उपनिषद् · Jābāladarśana 10.3
॥
देवनागरी
तस्मादद्वैतमेवास्ति न प्रपञ्चो न संसृतिः । यथाकाशो घटाकाशो मठाकाश इतीरितः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tasmādadvaitamevāsti na prapañco na saṃsṛtiḥ | yathākāśo ghaṭākāśo maṭhākāśa itīritaḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तस्मात् अ-द्वैतम् एव अस्तिtasmāt a-dvaitam eva astitherefore, non-duality alone exists
न प्रपञ्चः न संसृतिःna prapañcaḥ na saṃsṛtiḥnot the manifold world, not the cycle
यथा आकाशः घट-आकाशःyathā ākāśaḥ ghaṭa-ākāśaḥas space, the space of a pot
मठ-आकाशः इति ईरितःmaṭha-ākāśaḥ iti īritaḥthe space of a hut, is called
अनुवाद
"Therefore, non-duality alone exists; there is neither the manifold world nor the cycle. As space, [though one,] is called the space of a pot, the space of a hut…"
संस्करण
206fa0a49ce3 · प्रकाशित 7 अग॰ 2026, 8:28:46 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The famous comparison ghata-akasha, "the space of a pot," is cited; it was discussed in part when reading the sixth khanda (6.13). Let us repeat the arguments and add what was not said there. The comparison is this: space is one; the pot and the hut partition it into "the space of the pot" and "the space of the hut"; break the walls, and there is no division.
The first objection has already been cited: space is not alive. It does not know, does not want, does not remember; and hence a partition within it truly changes nothing, while in a soul it changes everything. The second objection concerns the pot itself, and is, in my view, even more essential.
Let us ask: is the pot real or not? If real — then there is something besides unitary space, and non-duality is breached by that very pot. If unreal — then it partitions nothing, and there would be no division at all; yet division is observed. One can say the pot is "neither real nor unreal"; and this is indeed said, calling it anirvachaniya, "inexplicable." But such an answer is not a solution, but a name given to the difficulty.
The Vaishnava reading avoids this difficulty, for it does not declare the partition unreal. It says: the pots truly exist, they are made by Him and belong to Him; and what is in them is truly different, while remaining His. The image by which it expresses this was cited when reading the fourth khanda (4.28): sutre mani-gana iva, "as pearls on a thread" (Gita 7.7). The pearls are real, the thread is real, and the one does not cancel the other.