LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Muktikā 1.42
॥
Devanāgarī
गृहीत्वाष्टोत्तरशतं ये पठन्ति द्विजोत्तमाः । प्रारब्धक्षयपर्यन्तं जीवन्मुक्ता भवन्ति ते
Transliteration (IAST)
gṛhītvāṣṭottaraśataṃ ye paṭhanti dvijottamāḥ | prārabdhakṣayaparyantaṃ jīvanmuktā bhavanti te
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गृहीत्वा अष्ट-उत्तर-शतंgṛhītvā aṣṭa-uttara-śataṃhaving received the hundred and eight
ये पठन्ति द्विज-उत्तमाःye paṭhanti dvija-uttamāḥwhichever finest twice-born read
प्रारब्ध-क्षय-पर्यन्तंprārabdha-kṣaya-paryantaṃuntil the exhaustion of what has begun
जीवत्-मुक्ताः भवन्ति तेjīvat-muktāḥ bhavanti tethey become liberated while alive
Translation
«…having received the hundred and eight, the finest of the twice-born read them — and until the exhaustion of what has begun [to bear fruit], they become liberated while alive».
Version
aeb7566cc880 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth examining the word prārabdha, «begun», for the whole passage rests on it. The teaching of deeds distinguishes three classes. Sañcita — «accumulated»: the whole store of past deeds, not yet having borne fruit.
Kriyamāṇa — «being done»: what a person does now. Prārabdha — «begun»: that part of the accumulated which has already been set in motion and has given rise to this very body, this span, and these circumstances. And the teaching states: knowledge burns the accumulated and does not let the being-done accrue, but the begun must play itself out, for an arrow already loosed from the string flies on, even if the archer has changed his mind.
This comparison is standing in vedānta and is, I think, exact. Hence it is said: one liberated while alive remains such prārabdha-kṣaya-paryantam, «until the exhaustion of the begun»; that is, until the body wears out. The Vaishnava side accepts this teaching and has its own remark on it, worth citing.
It says: for the one who has taken refuge, prārabdha is not cancelled but is transformed in savor; and its verse on this account is Bhāgavatam 10.14.8, cited at Dattātreya (2.6): tat te'nukampāṃ su-samīkṣamāṇo bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṃ vipākam. That is, the fruit plays out, but the person tastes it differently: not as misfortune but as grace; and the difference lies not in the events but in what they have become for him.