LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Śāṭyāyanīya 19
॥
Devanāgarī
अयाचितं याचितं वोत भैक्षं मृद्दार्वलाबूफलपर्णपात्रम् । क्षीणं क्षौमं तृणं कन्थाजिने च पर्णमाच्छादनं स्यादहतं वा विमुक्तः
Transliteration (IAST)
ayācitaṃ yācitaṃ vota bhaikṣaṃ mṛddārvalābūphalaparṇapātram | kṣīṇaṃ kṣaumaṃ tṛṇaṃ kanthājine ca parṇamācchādanaṃ syādahataṃ vā vimuktaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अ-याचितं याचितं वाa-yācitaṃ yācitaṃ vāunasked or asked-for
उत भैक्षंuta bhaikṣaṃthat is, alms
मृत्-दारु-अलाबु-mṛt-dāru-alābu-a vessel of clay, wood, gourd
फल-पर्ण-पात्रम्phala-parṇa-pātramfruit, or leaf
क्षीणं क्षौमं तृणंkṣīṇaṃ kṣaumaṃ tṛṇaṃworn-out linen, grass
कन्था-अजिने चkanthā-ajine carags and a hide
पर्णम् आच्छादनं स्यात्parṇam ācchādanaṃ syāta leaf let be his covering
अ-हतं वा विमुक्तःa-hataṃ vā vimuktaḥor unbeaten [cloth] — the liberated one
Translation
"Unasked or asked-for alms; a vessel of clay, wood, gourd, fruit, or leaf; worn-out linen, grass, rags, hide, or a leaf let be his covering — or unbeaten [cloth]; [such is] the liberated one."
Version
575e069685df · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is listed what the vessel and clothing may be made of, and it is worth noting what all the listed things have in common. Clay, wood, gourd, leaf, grass, worn-out cloth — all these are things worth nothing. That is, the code does not forbid having; it forbids having what has value.
This distinction, to my mind, is precise and worth voicing. A person becomes attached not to a thing but to its worth: no one steals a clay cup, no one worries over it, no one grieves to lose it. Hence poverty is arranged not by the absence of things — one cannot live without a cup — but by the absence of valuable things.
The Vaiṣṇava side holds this rule and has her own expression for it: aparigraha, "non-acquisition," is interpreted by her not as renouncing property but as renouncing ownership; and that the owner has given away, while the user remains, was discussed when reading the Īśāvāsya (1). Let us add the verse's first words: ayācitaṃ yācitaṃ vota bhaikṣam, "unasked or asked-for alms." That is, asking is permitted; and it is worth noting this, for in other codes asking is forbidden, and one is enjoined to live only on what is given of itself.
Here both are allowed; and this allowance, to my mind, is again a sign of a code written by people who knew life: the ban on asking is fine as long as people give.