उपनिषद् · Pañcabrahma 34
॥
देवनागरी
अत्र कारणमद्वैतं शुद्धचैतन्यमेव हि । अस्मिन्ब्रह्मपुरे वेश्म दहरं यदिदं मुने
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
atra kāraṇamadvaitaṃ śuddhacaitanyameva hi | asminbrahmapure veśma daharaṃ yadidaṃ mune
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अत्र कारणम् अ-द्वैतंatra kāraṇam a-dvaitaṃhere the cause is non-dual
शुद्ध-चैतन्यम् एव हिśuddha-caitanyam eva hipure consciousness itself
अस्मिन् ब्रह्म-पुरे वेश्मasmin brahma-pure veśmain this city of brahman, a dwelling
दहरं यत् इदं मुनेdaharaṃ yat idaṃ munesmall, this very one, O sage
अनुवाद
"Here the cause is non-dual, pure consciousness itself. In this city of brahman [there is] a dwelling, small, this very one, O sage."
संस्करण
1056e1fe1c98 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The abstract examination is over, and the book turns to the image with which it will conclude: brahma-pura, "the city of brahman," and dahara, "the small." This shift is itself telling, and it is worth noting, for we have observed it in book after book. After everything distinguished has been declared false, the discourse immediately turns to place, dwelling, lotus, and the One within it; and the last three verses will be full of distinctions.
It is worth saying about the expression brahma-pura, "city of brahman," itself, for it is taken from the Chāndogya and means the body. The image of a city applied to the body is no accident: a city is an organized multitude, where everyone is occupied with his own task and everything is connected. So too the body in these books is described as a multitude of instruments with a single ruler.
The Vaiṣṇava side accepts this image and unfolds it into a whole comparison, worth mentioning. The body is a chariot, the senses horses, the mind the reins, the intellect the driver, and the soul the rathin, "the one riding" — so says the Kaṭha (1.3.3–4). It is worth noting that in this comparison the rider does not himself drive: the driver, that is, the intellect, drives; and the rider sits.
This detail is usually omitted in commentaries, yet it matters. It means that the soul is not the immediate doer: it is present, consents, and bears the consequences, while the mechanism acts. From this comes the Vaiṣṇava explanation of why a person does what he does not want, and Arjuna's question (Gītā 3.36) was discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (6.50).