Upanishads · Brahma 3.10
॥
Devanāgarī
स शिखीत्युच्यते विद्वानितरे केशधारिणः
Transliteration (IAST)
sa śikhītyucyate vidvānitare keśadhāriṇaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः शिखी इति उच्यते विद्वान्saḥ śikhī iti ucyate vidvānhe, the knower, is called “the tufted one”; the knowing one is named bearer of the śikhā
इतरे केशधारिणःitare keśadhāriṇaḥthe others are wearers of hair; the rest are mere hair-carriers
Translation
He, the knower, is called “the one with the tuft”; the others are merely wearers of hair.
Version
dcc7c6afa616 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:09:07 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The half-verse that closes the chapter, and it is the most biting in the book.
Two words are opposed: śikhin — “having the tuft” — and keśa-dhārin, “wearing hair”.
Keśa is simply hair, with no dignity about it. On the others' crowns, that is, there is no sign — only growth.
It is said sharply, and should not be softened. But one must see against whom it is said.
Not against the rite: against taking the sign for the substance. He who has the tuft and lacks the knowledge is here called hairy — and nothing more.
Note that the subject is vidvān, “the knower”. Not “the renouncer” and not “the yogin”: the knower.
The fourth chapter will repeat all this once more, but with an addition absent here: it will say that for those engaged in the rite the cord is obligatory.
That is the book's true measure: one thing for some, another for others, and no one called superfluous.