Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 1.4
॥
Devanāgarī
मुहुर्मुहुरभ्यर्च्य श्रीफलदलैस्तेन भस्मना च नतोत्तमाङ्गः कृताञ्जलिपुटः पप्रच्छाधीहि भगवन्वेदसारमुद्धृत्य त्रिपुण्ड्रविधिं यस्मादन्यानप्रेक्षमेव मोक्षोपलब्धिः
Transliteration (IAST)
muhurmuhurabhyarcya śrīphaladalaistena bhasmanā ca natottamāṅgaḥ kṛtāñjalipuṭaḥ papracchādhīhi bhagavanvedasāramuddhṛtya tripuṇḍravidhiṃ yasmādanyānaprekṣameva mokṣopalabdhiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मुहुः मुहुः अभ्यर्च्यmuhuḥ muhuḥ abhyarcyahaving honored again and again
श्री-फल-दलैः तेन भस्मना चśrī-phala-dalaiḥ tena bhasmanā cawith bilva-tree leaves and that ash
कृत-अञ्जलि-पुटः पप्रच्छkṛta-añjali-puṭaḥ papracchawith joined palms, asked
अधीहि भगवन् वेद-सारम् उद्धृत्यadhīhi bhagavan veda-sāram uddhṛtyateach, lord, having drawn out the essence of the Veda
त्रिपुण्ड्र-विधिंtripuṇḍra-vidhiṃthe rule of the tripuṇḍra
Translation
«Having honored again and again with bilva-tree leaves and that ash, bowing his head, with joined palms, he asked: teach, lord, having drawn out the essence of the Veda, the rule of the tripuṇḍra — for from it, without regard for anything else, liberation is attained».
Version
dfe3f615b471 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The question is asked, and in it there is a word worth attending to: veda-sāram uddhṛtya, «having drawn out the essence of the Veda». That is, the questioner asks not for new teaching but for an extract from what has already been given: the essence drawn from the whole. The word sāra means «core, essence, sap»; it is also «cream», that which is skimmed off. That is, cream is being asked for.
This request is usual in the upaniṣads and understandable: the Veda is vast, life is short, and everyone wants to know what in it matters most. Answers to such a request make up, in essence, all of this literature. Worth noting, however: in this book the answer to a request for the essence of the Veda will be a ritual — how to burn dung, how to keep the ash, where to place it. This is worth noting without mockery, for it shows what the book lives by.
The Vaishnava side answers the same request differently, and its answer is worth citing for comparison. The Bhāgavatam, asked the same thing — «what is the highest good for all people?» (1.1.9) — answers: sa vai puṃsāṃ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje, «the highest law for people is that from which devotion to the One beyond the senses is born» (1.2.6). One answers with substance, the other with relationship; and in this lies the whole difference that will occupy the pages ahead.