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Upanishads · Dattātreya 2.3
॥
Devanāgarī
चिरञ्जीविने वषडिति व्याहरेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
cirañjīvine vaṣaḍiti vyāharet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
चिरञ्जीविने वषट् इति व्याहरेत्cirañjīvine vaṣaṭ iti vyāharet"to the long-lived one" — let him utter "vaṣaṭ"
Translation
«"To the long-lived one" — let him utter "vaṣaṭ"».
Version
1b965288c91f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A single-line passage, and it deserves saying a word about cirañjīvin, “long-lived.” In Indian tradition there is a list of cirañjīva, “the long-lived” — those who have not died and live to this day; usually seven or eight are named: Aśvatthāman, Bali, Vyāsa, Hanumān, Vibhīṣaṇa, Kṛpa, Paraśurāma, and Mārkaṇḍeya. Dattātreya does not always appear on this list, but is held to be living and to appear; and the practice of his worship rests on exactly this: he is awaited, not merely remembered.
Note, too, the word vaṣaṭ, for it is ancient. This is the exclamation of the priest at a libation into the fire, by which the offering is given up. That is, alongside the name “long-lived,” the exclamation of giving-up is uttered; and this pairing, to my mind, is meaningful: one gives to the living, not merely commemorates.
Let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side says of such expectancy. Its own practice too rests on presence, not memory: the image in a temple is awakened, fed, put to bed, and dressed for the weather; and that this is done not in pretense but in earnest was discussed reading the Prāṇāgnihotra. The ground given is this: if He is not absent, He must be treated as present; and its whole rite is, in essence, a conclusion drawn from this single position.