Upanishads · Garbha 10
॥
Devanāgarī
अशुभक्षयकर्तारं फलमुक्तिप्रदायकम् यदि योन्याः प्रमुञ्चामि ध्याये ब्रह्म सनातनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
aśubhakṣayakartāraṃ phalamuktipradāyakam yadi yonyāḥ pramuñcāmi dhyāye brahma sanātanam
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 प्रमुञ्चामिyadi yonyāḥ pramuñcāmiif I come out of the womb; should I get free of the womb
ध्याये ब्रह्म सनातनम्dhyāye brahma sanātanamI will contemplate the eternal Brahman; I will meditate on the everlasting Brahman
Translation
“To the worker of the destruction of evil, the bestower of fruit and liberation — if I come out of this womb, I will contemplate the eternal Brahman.”
Version
8a3cc001b875 · published Jul 29, 2026, 2:57:05 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth and last vow: dhyāye brahma sanātanam — “I will contemplate the eternal Brahman”.
The four vows, gathered together, give the whole map of what men turn to: Śiva, Nārāyaṇa, a teaching, Brahman.
A person, a person, a path, and That which is beyond the names.
The word sanātana is “everlasting”; from it comes sanātana-dharma, by which the tradition names itself.
And here something must be said about what comes next, or the verses will seem to end well.
The next section will say: he was born — and forgot everything.
That is why these four verses were written. They are not a promise that will be kept; they are what a man knew before birth and lost in the very first instant.
The one reading them is the very one who once pronounced them.