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Upanishads · Muktikā 1.44
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वोपनिषदां मध्ये सारमष्टोत्तरशतम् । सकृच्छ्रवणमात्रेण सर्वाघौघनिकृन्तनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvopaniṣadāṃ madhye sāramaṣṭottaraśatam | sakṛcchravaṇamātreṇa sarvāghaughanikṛntanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-उपनिषदां मध्येsarva-upaniṣadāṃ madhyeamong all the upaniṣads
सारम् अष्ट-उत्तर-शतम्sāram aṣṭa-uttara-śatamthe hundred and eight are the essence
सकृत्-श्रवण-मात्रेणsakṛt-śravaṇa-mātreṇaby mere single hearing
सर्व-अघ-औघ-निकृन्तनम्sarva-agha-augha-nikṛntanamcutting through the whole flood of sin
Translation
«Among all the upaniṣads, the hundred and eight are the essence; by mere single hearing they cut through the whole flood of sin».
Version
c127dbb8f30b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting two words. First: sāra, «essence, sap»; literally what remains upon boiling down. That is, the hundred and eight are named not «all» but the extract from all; and this agrees with the fourteenth verse, where it was said that there should be as many upaniṣads as branches — that is, more than a thousand.
Second: sakṛc-chravaṇa-mātreṇa, «by mere single hearing». This promise stands beside what was said in the forty-first verse: that reading requires the invocation, the teacher's mouth, and due reception. That is, in one book stands both strict rule and the promise that hearing once is enough.
This is not a contradiction, and it is worth saying how it resolves. The rule applies to study, the promise — to hearing; and the difference between them is the difference between a pupil and a passer-by. The Vaishnava side holds precisely this, and its own practice stands upon it: it sings before everyone, without asking who listens or whether by rule; and it was said at Varāha (5.68) that the loud is heard by many, the quiet by one.
That is, for it a chance listener is not a breaker of the rule but the very one for whom the singing is done; and this promise, I think, is about the same.