Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 101
॥
Devanāgarī
पशवोऽपशवस्तापसो न तापसः पौल्कसो न पौल्कसो विप्रा न विप्राः । स इत्येकमेव परं ब्रह्म विभ्राजते निर्वाणम् । न तत्र देवा ऋषयः पितर ईशते प्रतिबुद्धः सर्वविद्येति । तत्रैते श्लोका भवन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
paśavo'paśavastāpaso na tāpasaḥ paulkaso na paulkaso viprā na viprāḥ | sa ityekameva paraṃ brahma vibhrājate nirvāṇam | na tatra devā ṛṣayaḥ pitara īśate pratibuddhaḥ sarvavidyeti | tatraite ślokā bhavanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पशवः अ-पशवःpaśavaḥ a-paśavaḥneither cattle nor non-cattle
तापसः न तापसःtāpasaḥ na tāpasaḥneither ascetic nor non-ascetic
पौल्कसः न पौल्कसःpaulkasaḥ na paulkasaḥneither outcast nor non-outcast
विप्राः न विप्राःviprāḥ na viprāḥneither brahmins nor non-brahmins
एकम् एव परं ब्रह्म विभ्राजतेekam eva paraṃ brahma vibhrājatethe one, the highest Brahman alone, shines
Translation
«…neither cattle nor non-cattle; neither ascetic nor non-ascetic; neither outcast nor non-outcast; neither brahmins nor non-brahmins. He, the one, the highest Brahman alone, shines, nirvāṇa. There neither gods, nor seers, nor ancestors hold sway: [only] the awakened, all-knowing».
Version
740fe2160f83 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The line lists what is not there, and among this list stands a pair one cannot pass by in silence: paulkasa and vipra, «outcast» and «brahmin». Paulkasa in the old books is the name of one of the most despised classes — those given neither water nor fire. And it is said that neither he nor a brahmin is there.
This is said without any emphasis, between cattle and gods — and thereby it is stronger still. The distinction on which the whole social order of India was built, and for the sake of which people bore untold suffering for centuries, is declared not to exist there, where one is going. From this follows what Vaishnava teachers said directly and for which they were disliked. If these distinctions do not hold at the limit, they are not properties of the soul; and if they are not properties of the soul, then even here they cannot decide who is permitted to approach God. The Bhāgavatam says that «even one born a dog-eater» becomes at once fit for sacrifice, if he has devotion (3.33.7); Caitanya received Muslims and untouchables into his circle, and in this did not depart from scripture, but followed it.
Let us add too the word pratibuddha, «awakened», with which the line ends. Where nothing holds sway — neither gods, nor seers, nor ancestors — there is, nonetheless, the awakened one; that is, authority is annulled, not the person. The order of precedence ends, and the one who has woken remains; and this again is exactly what was said one line above.