Upanishads · Avadhūta 31
॥
Devanāgarī
अहो पुण्यमहो पुण्यं फलितं फलितं दृढम् । अस्य पुण्यस्य सम्पत्तेरहो वयमहो वयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
aho puṇyamaho puṇyaṃ phalitaṃ phalitaṃ dṛḍham | asya puṇyasya sampatteraho vayamaho vayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अहो पुण्यम् अहो पुण्यंaho puṇyam aho puṇyaṃoh merit, oh merit
फलितं फलितं दृढम्phalitaṃ phalitaṃ dṛḍhamhas borne fruit, has borne fruit firmly
अस्य पुण्यस्य सम्पत्तेःasya puṇyasya sampatteḥfrom the acquisition of this merit
अहो वयम् अहो वयम्aho vayam aho vayamoh we, oh we
Translation
Oh merit, oh merit — has borne fruit, has borne fruit firmly! From the acquisition of this merit — oh we, oh we!
Version
853609c05fb0 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
This line is notable for being the first time in the whole book that the plural appears: aho vayam, "oh we." Note the change. The entire speech has run in the first-person singular: I do not act, I do not desire, blessed am I. And suddenly — "we."
This change seems to me the most significant in the whole book, and here is why. Jubilation alone soon runs dry; joy seeks someone to share with — and finds them, even if the speaker was alone. The word "we" burst from him on its own, and it testifies to what the whole book had not acknowledged until now: that joy is never solitary.
The second word worth noting: puṇya, "merit." All the jubilation is traced not to his own attainment, but to a merit that phalitam, "has borne fruit." That is, the speaker does not credit himself with the success: he says that something sown earlier has ripened.
The Vaiṣṇava reading accepts both observations gladly. "We" is the first sign that a person has stepped outside himself; and "the merit has borne fruit" is an acknowledgment that the fruit is given, not taken. Both are said not as teaching, but burst out — and so can be trusted.