LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Śāṭyāyanīya 29
॥
Devanāgarī
पारिव्राज्यं गृहीत्वा तु यः स्वधर्मे न तिष्ठति । तमारूढच्युतं विद्यादिति वेदानुशासनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
pārivrājyaṃ gṛhītvā tu yaḥ svadharme na tiṣṭhati | tamārūḍhacyutaṃ vidyāditi vedānuśāsanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पारिव्राज्यं गृहीत्वा तुpārivrājyaṃ gṛhītvā tuhaving accepted wandering
यः स्व-धर्मे न तिष्ठतिyaḥ sva-dharme na tiṣṭhatiwho does not stand firm in his own duty
तम् आरूढ-च्युतं विद्यात्tam ārūḍha-cyutaṃ vidyātlet him be known as fallen from a height
इति वेद-अनुशासनम्iti veda-anuśāsanamsuch is the instruction of the Veda
Translation
"Whoever, having accepted wandering, does not stand firm in his own duty — let him be known as fallen from a height; such is the instruction of the Veda."
Version
78d1347bedbc · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The word ārūḍha-cyuta is named, "fallen from a height": from ārūḍha, "having ascended," and cyuta, "having slipped." The image is precise and worth examining, for it explains the whole severity of this passage. One can fall only from a height; one who has not risen does not fall.
That is, the severity is directed not at weakness but at the height from which one falls; and the higher one has risen, the heavier the fall — not through fault, but through distance. This position exists in Vaiṣṇava practice too and is voiced through vaiṣṇava-aparādha, "offense against a devotee," and through strictness toward those who hold a position. Let us add what she draws from this and what softens the verdict.
If the gravity of a fall is determined by height, then that gravity is a circumstance, not a verdict: one who has fallen from a height has been hurt worse, but he has not ceased to be one who was ascending. And the Gītā speaks of this directly, as was discussed when reading the Varāha (4.40): one who did not reach the goal is born in the house of the pure and returns to the same pursuit, drawn by his former habit even against his will (6.44). Let us add what is worth saying about the word sva-dharma, "one's own duty."
It means not "the duty I have chosen for myself" but "the duty of the state in which I stand"; and so one who has accepted wandering already has a different sva-dharma than he had before. That is, a return to the former state is not a return to what is one's own, but a departure from both the new and the old; and in this, to my mind, lies the whole weight of the situation, not in a curse.