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Upanishads · Śāṭyāyanīya 7
॥
Devanāgarī
त्रिदण्डमुपवीतं च वासः कौपीनवेष्टनम् । शिक्यं पवित्रमित्येतद्विभृयाद्यावदायुषम्
Transliteration (IAST)
tridaṇḍamupavītaṃ ca vāsaḥ kaupīnaveṣṭanam | śikyaṃ pavitramityetadvibhṛyādyāvadāyuṣam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्रि-दण्डम् उपवीतं चtri-daṇḍam upavītaṃ cathe triple staff and the sacred thread
वासः कौपीन-वेष्टनम्vāsaḥ kaupīna-veṣṭanamclothing, a loincloth
शिक्यं पवित्रम् इति एतत्śikyaṃ pavitram iti etata net-bag and a strainer — these
विभृयात् यावत्-आयुषम्vibhṛyāt yāvat-āyuṣamlet him wear till the end of life
Translation
"The triple staff and the sacred thread, clothing, a loincloth, a net-bag and a strainer — these let him wear till the end of life."
Version
49c557b98051 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The five marks of the wanderer are listed, and it is worth naming them one by one, for this list is the very subject of the whole book. Tridaṇḍa — "the triple staff": three bamboo rods bound together. Upavīta — the sacred thread.
Kaupīna with a loincloth — what covers the loins. Śikya — a net-bag in which the begging bowl is carried. Pavitra — a strainer, with which water is filtered so as not to swallow a living creature.
It is worth noting that the list is material: not virtues but things; and that they are prescribed to be worn yāvad-āyuṣam, "till the end of life." The chief item is the tridaṇḍa, and it is worth saying about it in advance, for the whole dispute rests on it. The three rods are interpreted as the restraint of three things — speech, mind, and body; and the wanderer who bears them is called tridaṇḍī.
Against him stands the ekadaṇḍī, who bears a single rod — and this distinction is, in essence, the distinction between two schools. The renunciation of the non-dual school, established by Śaṅkara, is ekadaṇḍa renunciation: one rod signifies unity. Vaiṣṇava renunciation — of Rāmānuja, of Madhva, of the Gauḍīyas — is tridaṇḍa: three rods signify that three are restrained and that the restrainer remains with them.
This book stands on the second side, and the following three verses will say so directly.