Upanishads · Parabrahma 12
॥
Devanāgarī
शिखा ज्ञानमयी यस्य उपवीतं च तन्मयम् । ब्राह्मण्यं सकलं तस्य नेतरेषां तु किंचन
Transliteration (IAST)
śikhā jñānamayī yasya upavītaṃ ca tanmayam | brāhmaṇyaṃ sakalaṃ tasya netareṣāṃ tu kiṃcana
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शिखा ज्ञान-मयी यस्यśikhā jñāna-mayī yasyawhose tuft is made of knowledge
उपवीतं च तत्-मयम्upavītaṃ ca tat-mayamand the thread, of the same
ब्राह्मण्यं सकलं तस्यbrāhmaṇyaṃ sakalaṃ tasyafor him, brahmin-hood, all of it
न इतरेषां तु किंचनna itareṣāṃ tu kiṃcanafor the others — none at all
Translation
For one whose tuft is made of knowledge, and the thread, of the same — brahmin-hood, all of it, is his; for the others — none at all.
Version
e5219fa3d6ac · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The assertion is repeated and sharpened: na itareṣāṃ tu kiṃcana, "for the others — none at all." Note this word. Not "less" and not "not fully," but — none at all; that is, one without knowledge has no brahmin-hood whatsoever, however much he wears on his shoulder.
This harshness is not rare in the upaniṣads, and we have met it more than once; but here it is pushed to its limit, and it is worth saying why such passages were written at all. They were written, I think, because the dispute was not abstract. The title of brahmin gave standing, income, and respect; and every time the title came apart from that for which it was given, people appeared who wrote lines like this. That is, before us is not philosophy, but denunciation, and it must be read as denunciation.
The Vaiṣṇava reading agrees with this denunciation and applies it first of all to itself. Note only that such passages are easily read with pleasure, aiming them at others; but they are written for the reader to apply to himself and ask: do I, behind the mark, have anything at all? If not — the line is spoken of me, not of my neighbor.