Upanishads · Brahma 3.3
॥
Devanāgarī
सशिखं वपनं कृत्वा बहिःसूत्रं त्यजेद्बुधः । यदक्षरं परं ब्रह्म तत्सूत्रमिति धारयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
saśikhaṃ vapanaṃ kṛtvā bahiḥsūtraṃ tyajedbudhaḥ | yadakṣaraṃ paraṃ brahma tatsūtramiti dhārayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सशिखम् वपनम् कृत्वाsaśikham vapanam kṛtvāhaving shaved together with the tuft; having shorn the head, śikhā and all
बहिःसूत्रम् त्यजेत् बुधःbahiḥsūtram tyajet budhaḥlet the wise one leave the outer thread; let the discerning lay down the outward cord
यत् अक्षरम् परम् ब्रह्मyat akṣaram param brahmathat imperishable, the highest Brahman; the undecaying, the supreme Brahman
तत् सूत्रम् इति धारयेत्tat sūtram iti dhārayetlet him wear that as his thread; let him bear that as his cord
Translation
Having shaved his head together with the tuft, let the wise one leave the outer thread; and that imperishable, the highest Brahman, let him wear as his thread.
Version
63f2b3e6d8f3 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:09:07 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is said plainly: remove the outer thread, together with the tuft of hair.
Saśikhaṃ vapanam — “shaving together with the śikhā”: the rite of the renouncer, who shaves off even that crown-tuft by which the twice-born is known.
We read this in the eleventh paragraph of the Jābāla, where the wanderer's whole property — staff, vessel, strainer, tuft and thread — was cast into the waters with the cry “svāhā”.
Here is the same, and here too is given what replaces it: yad akṣaraṃ paraṃ brahma tat sūtram iti dhārayet — “that imperishable, the highest Brahman, let him wear as his thread”.
Note the verb: dhārayet — “let him wear”. The same used of the cord on the shoulder.
The replacement, that is, is no abolition. The wearing does not cease; what is worn changes.
And further: it says budhaḥ — “the wise one”. Not “the renounced” and not “the initiated”: the one who has understood.
The next verse will explain the very word “sūtra” by its root.