Upanishads · Garbha 8
॥
Devanāgarī
अशुभक्षयकर्तारं फलमुक्तिप्रदायकम् यदि योन्याः प्रमुच्ये ऽहं तत् प्रपद्ये नारायणम्
Transliteration (IAST)
aśubhakṣayakartāraṃ phalamuktipradāyakam yadi yonyāḥ pramucye 'haṃ tat prapadye nārāyaṇam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अशुभक्षयकर्तारम्aśubhakṣayakartāramthe worker of the destruction of evil; the destroyer of the inauspicious
फलमुक्तिप्रदायकम्phalamuktipradāyakamthe bestower of fruit and liberation; the giver of fruit and of freedom
यदि योन्याः प्रमुच्ये अहम्yadi yonyāḥ pramucye ahamif I am freed from the womb; should I come out of the womb
तत् प्रपद्ये नारायणम्tat prapadye nārāyaṇamthen I take refuge in Nārāyaṇa; then I resort to Nārāyaṇa
Translation
“To the worker of the destruction of evil, the bestower of fruit and liberation — if I come out of this womb, I will give myself to Nārāyaṇa.”
Version
fea205b68ecb · published Jul 29, 2026, 2:57:05 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second vow, and Nārāyaṇa is named in it.
The two epithets beside the name are worth taking apart, for they will be repeated in the next two verses as well.
Aśubha-kṣaya-kartṛ — “the worker of the destruction of evil”: he who annihilates the accumulated wrong. Phala-mukti-pradāyaka — “the bestower of fruit and liberation”.
The last is especially telling. Both are given: the fruit that is asked for, and the freedom that is not asked for.
We have met this measure in all the books translated here so far. The Rāma-tāpanī promised long life and progeny — and mokṣa in its first line; the Kaivalya listed dominion, the heavens, kaivalya and divinity.
Note too that the names in the four vows do not quarrel with one another. The previous named Maheśvara, this one Nārāyaṇa, and the epithets beside both are identical.
The Vaiṣṇava tradition, naturally, reads the second vow as its own; but the book does not allow it to be turned into an argument against the first. He who is in the womb calls on all whom he knows — and that is right for one who is drowning.