye vahniśikhāin its middle — a tongue of fire; at its centre a tongue of flame
अणीयः ऊर्ध्वा व्यवस्थिताaṇīyaḥ ūrdhvā vyavasthitāmost subtle, set upward; the finest, standing upward
तस्याः शिखायाः मध्येtasyāḥ śikhāyāḥ madhyein the middle of that tongue; at the centre of this tongue
परमात्मा व्यवस्थितःparamātmā vyavasthitaḥthe Highest Ātman abides; the paramātman is established
अनुवाद
In its middle — a great flame, all-flaming, facing everywhere; in its middle — a tongue of fire, most subtle, set upward; and in the middle of that tongue abides the Highest Ātman.
संस्करण
69c3cb0683b9 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Three nestings in a row, and each narrower than the last.
In the heart — a flame; in the flame — a tongue of fire; in the tongue — the Highest Ātman.
This image is constant in the Upaniṣads, and it is always built so: the sought thing is not where one arrives at the first step. You reached the heart — there is fire; you reached the fire — there is its point; and only in the point — He.
Note the two words attending the flame: viśvarcis — “all-flaming”, and viśvatomukham, “facing everywhere”. The same word that stands fifth in the mantra of Nṛsiṃha: sarvato-mukha.
And with the little tongue — aṇīyas, “most subtle”, and ūrdhvā, “set upward”.
The opposition is deliberate. The flame is turned in all directions; the little tongue — only upward. The wide and the narrow, the scattered and the gathered.
And He — in the narrowest.
The Chāndogya says the same, and more briefly: “in this city of Brahman there is a small lotus-palace, and in it a small space; that which is in it, that is to be sought.”
Note that the whole adhyāya has travelled the reverse road. It began with there being neither sky nor stars, and unfolded worlds, Vedas and gods; and it ends by showing the flame in the breast.
From the void to the heart — and both times One.