Upanishads · Parabrahma 1.8
॥
Devanāgarī
यथैष देवदत्तो यष्ट्या च ताड्यमानो नैवैति । एवमिष्टापूर्तकर्मशुभाशुभैर्न लिप्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
yathaiṣa devadatto yaṣṭyā ca tāḍyamāno naivaiti | evamiṣṭāpūrtakarmaśubhāśubhairna lipyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथा एषः देवदत्तःyathā eṣaḥ devadattaḥas this Devadatta
यष्ट्या च ताड्यमानःyaṣṭyā ca tāḍyamānaḥand being beaten by a stick
न एव एतिna eva etidoes not go at all
एवम् इष्टा-पूर्त-कर्म-शुभ-अ-शुभैःevam iṣṭā-pūrta-karma-śubha-a-śubhaiḥso, by deeds of sacrifice and charity, good and bad
न लिप्यतेna lipyateis not stained
Translation
As Devadatta, being beaten by a stick, does not go [while asleep] — so he is not stained by sacrifices, by good deeds, nor by good or bad deeds.
Version
4482067649e5 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The simile is taken from ordinary observation, one familiar to everyone: a sleeping person can be struck, and he will not get up. The image is harsh but precise. A deeply sleeping person is shaken, called, pushed — he does not respond; and this is not because he is patient, but because he is not there: he has gone to the nest discussed in the line above.
The application is transparent: as a stick does not reach the sleeper, so deeds do not reach one who has attained — neither good nor bad. It is worth noting, however, that this simile, like every one, has a limit, and that limit matters. The sleeper does not respond to the stick, but the bruises remain; on waking, he will find them. So too with deeds: non-involvement in the fruit does not abolish the consequences in the body and in the world, and the book itself will say so elsewhere.
This is why the Vaiṣṇava reading holds that "not stained" applies to the soul, not to circumstances. The Gītā says in the same words: "as a lotus leaf is not wetted by water, so one who does deeds, having offered them to brahman, is not stained by sin" (5.10). Note: the leaf is not wetted, yet water is on it; and it is still in the pond, not above it.