Upanishads · Kaṭharudra 33
॥
Devanāgarī
यस्माच्छ्रोत्रत्वगक्ष्यादिखादिकर्मेन्द्रियाणि च । व्यावृत्तानि परं प्राप्तुं न समर्थानि तानि तु
Transliteration (IAST)
yasmācchrotratvagakṣyādikhādikarmendriyāṇi ca | vyāvṛttāni paraṃ prāptuṃ na samarthāni tāni tu
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यस्मात् श्रोत्र-त्वक्-अक्षि-आदिyasmāt śrotra-tvak-akṣi-ādifor hearing, skin, eye, and the rest
ख-आदि-कर्म-इन्द्रियाणि चkha-ādi-karma-indriyāṇi caand the active senses of speech and the rest
व्यावृत्तानि परं प्राप्तुंvyāvṛttāni paraṃ prāptuṃturned away, to attain the supreme
न समर्थानि तानि तुna samarthāni tāni tuthey are not capable
Translation
For hearing, skin, eye, and the rest, and the active senses of speech and the rest, turned away, are not capable of attaining the supreme.
Version
25769e6ae1fb · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is said of the senses: they are na samarthāni, "not capable" of attaining the supreme. This position is common in these books, and the Vaiṣṇava side accepts it without qualification. The eye sees color, the ear hears sound, the skin feels touch; and each sense is built for its own object, and does not stray into another's. One will not see with an ear, and no effort will help there.
Different conclusions are drawn from this, however, and it is worth saying which is drawn here, and which in bhakti. By this verse it follows: since the senses cannot attain it, one must turn away from them, vyāvṛtta. A path inward is offered, bypassing the senses.
The Vaiṣṇava side answers the same thing differently, and her answer is better verified by experience. The senses truly cannot reach Him — but He Himself can become accessible to sense. The Bhāgavatam says directly: the senses cannot comprehend Him, but He appears to them when He wishes; and hence in bhakti the senses are not turned away, but turned toward — the eyes are given a form, the ears a name, the tongue consecrated food.
The difference between the two solutions is seen in a simple comparison. A blind man can be told to stop looking, or he can be shown something he is able to feel. The first is honest, but leaves him with nothing; the second requires that someone come and place the thing in his hand — and so is possible only where there is someone to come.