LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Dattātreya 1.9
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राणं देयम् । मानं देयम् । चक्षुर्देयम् । श्रोत्रं देयम् । षड्दशशिरश्छिनत्ति षोडशाक्षरमन्त्रे न देयो भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
prāṇaṃ deyam | mānaṃ deyam | cakṣurdeyam | śrotraṃ deyam | ṣaḍdaśaśiraśchinatti ṣoḍaśākṣaramantre na deyo bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्राणं देयम्prāṇaṃ deyamthe breath must be given
मानं देयम्mānaṃ deyamhonor must be given
चक्षुः देयम्cakṣuḥ deyamthe eye must be given
श्रोत्रं देयम्śrotraṃ deyamthe ear must be given
षट्-दश-शिरः छिनत्तिṣaṭ-daśa-śiraḥ chinattisixteen heads it cuts off
षोडश-अक्षर-मन्त्रेṣoḍaśa-akṣara-mantrefor the sixteen-syllable mantra
न देयः भवतिna deyaḥ bhavatiit is not subject to being given [freely]
Translation
«The breath must be given, honor must be given, the eye must be given, the ear must be given; [otherwise] it cuts off sixteen heads. For the sixteen-syllable mantra, it is not [otherwise] to be given».
Version
4c2b51097f92 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The passage is obscure, and it must be said plainly: in this recension it cannot be restored with certainty. It seems the sense is this: for this mantra one must give everything — breath, honor, eye, ear; and it is not given to just anyone. Let us add what deserves saying about it in substance, for the thought here is not empty.
What is listed is not property, but the person himself: breath, honor, sight, hearing. That is, the payment named is not material, and this distinguishes such a requirement from the ordinary guru-dakṣiṇā. The Vaiṣṇava side holds a rule on this, cited reading the Śāṭyāyanīya (35): the teaching is paid for not with money, but with fulfillment.
Let us add the famous passage that belongs here: the Bhāgavatam (11.29.34) says that for a single word of instruction a person can repay nothing, were he lord of the whole earth; and hence he remains forever indebted. Let us add, too, the caveat that must be made against abuse. The demand “give everything,” in the mouth of a teacher demanding it for himself, is coercion, and in India it made itself felt no less often than anywhere else.
The Vaiṣṇava side's rule on this was cited reading the Śāṭyāyanīya (34): a pupil tests the teacher for a year before asking; and a demand made before the test is itself, by nature, a sign that the test is feared.