उपनिषद् · Varāha 3.9
॥
देवनागरी
केनाप्यबाधितत्वेन त्रिकालेऽप्येकरूपतः । विद्यमानत्वमस्त्येतत्सद्रूपत्वं सदा मम
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
kenāpyabādhitatvena trikāle'pyekarūpataḥ | vidyamānatvamastyetatsadrūpatvaṃ sadā mama
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
केन अपि अ-बाधितत्वेनkena api a-bādhitatvenaby unopposedness by anyone
त्रि-काले अपि एक-रूपतःtri-kāle api eka-rūpataḥand by sameness of form in the three times
विद्यमानत्वम् अस्ति एतत्vidyamānatvam asti etatthis existence there is
सत्-रूपत्वं सदा ममsat-rūpatvaṃ sadā mamabeing-ness, always mine
अनुवाद
"By unopposedness by anyone, and by sameness of form in the three times, — this existence there is: my ever-present being-ness."
संस्करण
45b95f4fc798 · प्रकाशित 7 अग॰ 2026, 9:08:31 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A definition of being is given, and it is technical: abadhitatva and tri-kale eka-rupata. The first means "unopposedness": what does not turn out false under any circumstances. The second — "sameness in the three times": what was, is, and will be the same.
This definition is fundamental in Vedanta and serves to distinguish sat from asat: what is, is not opposed and does not change. The definition is good, and the Vaishnava side accepts it. Let us add, however, what it notes here, and what yields a different conclusion.
By this definition, not only the self turns out to be existent. Everything unopposed and unchanging is existent; and if He is unchanging, He too is existent by this same reckoning. That is, the definition does not establish sole existence: it establishes a criterion, and many can meet the criterion.
Let us add what it draws from this definition about the soul. The soul is not opposed: in all three states and all births, the same one says "I"; and of the argument from continuity, discussed when reading the second chapter (2.31). So, by this same definition, the soul too is existent; and hence it cannot be declared an appearance without violating one's own rule.
The Vedanta-sutra states the same briefly: natma shruter nityatvach cha tabhyah, "the self [does not arise], for by the testimony [of the scriptures] it is eternal" (2.3.17).