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Upanishads · Dattātreya 3.2
॥
Devanāgarī
अष्टमूर्त्यष्टमन्त्रा भवन्ति । यो नित्यमधीते वाय्वग्निसोमादित्यब्रह्मविष्णुरुद्रैः पूतो भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
aṣṭamūrtyaṣṭamantrā bhavanti | yo nityamadhīte vāyvagnisomādityabrahmaviṣṇurudraiḥ pūto bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अष्ट-मूर्ति-अष्ट-मन्त्राः भवन्तिaṣṭa-mūrti-aṣṭa-mantrāḥ bhavantithere come to be eight forms and eight mantras
यः नित्यम् अधीतेyaḥ nityam adhītewhoever reads this daily
वायु-अग्नि-सोम-आदित्य-vāyu-agni-soma-āditya-by wind, fire, soma, the sun
ब्रह्म-विष्णु-रुद्रैःbrahma-viṣṇu-rudraiḥBrahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra
पूतः भवतिpūtaḥ bhavatibecomes purified
Translation
«There come to be eight forms and eight mantras. Whoever reads this daily becomes purified by wind, fire, soma, the sun, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra».
Version
c36d4dfc6ae6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Note the list of purifiers: wind, fire, soma, the sun, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra. This list is made of two categories: the first four are elements and luminaries, the last three are gods. This combination is common in ancient literature and shows that purification was conceived not morally, but materially: the pure purifies by contact.
Wind carries away, fire burns, water washes, the sun dries; and hence they are the first purifiers in this practice. Let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side adds to this, and what distinguishes it. It does not deny material purification and holds to the rites of bathing; but it insists that these do not reach the cause.
Its argument was cited reading the Jābāla-darśana (4.32) and states: water washes away dirt, not the inclination to dirt; and a person who has bathed a thousand times will get dirty again the same way the thousand-and-first time. Hence its own purification is ascribed not to an element, but to hearing; and the verse of the Bhāgavatam (1.2.17) says: śṛṇvatāṃ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām. Translated: “for those who hear stories of Himself, Kṛṣṇa, dwelling within the heart, shakes out what is bad — He, the well-wisher of the honest.”
Note the verb vidhunoti, “shakes out,” from dhū, “to shake”: not washing from outside, but shaking out from within, as dust is shaken from clothing.