Upanishads · Praśna 1.16
॥
Devanāgarī
तेषाम् असौ विरजो ब्रह्मलोको न येषु जिह्वम् अनृतं न माया चेति
Transliteration (IAST)
teṣām asau virajo brahmaloko na yeṣu jihvam anṛtaṃ na māyā ceti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तेषाम्teṣāmof them; for them
असौasauthat one; that highest
विरजःvirajaḥdustless (vi-rajas — 'without the dust [of passion]'); free of taint; unsullied
ब्रह्मलोकःbrahmalokaḥthe Brahman-world; the abode of Brahman
नnanot; no
येषुyeṣuin which; in whose case
जिह्मम्jihmamcrookedness (jihma — 'the slanted'); shiftiness; a sly bend
अनृतम्anṛtamfalsehood (an-ṛta — 'contrary to ṛta, the truth-order'); falsehood; untruth
नnanot; no
मायाmāyāguile (māyā — here: deceit); pretence; double-dealing
च इतिca iti'and', thus; as well as
Translation
"That dustless world of Brahman is [only] for those in whom there is no crookedness, no falsehood, no guile."
Version
a7cab3b5ec9d · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The close of the first question — three "nots" that unlock the highest world: na jihmam — "no crookedness" (jihma is "the slanted, the swerving": the same crookedness the end of the Īśa Upaniṣad asked to have led away — juhurāṇam enaḥ); na anṛtam — "no falsehood" (an-ṛta — "contrary to ṛta", to the universal order of truth: a lie is no breach of etiquette but a crack running across the world); na māyā — "no guile", no pretence, no double bottom.
virajaḥ — a "dustless" world: without the dust of passion and egoity (the Kaṭha used the same word of one who had arrived: virajo 'bhūt). The correspondence is strict: the dustless for the dustless; nothing crooked enters a world without crookedness, as muddy water is not poured into clear (the Kaṭha, in its verse of water into water). This is not a reward for good behaviour — it is a compatibility of natures: a truthful heart is already of one nature with the world of Truth.
It is striking how the question about the origin of creatures ends: in ethics. We began with cosmology — sun, moon, year, seed — and end with the simplest thing: do not lie, do not swerve, wear no mask. Such is the seal of the whole Upaniṣad of questions: any knowledge, even of the making of the universe, empties into life; cosmology without truthfulness is a parlour game. The first pupil has received his answer in full measure: whence creatures — from Prajāpati; and where their road home lies — through straightness.