Upanishads · Kaṭharudra 5
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मचर्येण सन्तिष्ठेदप्रमादेन मस्करी । दर्शनं स्पर्शनं केलिः कीर्तनं गुह्यभाषणम्
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmacaryeṇa santiṣṭhedapramādena maskarī | darśanaṃ sparśanaṃ keliḥ kīrtanaṃ guhyabhāṣaṇam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्मचर्येण सन्तिष्ठेत्brahmacaryeṇa santiṣṭhetin celibacy let him abide
अ-प्रमादेन मस्करीa-pramādena maskarīwithout negligence, the staff-bearer
दर्शनं स्पर्शनं केलिःdarśanaṃ sparśanaṃ keliḥseeing, touching, playing
कीर्तनं गुह्य-भाषणम्kīrtanaṃ guhya-bhāṣaṇampraising, secret conversation
Translation
In celibacy let him abide, without negligence, the staff-bearer. Seeing, touching, playing, praising, secret conversation …
Version
13e592e71dc7 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A list begins that is famous in these books, and deserves it: eight steps by which a person arrives at what he avoids. The first five are named here: darśana, "seeing" — one looked; sparśana, "touching" — one touched; keli, "playing" — one joked; kīrtana, "praising" — one praised aloud; guhya-bhāṣaṇa, "secret conversation" — one spoke alone. It is worth noting the construction of the list. It begins not with an act, but with a glance; and each following step is not noticeably more frightening than the previous one. No one moves from the first to the eighth in one leap; one moves one step at a time, and every step seems innocent.
Herein lies the whole force of the observation. A person usually supposes he will hold firm, because he does not intend the last step; and the list says: the last is not chosen — one arrives at it, and everything is decided much earlier, at the second or third step, where retreat is still easy and therefore seems unnecessary. A separate word is worth saying about the word maskarin, "staff-bearer," by which the renounced is named. Pāṇini explains it thus: not because he carries a staff, but because he says mā kṛṣṭa karmāṇi, "do not perform deeds." Both interpretations stand together, and both are fine: one has the staff in hand, the other the word on his lips.