Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 30
॥
Devanāgarī
ज्योतिषं च यथा नात्मविषया अपि बुद्धयः । अथैषा परमा विद्या ययात्मा परमाक्षरम्
Transliteration (IAST)
jyotiṣaṃ ca yathā nātmaviṣayā api buddhayaḥ | athaiṣā paramā vidyā yayātmā paramākṣaram
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ज्योतिषं च यथाjyotiṣaṃ ca yathāand astronomy — thus
न आत्म-विषयाः अपि बुद्धयःna ātma-viṣayāḥ api buddhayaḥunderstandings that do not have the self as their object
अथ एषा परमा विद्याatha eṣā paramā vidyānow, this is the supreme science
यया आत्मा परम-अक्षरम्yayā ātmā parama-akṣaramby which the self, the supreme Imperishable, [is known]
Translation
"… and astronomy — thus. These understandings do not have the self as their object. Now, this is the supreme science, by which the self, the supreme Imperishable, [is known]."
Version
ff0f00b2bbf8 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The list of "lower" knowledge is summed up, and summed up precisely: na ātma-viṣayā api buddhayaḥ, "these understandings do not have the self as their object." Here lies the whole distinction, and it is not one of the sciences' worth, but of their subject matter. Grammar is not about the soul; the reckoning of time is not about the soul; ritual is not about the soul. They are not worse — they are about something else.
This distinction deserves being held firmly, for it is constantly violated in both directions. Some demand of science an answer to the question of the soul and are angered that it is absent; others reject science for not giving it. Both demand of it what it does not deal with.
The Vaiṣṇava side holds this rule and applies it to the disputes, of which there have been no few in her history. From the fact that scripture speaks of the soul, it does not follow that it gives the reckoning of the stars; and from the fact that the count of the stars has been refined, nothing follows about the soul. A separate word is worth saying about the word paramākṣara, "the supreme Imperishable." Akṣara means both "imperishable" and "syllable"; this ambiguity is constant in these books and is played upon every time. Here the first meaning stands: what does not wear out. And it is set against everything just listed: languages change, rituals are forgotten, the reckoning of time is refined — but the object of the supreme science does not age.