Upanishads · Parabrahma 15
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मात्सर्वप्रयत्नेन मोक्षापेक्षी भवेद्यतिः । बहिःसूत्रं परित्यज्य स्वान्तःसूत्रं तु धारयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
tasmātsarvaprayatnena mokṣāpekṣī bhavedyatiḥ | bahiḥsūtraṃ parityajya svāntaḥsūtraṃ tu dhārayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्मात् सर्व-प्रयत्नेनtasmāt sarva-prayatnenatherefore, with every effort
मोक्ष-अपेक्षी भवेत् यतिःmokṣa-apekṣī bhavet yatiḥlet the ascetic be one who seeks liberation
बहिः-सूत्रं परित्यज्यbahiḥ-sūtraṃ parityajyahaving abandoned the outer thread
स्व-अन्तः-सूत्रं तु धारयेत्sva-antaḥ-sūtraṃ tu dhārayetlet him wear his own inner thread
Translation
Therefore, with every effort, let the ascetic be one who seeks liberation: having abandoned the outer thread, let him wear his own inner thread.
Version
6d7cc012c4ec · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The last of the verses, and it sums up: one who has removed the outer wears the inner. It is worth noting the phrase sarva-prayatnena, "with every effort." It is placed with the word mokṣa-apekṣī, "seeking liberation"; that is, the effort required is not for removing the thread — that is a matter of a single minute — but for seeking.
This distinction matters and deserves stating. Outer renunciation happens at once and requires nothing but resolve; but that for whose sake it is done requires effort every day, to the end. This is why the Vaiṣṇava reading does not consider sannyāsa an accomplishment. It is a position, not a reward; and a person who has taken it finds himself not at the end of the path, but at its beginning — only now without what once distracted him.
Let us add about the phrase sva-antaḥ-sūtram, "one's own inner thread." The possessive here is no accident: the outer thread is given at a rite, while the inner is called one's own — that is, a person already has it, and it need not be acquired, but discovered and worn. This is what is meant in Vaiṣṇava books when the subject of svarūpa comes up: it is not acquired, but remembered.