Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.42
॥
Devanāgarī
तं मोचयामि संसृतिपाशात् । अहरहरभ्यर्च्य विश्वेश्वरं लिङ्गं तत्र रुद्रसूक्तैरभिषिच्य तदेव स्नपनपयस्त्रिः पीत्वा महापातकेभ्यो मुच्यते । न शोकमाप्नोति । मुच्यते संसारबन्धनात्
Transliteration (IAST)
taṃ mocayāmi saṃsṛtipāśāt | aharaharabhyarcya viśveśvaraṃ liṅgaṃ tatra rudrasūktairabhiṣicya tadeva snapanapayastriḥ pītvā mahāpātakebhyo mucyate | na śokamāpnoti | mucyate saṃsārabandhanāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तं मोचयामि संसृति-पाशात्taṃ mocayāmi saṃsṛti-pāśātI release him from the bonds of the cycle
अहः अहः अभ्यर्च्य विश्वेश्वरं लिङ्गंahaḥ ahaḥ abhyarcya viśveśvaraṃ liṅgaṃhaving worshipped the liṅga of the Lord of the universe day after day
तत् एव स्नपन-पयः त्रिः पीत्वाtat eva snapana-payaḥ triḥ pītvāhaving drunk that bathing-water three times
महा-पातकेभ्यः मुच्यतेmahā-pātakebhyaḥ mucyatehe is released from great sins
Translation
«I release him from the bonds of the cycle. Having worshipped the liṅga of the Lord of the universe day after day, having washed it with hymns to Rudra, having drunk that bathing-water three times — he is released from great sins; he knows no grief; he is released from the bonds of the cycle».
Version
05357fc4dc99 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It is said tam mocayāmi, «I release him», in the first person. Worth noting this, for it continues what came before and forms a pair with it. There: «that I partake of»; here: «him I release».
Two verbs, both transitive, and both in the first person: I take, and I let go. And here lies exactly what the Vaishnava side calls its own and what is here said by another. Release is described not as a consequence of a rite, but as the act of the One who is served.
The difference between these two understandings is, in essence, the whole difference between a mechanism and a person. A mechanism has no verb in the first person: it does not say «I release»; it operates. Separately worth mentioning is snapana-payas, «the bathing-water», which is drunk. This same custom exists in Vaishnava practice and is called caraṇāmṛta, «the nectar of the feet»: the water with which the image was bathed is distributed and drunk.
This custom seems strange from outside, but the explanation is simple. One drinks not the water, but what it touched; and anyone who has kept a letter or worn a possession belonging to someone dear will understand this without explanation.