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Upanishads · Muktikā 1.14
॥
Devanāgarī
एकैकस्यास्तु शाखाया एकैकोपनिषन्मता । तासामेकामृचं यश्च पठते भक्तितो मयि
Transliteration (IAST)
ekaikasyāstu śākhāyā ekaikopaniṣanmatā | tāsāmekāmṛcaṃ yaśca paṭhate bhaktito mayi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एक-एकस्याः तु शाखायाःeka-ekasyāḥ tu śākhāyāḥfor every single branch
एक-एक-उपनिषत् मताeka-eka-upaniṣat matāa single upaniṣad is held
तासाम् एकाम् ऋचं यः चtāsām ekām ṛcaṃ yaḥ caand whoever of them even one verse
पठते भक्तितः मयिpaṭhate bhaktitaḥ mayireads with devotion to me
Translation
«For every single branch a single upaniṣad is held; and whoever reads even one verse of them with devotion to me…»
Version
9256c8268877 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse that settles the question of the number, and it is worth stating. It says: every branch has its own upaniṣad; and the branches, by the count just given, number a thousand one hundred and eighty. That is, by this count there ought to be a thousand one hundred and eighty upaniṣads, not a hundred and eight.
This detail matters and is usually overlooked: the Muktikā itself does not count its list complete. The hundred and eight are, by its own reckoning, a selection; and for whom it is selected the twenty-sixth verse and those following will say. Add the second half, where the main point is said: tāsām ekāṃ ṛcaṃ yaś ca paṭhate bhaktito mayi, «whoever reads even one verse with devotion to me».
Worth noting both words. Ekāṃ ṛcam, «one verse»: not the whole collection, not a hundred and eight, but a single line. Bhaktito mayi, «with devotion to me»: the condition set is not quantitative but relational.
That is, a book about to list a hundred and eight names says beforehand that a single line, read with love, is enough; and this, I think, is the most merciful thing that can be said of reading sacred books. The fruit is named in the next verse, and it is not small: mat-sāyujya-padavī, the path of union with me, hard even for the silent sages to attain.