Upanishads · Bhāvanā p29
॥
Devanāgarī
बाह्याभ्यन्तःकरणानां रूपग्रहणयोग्यतास्त्त्वित्यावाहनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
bāhyābhyantaḥkaraṇānāṃ rūpagrahaṇayogyatāsttvityāvāhanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
बाह्य-अभ्यन्तः-करणानांbāhya-abhyantaḥ-karaṇānāṃof the outer and inner instruments
रूप-ग्रहण-योग्यता-अस्तित्वम्rūpa-grahaṇa-yogyatā-astitvamthe presence of a capacity to take on a form
इति आवाहनम्iti āvāhanamthis is invocation
Translation
The presence, in the outer and inner instruments, of a capacity to take on a form — this is invocation.
Version
8a66a0582c6b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The reinterpretation begins of the sixteen upacāra, "services," of which the worship of an image consists; and the first of them is āvāhana, "invocation." It was discussed when reading the Tripurā-tāpanī (61), and the main point was noted there: one invokes the one who may come or not come. Here it is explained differently: invocation is the capacity of the senses and mind to take on a form. That is, a deity is not invited to enter; rather, one discovers in oneself a readiness to receive.
This change is the most essential in the whole book, and it is worth saying so directly. The rite was addressed to another; after reinterpretation, it is addressed to oneself. All sixteen services now to be listed are no longer what is done for the guest, but what occurs within you.
The Vaiṣṇava side diverges from this method precisely here, and the divergence is not over a ritual trifle. A service without the one it is rendered to ceases to be a service and becomes an exercise; and an exercise, however refined, is not a relationship. Let us add that the book itself does not hide this difficulty and, in its penultimate lines, will name the goal devatā-ātma-aikya-siddhi, "the attainment of unity of the deity and oneself." That is, the object of worship and the worshiper are declared one — and hence in the reinterpretation everything turns to oneself. The consistency here is complete; the dispute is not about the consistency, but about the premise.