Upanishads · Jābāla 8
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ हैनमत्रिः पप्रच्छ याज्ञवल्क्यम् । पृच्छामि त्वा याज्ञवल्क्य अयज्ञोपवीति कथं ब्राह्मण इति । स होवाच याज्ञवल्क्य इदमेवास्य तद्यज्ञोपवीतं य आत्मापः प्राश्याचम्यायं विधिः परिव्राजकानाम्
Transliteration (IAST)
atha hainamatriḥ papraccha yājñavalkyam | pṛcchāmi tvā yājñavalkya ayajñopavīti kathaṃ brāhmaṇa iti | sa hovāca yājñavalkya idamevāsya tadyajñopavītaṃ ya ātmāpaḥ prāśyācamyāyaṃ vidhiḥ parivrājakānām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ ह एनम् अत्रिः पप्रच्छatha ha enam atriḥ papracchathen Atri asked him; thereupon Atri questioned him
याज्ञवल्क्यम्yājñavalkyamYājñavalkya; Yājñavalkya
पृच्छामि त्वा याज्ञवल्क्यpṛcchāmi tvā yājñavalkya“I ask thee, Yājñavalkya”; “I question thee, Yājñavalkya”
अयज्ञोपवीती कथम् ब्राह्मणः इतिayajñopavītī katham brāhmaṇaḥ iti“without the sacred thread — how is he a brāhmaṇa?”; “not wearing the yajñopavīta — what kind of brāhmaṇa is he?”
सः ह उवाच याज्ञवल्क्यःsaḥ ha uvāca yājñavalkyaḥhe said, Yājñavalkya; and Yājñavalkya spoke
इदम् एव अस्य तत् यज्ञोपवीतम्idam eva asya tat yajñopavītam“this very thing is his sacred thread”; “precisely this is his yajñopavīta”
यः आत्माyaḥ ātmāwhich is the Ātman; namely the ātman
आपः प्राश्य आचम्यāpaḥ prāśya ācamyahaving sipped water, having rinsed the mouth; having tasted water and performed ācamana
अयम् विधिः परिव्राजकानाम्ayam vidhiḥ parivrājakānāmsuch is the rule of the wanderers; this is the ordinance for parivrājakas
Translation
Then Atri asked Yājñavalkya: “I ask thee, Yājñavalkya: without the sacred thread — how is he a brāhmaṇa?” Yājñavalkya said: “This very thing is his sacred thread — the Ātman. Having sipped water and rinsed the mouth — such is the rule of the wanderers.”
Version
d9bcb13f6fe2 · published Jul 29, 2026, 2:53:35 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Atri's question sounds like an objection, and a serious one.
The yajñopavīta is the sacred thread bestowed at initiation; without it a man is not counted twice-born and has no right either to the Vedas or to the rite. Yet the renouncer, by the eleventh paragraph, throws it into the waters.
Does he then cease to be a brāhmaṇa?
The answer is brief and turns the question round: idam evāsya tad yajñopavītaṃ ya ātmā — “this very thing is his sacred thread: the Ātman”.
The thread, that is, is not abolished but replaced by that of which it was the sign. The outward is cast off because that for whose sake it was worn has been attained.
Here is the measure to hold to in reading all such passages. Renunciation here is no revolt against the ordinance: it is the ordinance carried out to the end.
Recall that the Kaivalya says the same in another way: there, one who has repeated the Śatarudriya, “the uninitiated becomes initiated”.
And last: ācamya — “having rinsed the mouth”. The rite of ācamana, simplest and universal, remains. Of all that was, the wanderer keeps a sip of water.