Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 1.2.10
॥
Devanāgarī
इष्टापूर्तं मन्यमानाः वरिष्ठं न अन्यत् श्रेयः वेदयन्ते प्रमूढाः ।
नाकस्य पृष्ठे ते सुकृते अनुभूत्वा इमं लोकं हीनतरं वा विशन्ति ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
iṣṭāpūrtaṃ manyamānāḥ variṣṭhaṃ na anyat śreyaḥ vedayante pramūḍhāḥ |
nākasya pṛṣṭhe te sukṛte anubhūtvā imaṃ lokaṃ hīnataraṃ vā viśanti ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इष्टापूर्तम्iṣṭāpūrtamsacrifices and works of public good (iṣṭa-pūrta); rites and good deeds; the sacrificial and the beneficent
मन्यमानाःmanyamānāḥholding; deeming
वरिष्ठम्variṣṭhamthe highest (variṣṭha); the very best; the supreme
नnanot; no
अन्यत्anyatanother; other
श्रेयःśreyaḥof the highest good; of the better way
वेदयन्तेvedayantethey understand [it to be]; they come to know
प्रमूढाःpramūḍhāḥutterly deluded (pra-mūḍha); deeply astray; darkened
नाकस्यnākasyaof heaven (nāka — 'the vault of the sky'); of the celestial vault; of the firmament
पृष्ठेpṛṣṭheon the summit (pṛṣṭha — 'the ridge'); on the ridge; on the height
तेtethey; such
सुकृतेsukṛtein the fruit of good deeds; in merit
अनुभूत्वाanubhūtvāhaving experienced (anu-√bhū); having tasted; having lived through
इमम् लोकम्imam lokamthis world; this earthly abode
हीनतरम् वाhīnataram vāor into a lower one (hīna-tara); or into a worse; or into one still meaner
विशन्तिviśantienter; they come
Translation
Deeming sacrifices and works of public good the highest, the utterly deluded know no other good: having tasted [their fruits] on the summit of heaven, they enter this world again — or a lower one.
Version
b2c148e6d01c · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The final diagnosis of the path of merit. iṣṭāpūrtaṁ manyamānā variṣṭham — "deeming iṣṭa and pūrta the highest": iṣṭa is ritual sacrifice, pūrta public benefaction: wells, gardens, guest-houses. Note what is called into question: not debauchery and not greed — holiness and philanthropy! The most respectable religiosity, congealed into a ceiling, shuts out heaven more surely than vice: vice at least does not pass itself off as the summit.
na anyat śreyo vedayante — "they know no other good": pramūḍhāḥ — "utterly deluded": the delusion here is not the darkness of wickedness but the shining fog of satisfaction. nākasya pṛṣṭhe te sukṛte 'nubhūtvā — "having tasted on the ridge of heaven [the fruits] of good deeds" — imaṁ lokaṁ hīnataraṁ vā viśanti — "they enter this world — or a lower one": the return is not even guaranteed to the former storey: the momentum of enjoyment accumulated in heaven may carry one below the human as well.
In three verses (17–19) the Muṇḍaka has completed its sentence — not upon deeds, but upon the faith in deeds as salvation. The Uncreated is not bought with the created — that formula will now be pronounced word for word, and with it the Upaniṣad will turn from criticism to the path: to detachment, to a teacher, and to the higher science.