Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 1.2.12
॥
Devanāgarī
परीक्ष्य लोकान् कर्मचितान् ब्राह्मणः निर्वेदम् आयात् न अस्ति अकृतः कृतेन ।
तत् विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुम् एव अभिगच्छेत् समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
parīkṣya lokān karmacitān brāhmaṇaḥ nirvedam āyāt na asti akṛtaḥ kṛtena |
tat vijñānārthaṃ sa gurum eva abhigacchet samitpāṇiḥ śrotriyaṃ brahmaniṣṭham ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
परीक्ष्यparīkṣyahaving examined (pari-√īkṣ — 'to look round upon'); having investigated; having weighed
लोकान्lokānworlds; realms
कर्मचितान्karmacitānpiled up by karma (karma-cita — 'heaped by works'); accumulated by deeds; built by karma
ब्राह्मणःbrāhmaṇaḥa brāhmaṇa; the seeker of Brahman
निर्वेदम्nirvedamto dispassion (nir-veda — 'disillusionment'); to disenchantment [with the perishable]; to detachment
आयात्āyātlet him come; comes
न अस्तिna astino; does not exist
अकृतःakṛtaḥthe Uncreated (a-kṛta); the Unmade; the Eternal
कृतेनkṛtenaby what is created (kṛta); by what is made; by a deed
तत्tatthat; of this
विज्ञानार्थम्vijñānārthamfor the sake of knowledge; in order to comprehend
सःsaḥhe; such
गुरुम् एवgurum evato a guru indeed; to a teacher
अभिगच्छेत्abhigacchetlet him go to (abhi-√gam); let him approach; let him turn to
समित्पाणिःsamitpāṇiḥwith fuel in his hands (samit-pāṇi); bearing the samidh; with firewood [for the guru's fire]
श्रोत्रियम्śrotriyamone versed in scripture (śrotriya — 'a knower of the śruti'); a knower of revelation; one well read in the śruti
ब्रह्मनिष्ठम्brahmaniṣṭhamestablished in Brahman (brahma-niṣṭha); rooted in Brahman; living by Brahman
Translation
Having examined the worlds piled up by karma, let a brāhmaṇa come to dispassion: the Uncreated is not [won] by the created. For the sake of knowing That, let him, with fuel in his hands, go to a guru — one versed in scripture, established in Brahman.
Version
88af06062f07 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The axial verse of the Muṇḍaka — a programme of the spiritual path in four steps. First: parīkṣya lokān karma-citān — "having examined the worlds heaped up by karma" (citān — "piled", as bricks of an altar: all the worlds of merit are masonry, and masonry can be pulled down): not to turn away in ignorance but to examine and weigh. Second: nirvedam āyāt — "let him come to dispassion": nirveda is a sober disenchantment, the precious result of an honest examination. The ground is a formula like a diamond: nāsty akṛtaḥ kṛtena — "there is no Unmade through the made": the eternal is not assembled out of temporal acts, as heaven cannot be built out of bricks; no sum of the finite yields the infinite.
The third step: tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet — "for the sake of knowing That let him go to a guru — precisely (eva!) to a guru": this chasm cannot be crossed by one's own intelligence — one needs someone who has crossed. samit-pāṇiḥ — "with fuel in his hands": the same gesture as with the six of the Praśna — a readiness to serve, and not merely to question.
The fourth is a double test of the teacher: śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham — "versed in the śruti and established in Brahman": knowledge of scripture without realisation is an unlit lantern; realisation without scripture is a fire without a lantern, impossible to pass on; a true guru is a lit lantern: the flame of experience within the glass of succession. This verse is the charter of all Vedic pedagogy; the Gītā (4.34) and the Bhāgavatam (11.3.21: tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta) repeat it almost word for word.