इति य इदमधीते सोऽपि कृतकृत्यो भवति । सुरापानात्पूतो भवति । स्वर्णस्तेयात्पूतो भवति । ब्रह्महत्यात्पूतो भवति । कृत्याकृत्यात्पूतो भवति । एवं विदित्वा स्वेच्छाचारपरो भूयादोंसत्य
iti ya idamadhīte so'pi kṛtakṛtyo bhavati | surāpānātpūto bhavati | svarṇasteyātpūto bhavati | brahmahatyātpūto bhavati | kṛtyākṛtyātpūto bhavati | evaṃ viditvā svecchācāraparo bhūyādoṃsatya
Whoever studies this, he too becomes one who has accomplished what was to be done; becomes pure from the drinking of wine, from the theft of gold, from the killing of a brahmin, from what was done and not done. Having thus known, let him become devoted to acting according to his own will — oṃ, truth. Such is the upaniṣad.
e43ee7f7dc10 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The book ends with words that must be stated plainly and without softening, for they must not be softened. It says: one who studies this is purified from the drinking of wine, the theft of gold, and the killing of a brahmin — that is, from three of the five "great falls," discussed when reading the Sūrya-upaniṣad (57). And then: sveccha-ācāra-paro bhūyāt, "let him become devoted to acting according to his own will."
The word sveccha-ācāra, "acting according to one's own wish," is a term of reproach in Vaiṣṇava books. It denotes exactly what all discipline stands against: doing whatever one pleases, citing one's own attainment. Let me say three things about this ending.
First. History has shown what such lines lead to. In India whole sects grew from them, in which, under the name of freedom, deeds were done that are called by their proper name in any court; and Vaiṣṇava teachers denounced them directly and by name. Second. This line contradicts the book itself. The twenty-fourth line commands the body to worship the deity, to bathe, and to gather alms; the twenty-third says that he holds to scripture for the sake of others; and 5p2 directly distinguishes one who is not stained from the mūḍha, the fool, who is stained by the very same thing. Read as a whole, the last line is overruled by the three before it.
Third, and chief. The promise of purification from killing a brahmin is given to the one who has studied — that is, to one who has read. And anyone can read; and if reading truly purified one of murder, this would be well known. This is why the Vaiṣṇava reading holds to the rule discussed when reading the Sūrya-upaniṣad (53): such promises are read as mercy to the repentant, not as a license granted in advance. One who says "I will sin, and read afterward" is exposed by these very words; but one who says "I have sinned, how am I to be purified" — to him they are spoken.
Let me sum up the book. It has passages that are excellent: the ocean receiving the rivers (7); "out of a desire for the world's good" (23); "let the mind contemplate Viṣṇu" (25); "my ignorance has fled somewhere" (28); "oh we" (31); and its final word — gratitude to scripture and teacher (32). And it has the haughtiness of its middle, and this ending, which I cannot accept and about which I have spoken.