तेजःपीठममृतपीठं रत्नपीठं जानीयात् । यो जानीते सोऽमृतत्वं च गच्छति । तस्मादेतां तुरीयां श्रीकामराजीयामेकादशधा भिन्नमेकाक्षरं ब्रह्मेति यो जानीते स तुरीयं पदं प्राप्नोति । य एवं वेदेति महोपनिषत्
tejaḥpīṭhamamṛtapīṭhaṃ ratnapīṭhaṃ jānīyāt | yo jānīte so'mṛtatvaṃ ca gacchati | tasmādetāṃ turīyāṃ śrīkāmarājīyāmekādaśadhā bhinnamekākṣaraṃ brahmeti yo jānīte sa turīyaṃ padaṃ prāpnoti | ya evaṃ vedeti mahopaniṣat
«…the seat of light, the seat of immortality, let him know the seat of jewels. Who knows, he attains immortality. Hence this fourth, Śrī-kāmarājīyā, the one-syllabled Brahman, divided elevenfold — who knows it attains the fourth place», — who knows thus: such is the great upaniṣad».
866f83b1bec2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The book ends with a list of seats: ākāśa-pīṭha, sparśana-pīṭha, tejaḥ-pīṭha, amṛta-pīṭha, ratna-pīṭha — the seat of space, of touch, of light, of immortality, and of jewels. The word pīṭha means «seat, footing, foundation»; and in a temple this is what an image stands on. The five seats are, then, five foundations, one upon another; and the last of them is ratna, «jewel».
This order deserves notice, for it moves from the most subtle to the most material. It began with space and ends with a precious stone; and this is the reverse of what one would expect from a book that has just bidden one exhaust sound and abandon the book. Vaishnava practice is not ashamed of such an order and explains it directly. A throne is made of stone and adorned with jewels not because one has not grown beyond the abstract, but because one is receiving a Guest (93); and to a guest one lays out the best thing in the house. The abstract receives no one and seats no one.
The last promise is turyam padam prāpnoti, «attains the fourth place». Not «becomes Brahman» and not «dissolves», but attains a place; and this verb, like everything best in this book, presupposes one who goes and a place he arrives at.