Upanishads · Garbha 9
॥
Devanāgarī
अशुभक्षयकर्तारं फलमुक्तिप्रदायकम् यदि योन्याः प्रमुच्ये ऽहं तत् सांख्यं योगम् अभ्यसे
Transliteration (IAST)
aśubhakṣayakartāraṃ phalamuktipradāyakam yadi yonyāḥ pramucye 'haṃ tat sāṃkhyaṃ yogam abhyase
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 सांख्यम् योगम् अभ्यसेtat sāṃkhyam yogam abhyasethen I will practise sāṅkhya and yoga; then I will apply myself to sāṅkhya and yoga
Translation
“To the worker of the destruction of evil, the bestower of fruit and liberation — if I come out of this womb, I will practise sāṅkhya and yoga.”
Version
f8f01a3c6e06 · published Jul 29, 2026, 2:57:05 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third vow, and it is the only one where not a person but a teaching is named: sāṅkhyaṃ yogam abhyase.
Sāṅkhya is the counting of the principles, the analysis of what the world is made of; yoga is the bridling of the mind. The Gītā speaks of them as two paths leading to one place.
The verb abhyase — “I will practise”, from abhyāsa, “repeated doing”. Not “I will give myself”, as in the two previous verses, but “I will do”.
The difference between the vows is visible right here. To a person one resorts; to a teaching one applies oneself.
Note that the epithets in this verse are left as before — “destroying the inauspicious, bestowing fruit and liberation”. In transmission they have evidently been repeated mechanically: sāṅkhya and yoga have no person to whom they could be ascribed.
This is one of those places where the text is most likely slightly corrupted by repetition; I will not pretend to see a subtle design here.
The general point matters more: all the known means are listed, and listed in a row, without dispute. He who is in the strait does not sort schools.