उपनिषद् · Varāha 2.52
॥
देवनागरी
ब्रह्मवादिभिरुद्गीता सा मायेति विवेकतः । मायातत्कार्यविलये नेश्वरत्वं न जीवता
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
brahmavādibhirudgītā sā māyeti vivekataḥ | māyātatkāryavilaye neśvaratvaṃ na jīvatā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
ब्रह्म-वादिभिः उद्गीताbrahma-vādibhiḥ udgītāit is chanted by speakers on brahman
सा माया इति विवेकतःsā māyā iti vivekataḥthat is maya — by discernment
माया-तत्-कार्य-विलयेmāyā-tat-kārya-vilayeat the dissolution of maya and its effects
न ईश्वरत्वं न जीवताna īśvaratvaṃ na jīvatāthere is neither lordship nor livingness
अनुवाद
"It is chanted by speakers on brahman as maya — by discernment; at the dissolution of maya and its effects, there is neither lordship nor livingness."
संस्करण
090bb40c8536 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The conclusion is drawn: with the dissolution of maya, both lordship and livingness vanish. That is, He ceases to be the Lord, and I cease to be a living being; and something remains that is neither. It is worth examining what happens to the teaching itself here.
If "lordship" is a property acquired from maya, then He was not always the Lord; and what we have honored is His temporary state. This position the Vaishnava side rejects, and rejects decisively; its argument deserves citing. It says: the qualities ascribed to Him are svarupa-bhuta, "belonging to His very essence," not superimposed.
And it cites the definition of bhagavan, discussed when reading the Tarasara (1.10): the six excellences — sovereignty, might, fame, beauty, knowledge, renunciation — are fullness, not an addition. Let us add an argument from language, for it is simple here. The word ishvara is from ish, "to rule, to possess"; and if He rules only by misunderstanding, then everything said of Him is speech about a misunderstanding.
And this book, it must be recalled, opens with the words "breaker of the devotees' anguish" (2.1) and will close in the fifth chapter with that same name of Vishnu. Hence this position, for all its consistency, remains a foreign body in the book; and we note it as it is, without reconciling it with the rest.