Upanishads · Jābāla 11
॥
Devanāgarī
त्रिदण्डं कमण्डलुं शिक्यं पात्रं जलपवित्रं शिखां यज्ञोपवीतं च इत्येतत्सर्वं भूःस्वाहेत्यप्सु परित्यज्यात्मानमन्विच्छेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
tridaṇḍaṃ kamaṇḍaluṃ śikyaṃ pātraṃ jalapavitraṃ śikhāṃ yajñopavītaṃ ca ityetatsarvaṃ bhūḥsvāhetyapsu parityajyātmānamanvicchet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्रिदण्डम् कमण्डलुम्tridaṇḍam kamaṇḍalumthe triple staff, the water-vessel; the tridaṇḍa and the kamaṇḍalu
शिक्यम् पात्रम् जलपवित्रम्śikyam pātram jalapavitramthe sling, the bowl, the water-strainer; the net, the vessel, the little water-sieve
शिखाम् यज्ञोपवीतम् चśikhām yajñopavītam cathe hair-tuft and the sacred thread; the śikhā and the yajñopavīta
इति एतत् सर्वम्iti etat sarvam“all this”; “this whole”
भूः स्वाहा इतिbhūḥ svāhā iti“bhūḥ, svāhā!”; “to the earth, svāhā”
अप्सु परित्यज्यapsu parityajyahaving cast into the waters; having left in the waters
आत्मानम् अन्विच्छेत्ātmānam anvicchetlet him seek the Ātman; let him quest after the ātman
Translation
The triple staff, the water-vessel, the sling, the bowl, the strainer, the hair-tuft and the sacred thread — “all this, bhūḥ, svāhā!” — having cast them into the waters, let him seek the Ātman.
Version
8ef6937277f7 · published Jul 29, 2026, 2:53:35 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is listed all the wanderer's property, and all of it is ritual property.
The tridaṇḍa is the staff of three bound rods, the badge of renunciation; the kamaṇḍalu, the water-vessel; the strainer, lest one swallow a living creature; the śikhā, the tuft of hair on the crown; the yajñopavīta, the thread.
Seven objects, and by each of them one can tell who stands before you.
And now they are thrown into the waters with the cry of sacrifice: “bhūḥ, svāhā”.
Note that this is not a discarding. The cry svāhā is uttered at the libation into fire; the objects, then, are not thrown away but offered up.
Recall the seventh paragraph: when there is no fire, one pours into the waters, “for the waters are all the deities”. Here the same is done with the last things that remained.
And the conclusion: ātmānam anvicchet — “let him seek the Ātman”.
The verb anu-iṣ means “to seek after, to search out”. Only after everything by which a man marks himself has been given away does the search begin.
Such is the book's order: not first to find and then to cast off — first to cast off.