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Upanishads · Śāṭyāyanīya 28
॥
Devanāgarī
त्यक्त्वा सर्वाश्रमान्धीरो वसेन्मोक्षाश्रमे चिरम् । मोक्षाश्रमात्परिभ्रष्टो न गतिस्तस्य विद्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
tyaktvā sarvāśramāndhīro vasenmokṣāśrame ciram | mokṣāśramātparibhraṣṭo na gatistasya vidyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्यक्त्वा सर्व-आश्रमान् धीरःtyaktvā sarva-āśramān dhīraḥhaving abandoned all shelters, the steadfast
वसेत् मोक्ष-आश्रमे चिरम्vaset mokṣa-āśrame ciramlet him dwell long in the shelter of liberation
मोक्ष-आश्रमात् परिभ्रष्टःmokṣa-āśramāt paribhraṣṭaḥfallen from the shelter of liberation
न गतिः तस्य विद्यतेna gatiḥ tasya vidyatefor him no way out is found
Translation
"Having abandoned all shelters, let the steadfast one dwell long in the shelter of liberation; but for one fallen from the shelter of liberation, no way out is found."
Version
7b6afb4da3c4 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is worth noting the expression mokṣa-āśrama, "the shelter of liberation." The four āśramas — studenthood, householdership, forest life, and renunciation — are the four ages of life; and here the fourth is given a special name. This designation occurs in the codes and means that the last shelter is not one of the four but stands outside the series: the first three are stages of life, the fourth is an exit from it.
Let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side says of the four shelters and what distinguishes her. She acknowledges them but does not consider them a ladder; and that a householder may stand higher than a hermit was discussed when reading the Yājñavalkya (p10). Her basis was cited more than once and is the verse of the Bhāgavatam 1.2.8: the fulfillment of the duties of one's own shelter, if it does not lead to devotion, is śrama eva hi kevalam, "labor alone, and in vain."
That is, the measure is not the step but the direction; and so for her there are renunciants standing lower than householders, and householders standing higher than renunciants. Let us add what is embedded in the word āśrama itself and is spoken of less often. It comes from śram, "to labor, to toil," and means literally "a place of labor."
That is, all four are places of work, not ranks of dignity; and the last of them is also labor, not rest. Read this way, "the shelter of liberation" is not a reward for the first three but a fourth labor.