Upanishads · Parabrahma 1.3
॥
Devanāgarī
स नियच्छति मधुकरः श्वेव विकर्मकः । अकर्मा स्वामीव स्थितः । कर्मतरः कर्षकवत्फलमनुभवति
Transliteration (IAST)
sa niyacchati madhukaraḥ śveva vikarmakaḥ | akarmā svāmīva sthitaḥ | karmataraḥ karṣakavatphalamanubhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः नियच्छति मधुकरःsaḥ niyacchati madhukaraḥhe restrains [himself]; a bee
श्वा इव वि-कर्मकःśvā iva vi-karmakaḥlike a dog, disorderly in his deeds
अ-कर्मा स्वामी इव स्थितःa-karmā svāmī iva sthitaḥinactive, like a master, he stands
कर्म-तरः कर्षक-वत् फलम् अनुभवतिkarma-taraḥ karṣaka-vat phalam anubhavatiactive, like a farmer, tastes the fruit
Translation
He restrains [himself]: like a bee [gathering]; like a dog, disorderly in his deeds; like a master — inactive; like a farmer — active, tasting the fruit.
Version
f56250323a7d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The line is obscure, and must be examined through its similes, for it consists entirely of them: bee, dog, master, farmer. This list, apparently, is a roster of categories of people in relation to action; let us try to read it. Madhukara, "bee," gathers a little from everywhere and spoils nothing; and so in Vaiṣṇava books the renunciate's way of life is called mādhukarī, "bee-gathering of alms," when one takes a handful at several houses so as to burden no one.
Śvā, "dog," is called vikarmaka, "disorderly in his deeds": he seizes whatever he finds, wherever he finds it. Svāmī, "master," is called akarma, "inactive": he does not work, because others work for him, yet the house is still his. Kārṣaka, "farmer," is active and phalam anubhavati, "tastes the fruit": he worked — he received.
Four categories, and the whole rest of the book will be about which one the knower belongs to. The answer, as we shall see, is closest to the third: a master for whom others work — but with the difference that the true Master here is not him.