Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 6.22
॥
Devanāgarī
वेदान्ते परमं गुह्यं पुराकल्पे प्रचोदितम् ।
नाप्रशान्ताय दातव्यं नापुत्रायाशिष्याय वा पुनः
Transliteration (IAST)
vedānte paramaṃ guhyaṃ purākalpe pracoditam /
nāpraśāntāya dātavyaṃ nāputrāyāśiṣyāya vā punaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वेदान्तेvedāntein the Vedānta; in the completion of the Veda
परमम् गुह्यम्paramam guhyamthe supreme secret; the sovereign mystery
पुराकल्पेpurākalpein a former age; in ancient times
प्रचोदितम्pracoditamproclaimed; uttered
न अप्रशान्तायna apraśāntāyanot to the unpacified; not to one who is not calmed
दातव्यम्dātavyamis it to be given; should it be handed on
न अपुत्रायna aputrāyanor to one who is not a son; and not to one who is no son
अशिष्याय वाaśiṣyāya vāor not a pupil; or who is not a disciple
पुनःpunaḥagain; likewise
Translation
The supreme secret of the Vedānta, proclaimed in a former age, is not to be given to one who is unpacified, nor to one who is neither a son nor a pupil.
Version
3dddff36d894 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The mantra sets a condition for transmission, and the first is neither rank nor birth but a state: apraśānta, "unpacified". To one with a storm inside, it is not given.
This is no barrier of caste: calm is acquired, not inherited. The second adhyāya was precisely an instruction in how to acquire it.
The two other conditions — "not a son" and "not a pupil" — speak of relation. Knowledge is handed on within a bond where there is trust and obedience; outside such a bond it is transmitted as information and therefore does not work. Vedānta will explain this in detail later: it is not the text that bears fruit but the giving, and one and the same truth heard from the teacher who gave it to you works otherwise than one read off a page.
The question that inevitably arises here: is this not miserliness? The answer the tradition arrives at is simple: seed cast into an unpacified heart is not wasted — it sprouts as poison. Prajāpati gave Indra and Virocana one and the same lesson; one grew immortality from it, the other a doctrine of the body.
And further: it says purākalpe pracoditam — "proclaimed in a former age". Even Śvetāśvatara himself is not the author; he hands on what is ancient. Hence the strictness about transmission: what he gives away is not his own.