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Upanishads · Jābāli 15
॥
Devanāgarī
यो विद्वान्ब्रह्मचारी गृही वानप्रस्थो यतिर्वा स महापातकोपपातकेभ्यः पूतो भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
yo vidvānbrahmacārī gṛhī vānaprastho yatirvā sa mahāpātakopapātakebhyaḥ pūto bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यः विद्वान् ब्रह्मचारी गृहीyaḥ vidvān brahmacārī gṛhīwhoever, knowing, is a student, a householder
वानप्रस्थः यतिः वाvānaprasthaḥ yatiḥ vāa forest-dweller, or an ascetic
सः महा-पातक-उपपातकेभ्यःsaḥ mahā-pātaka-upapātakebhyaḥhe from great sins and lesser sins
पूतः भवतिpūtaḥ bhavatibecomes purified
Translation
“Whoever, knowing [this] — whether student, householder, forest-dweller, or ascetic — becomes purified of great sins and lesser sins.”
Version
26fd27b0b1cf · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Note that all four stages of life are listed: student, householder, forest-dweller, ascetic. That is, the rite is declared open to every position in life, not to renunciants alone. This detail is, to my mind, a merit of this book, and it deserves to be said outright.
We noted, reading Varāha (5.46), that a path requiring practice at every watch of day and night is by its structure the path of a hermit and is impossible for one living in the world. Here, by contrast, a means is given that takes a minute in the morning and hinders neither work nor the feeding of a family. And the Vaiṣṇava side demands exactly this of a universal means, as discussed reading Varāha (5.8): a means with conditions attached cuts off most people; a universal means must be open to all.
Let us add, however, the qualification one must make with every such promise. Purification from mahā-pātaka, “great sins,” is promised for knowledge of the rite; and the Bhāgavatam’s caveat (6.2.10) about one who sins “presuming on the strength of the name” has been cited more than once, and is doubly relevant here. Add, too, what deserves note in the word vidvān, “knowing.”
It is not said “whoever wears it,” but “whoever, knowing, wears it”; that is, understanding of what has been applied is required. This is, to my mind, the true measure of every rite: a sign applied without understanding is exactly the line on an empty spot discussed reading the eighth passage.