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Upanishads · Śāṭyāyanīya 3
॥
Devanāgarī
वित्तमेव हि संसारस्तत्प्रयत्नेन शोधयेत् । यच्चित्तस्तन्मयो भवति गुह्यमेतत्सनातनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
vittameva hi saṃsārastatprayatnena śodhayet | yaccittastanmayo bhavati guhyametatsanātanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वित्तम् एव हि संसारःvittam eva hi saṃsāraḥwealth indeed is transmigration
तत् प्रयत्नेन शोधयेत्tat prayatnena śodhayetit should be purified with diligence
यत्-चित्तः तत्-मयः भवतिyat-cittaḥ tat-mayaḥ bhavatias one's consciousness is, such does one become
गुह्यम् एतत् सनातनम्guhyam etat sanātanamthis is an eternal secret
Translation
"Wealth indeed is transmigration; it should be purified with diligence. As a person's consciousness is, such does he become — this is an eternal secret."
Version
1a2a9486109b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The first word must be noted with a remark: in our text is printed vittam, "wealth," whereas in other recensions of the same verse stands cittam, "consciousness." The reading with cittam is apparently the original one: it stands in the Maitrī (6.34) and in the Varāha (3.21), where we examined it, and it fits better with the second half, which speaks of consciousness. The vittam here is most likely a one-letter slip, and we note it rather than correct it.
Let us add, however, that even with this reading the verse is not meaningless: "transmigration is wealth" — that is, property holds a person, and it must be purified. But the main point of the verse is the second half: yac-cittas tan-mayo bhavati, "as a person's consciousness is, such does he become." This is, to my mind, one of the most important statements in this whole literature, and it is worth voicing in full.
It means that a person becomes what he is occupied with; and so the question "what to think about" is in fact the question "what to become." The same statement stands in the Gītā as a law of the final moment: yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaran bhāvaṃ tyajaty ante kalevaram, taṃ tam evaiti, "of whatever state a person thinks as he leaves the body, to that he goes" (8.6); and it was discussed when reading the Varāha (5.44). The Vaiṣṇava side draws its whole practice from this: since a person becomes what he is occupied with, what matters chiefly is the choice of occupation, not the measure of effort.