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Upanishads · Dattātreya 3.6
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वमन्त्रयोगपारीणो भवति । स एव ब्राह्मणो भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvamantrayogapārīṇo bhavati | sa eva brāhmaṇo bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-मन्त्र-योग-पारीणः भवतिsarva-mantra-yoga-pārīṇaḥ bhavatihe becomes one who has reached the far shore of all mantras and yoga
सः एव ब्राह्मणः भवतिsaḥ eva brāhmaṇaḥ bhavatihe indeed becomes a brāhmaṇa
Translation
«He becomes one who has reached the far shore of all mantras and yoga; he indeed becomes a brāhmaṇa».
Version
0bc349349f18 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a short passage, and it is, to my mind, the finest in this chapter: sa eva brāhmaṇo bhavati, “he indeed becomes a brāhmaṇa.” Note the word eva, “precisely, indeed”: not “he too is a brāhmaṇa,” but “he indeed becomes a brāhmaṇa.” That is, brāhmaṇahood is defined through knowledge of the mantras, not through birth.
This position deserves comparing with what stood at the end of the first chapter (1.16), where non-brāhmaṇa birth was called a doṣa, “flaw.” Here it is stated more strongly and better: not “the flaw is removed,” but the title is acquired. The Vaiṣṇava side stands firmly on this, and its argument was cited reading the Vajrasūcikā; let us repeat the essential point.
A brāhmaṇa is defined by qualities, not by birth; and the Bhāgavatam (7.11.35) says that if the marks of a brāhmaṇa are found in a śūdra, he should be considered the brāhmaṇa, not one lacking them. Let us add its own practical consequence, for it is sharper than any argument. Its teachers gave initiation to people of every birth; Haridāsa Ṭhākura, born in a Muslim family, was named nāmācārya, “teacher of the name” — that is, first in its own chief undertaking.
And its argument on this was not softening but direct: if the name purifies, then the purified one is pure; and to go on considering him impure means not believing in what one professes.