Upanishads · Kaṭharudra 2
॥
Devanāgarī
पवित्रं ज्ञानशाटीं च उत्तरासङ्गमेव च । यज्ञोपवीतं वेदांश्च सर्वं तद्वर्जयेद्यतिः
Transliteration (IAST)
pavitraṃ jñānaśāṭīṃ ca uttarāsaṅgameva ca | yajñopavītaṃ vedāṃśca sarvaṃ tadvarjayedyatiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पवित्रं ज्ञान-शाटीं चpavitraṃ jñāna-śāṭīṃ cathe purifying grass and the garment of knowledge
उत्तर-आसङ्गम् एव चuttara-āsaṅgam eva caand likewise the upper covering
यज्ञोपवीतं वेदान् चyajñopavītaṃ vedān cathe sacred thread and the Vedas
सर्वं तत् वर्जयेत् यतिःsarvaṃ tat varjayet yatiḥall this let the ascetic abandon
Translation
The purifying grass, the garment of knowledge, and the upper covering, the sacred thread and the Vedas — all this let the ascetic abandon.
Version
f2a73edc7bd4 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a line that cannot pass without comment: it commands abandoning not only the thread, but the Vedas. This is said directly, and there is nothing to soften. Both the mark of caste and the very books by which one studied must be left behind.
This can be understood two ways, and both readings are worth examining. By the first, it concerns the cessation of rites: the Veda for a householder is above all a guide to sacrifice, and one who no longer offers sacrifices no longer needs it. By the second, it concerns the cessation of study as an occupation: the renounced does not sit over books, for the time of study has ended.
The Vaiṣṇava side accepts neither fully, and here is why. The Veda, for her, is not only the code of sacrifice, but the word about Him; and the word about Him is not abandoned, for one lives by it. The Bhāgavatam speaks of Śuka, who was detached from everything from birth and yet learned the Bhāgavatam and told it (1.7.10); that is, the highest detachment there does not cancel hearing and narration, but becomes their condition.
A separate word is worth saying about the phrase jñāna-śāṭī, "the garment of knowledge." What it means precisely is disputed among commentators; apparently a piece of cloth used to cover oneself while reading. It is curious that even this made it onto the list of what is cast off: everything that was an accessory of learning is abandoned together with the learning.