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Upanishads · Muktikā 1.36
॥
Devanāgarī
तुरीयातीतसंन्यासपरिव्राजाक्षमालिका । अव्यक्तैकाक्षरं पूर्णा सूर्याक्ष्यध्यात्मकुण्डिका
Transliteration (IAST)
turīyātītasaṃnyāsaparivrājākṣamālikā | avyaktaikākṣaraṃ pūrṇā sūryākṣyadhyātmakuṇḍikā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तुरीय-अतीत-संन्यास-turīya-atīta-saṃnyāsa-Turīyātīta, Saṃnyāsa
परिव्राज-अक्ष-मालिकाparivrāja-akṣa-mālikāParivrāja, Akṣamālikā
अ-व्यक्त-एक-अक्षरं पूर्णाa-vyakta-eka-akṣaraṃ pūrṇāAvyakta, Ekākṣara, Pūrṇā
सूर्य-अक्षि-अध्यात्म-कुण्डिकाsūrya-akṣi-adhyātma-kuṇḍikāSūrya, Akṣi, Adhyātma, Kuṇḍikā
Translation
«Turīyātīta, Saṃnyāsa, Parivrāja, Akṣamālikā, Avyakta, Ekākṣara, Annapūrṇā, Sūrya, Akṣi, Adhyātma, Kuṇḍikā…»
Version
b5b00224b2bb · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Worth noting Akṣamālikā, «the rosary», for this book is unique in the collection. It is devoted entirely to beads: what to make them from, how many, how to string them, which sound corresponds to which bead. That is, its subject is a thing, not a concept; and it is worth noting that such a book is counted among the upaniṣads.
Add what follows from this. The list of the hundred and eight is not a collection of philosophy: it holds a book on beads, a book on ash, a charm against snake poison (Garuḍa), an inventory of the body, and the rule of a wanderer. That is, in later times the name «upaniṣad» came to mean any small book of the sacred class, not necessarily a discourse on the self.
This detail, I think, matters and explains much of what we met: we read books, puzzling over why an upaniṣad speaks of trimming the tongue's frenum or of how to arrange ash; but the matter is that by then the name already meant something else. Add Ekākṣara, «of one syllable»: it is about the syllable om, and we read it fifty-eighth. And Kuṇḍikā, «pitcher»: it is about the staff and pitcher of a wanderer, and its name again is by thing.