Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 49
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वशरीरे स्वयं ज्योतिःस्वरूपं सर्वसाक्षिणम् । क्षीणदोषाः प्रपश्यन्ति नेतरे माययावृताः
Transliteration (IAST)
svaśarīre svayaṃ jyotiḥsvarūpaṃ sarvasākṣiṇam | kṣīṇadoṣāḥ prapaśyanti netare māyayāvṛtāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्व-शरीरे स्वयं ज्योतिः-स्वरूपंsva-śarīre svayaṃ jyotiḥ-svarūpaṃin one's own body, of self-luminous form
सर्व-साक्षिणम्sarva-sākṣiṇamthe universal witness
क्षीण-दोषाः प्रपश्यन्तिkṣīṇa-doṣāḥ prapaśyantithose whose faults are worn away perceive
न इतरे मायया आवृताःna itare māyayā āvṛtāḥnot others, covered by māyā
Translation
"In one's own body, of self-luminous form, the universal witness — those whose faults are worn away perceive [him], not others, covered by māyā."
Version
196e71784694 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The condition of seeing is named, and named with a material word: kṣīṇa-doṣāḥ, "those whose faults are worn away." Doṣa means "fault, flaw, corruption"; in body-science it names three disorders, and in behavioral science, defects of character. Kṣīṇa — "worn away, diminished," as the moon wanes.
That is, it is not those who know much or those who have reflected much who see, but those whose faults have worn away; and the word chosen denotes gradual diminishing, not amputation. This position is constant in these books and deserves being stated directly, for it refutes a widespread misconception. Seeing is not a reward for intelligence: an intelligent but corrupt person will not see, while a simple and pure one will. The Gītā says: "knowledge is covered by ignorance, and hence beings are deluded" (5.15), and immediately adds that ignorance is destroyed not by sharpness of mind, but by being freed from it.
The Vaiṣṇava side adds to this her own rule, worth remembering by anyone reading such books. Understanding in this subject grows not from reading, but from a change of life; and one who has read much and not changed will understand ever worse, for he will begin to think he has understood. It is worth noting also that one sees sva-śarīre, "in one's own body." Not in the sky, not in a diagram, not in a holy place, but in one's own body; and this is, in essence, the one place a person always has with him.