Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ भुसुण्डो जाबालो महादेवं साम्बं प्रणम्य पुनः पप्रच्छ किं नित्यं ब्राह्मणानां कर्तव्यं यदकरणे प्रत्यवैति ब्राह्मणः
Transliteration (IAST)
atha bhusuṇḍo jābālo mahādevaṃ sāmbaṃ praṇamya punaḥ papraccha kiṃ nityaṃ brāhmaṇānāṃ kartavyaṃ yadakaraṇe pratyavaiti brāhmaṇaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ भुसुण्डः जाबालःatha bhusuṇḍaḥ jābālaḥthen Bhusuṇḍa Jābāla
महादेवं साम्बं प्रणम्यmahādevaṃ sāmbaṃ praṇamyahaving honored Mahādeva with Umā
पुनः पप्रच्छpunaḥ papracchaagain asked
किं नित्यं ब्राह्मणानां कर्तव्यंkiṃ nityaṃ brāhmaṇānāṃ kartavyaṃwhat must constantly be done by brahmins?
Translation
«Then Bhusuṇḍa Jābāla, having honored Mahādeva with Umā, again asked: what must constantly be done by brahmins, not doing which a brahmin suffers loss?»
Version
0d4c68a47f9b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The second chapter begins, and it will be four times the length of the first; its subject is worship and Kāśī. The question is again put on caste terms: «what must be done by brahmins»; and how to regard this was said when reading the first chapter (1.18). Worth noting, however, how this question differs from the first. There the question was about substance — what the ash is made of, where to apply it. Here the question is: kaḥ pūjanīyaḥ, «who is to be worshipped?»; ko vā dhyeyaḥ, «who is to be meditated upon?»; kaḥ smartavyaḥ, «who is to be remembered?».
That is, the question has shifted from thing to person; and this is a change, not a continuation. This shift, in the structure of the book, deserves attention. The first chapter could have gone on without any name at all: it described how to do. The second cannot do without a name: «who» has been asked, and a name must be given.
The Vaishnava side considers this distinction the chief one and states it directly. A rite can be performed without knowing to whom; service cannot. And so in all its books the question is put exactly as here: to whom?
Worth adding that here too the one honored is sāmba, «with Umā»; and that the Highest in these books is not alone was discussed when reading the first chapter (1.28).