Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 5.24
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मतुल्यसुवर्णादि दानैर्बहुविधैरपि । किंचिदप्यपरिक्षीणं तदप्याशु विनाशयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
ātmatulyasuvarṇādi dānairbahuvidhairapi | kiṃcidapyaparikṣīṇaṃ tadapyāśu vināśayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आत्मतुल्यसुवर्णादिātmatulyasuvarṇādiby gold equal to oneself and the rest; with gold weighed against oneself and other things
दानैः बहुविधैः अपिdānaiḥ bahuvidhaiḥ apiand by gifts of many kinds; and by donations of every sort
किंचित् अपि अपरिक्षीणम्kiṃcit api aparikṣīṇamwhat has not in the least been worn away; what has not diminished at all
तत् अपि आशु विनाशयेत्tat api āśu vināśayetthat too it will swiftly destroy; this too it will soon annihilate
Translation
“What has not in the least been worn away either by gold equal to one's own weight or by gifts of many kinds — that too it will swiftly destroy.”
Version
4de2fade5e4d · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The last remedy of the old law: giving.
Ātma-tulya-suvarṇa — “gold equal to oneself”: the rite tulā-puruṣa, when the donor sat on the scales and gave away as much gold as he himself weighed. So kings did.
And it is said: it was not worn away in the least.
The word aparikṣīṇa means “not diminished, not spent down”: the guilt lessened not even by so much.
Four verses in a row have gone through everything by which a man might ransom himself: pilgrimage, the holy place, the fast, wealth. And each time it is said this is not enough.
Here is where one should say how this list differs from mere boasting.
It says that guilt cannot be paid off. Neither by the body's labour, nor by property, nor by journeying — because guilt is not a debt but a state.
Hence it is removed not by payment but by turning to Him who, as was said in the thirteenth paragraph of the third chapter of the uttara, “is present so that all may attain liberation”.