Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.49
॥
Devanāgarī
क्षीरादिभिरेतैरभिषिच्य सर्वानवाप्नोति कामान् । इत्येकैकं महान्प्रस्थशतं महान्प्रस्थशतमानैः शतैरभिपूज्य मुक्तो भवति संसारबन्धनात्
Transliteration (IAST)
kṣīrādibhiretairabhiṣicya sarvānavāpnoti kāmān | ityekaikaṃ mahānprasthaśataṃ mahānprasthaśatamānaiḥ śatairabhipūjya mukto bhavati saṃsārabandhanāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
क्षीर-आदिभिः एतैः अभिषिच्यkṣīra-ādibhiḥ etaiḥ abhiṣicyahaving bathed [it] with milk and these other things
सर्वान् अवाप्नोति कामान्sarvān avāpnoti kāmānhe obtains all desires
इति एकैकं महा-प्रस्थ-शतम्iti ekaikaṃ mahā-prastha-śatamthus each, a hundred great measures
शतैः अभिपूज्यśataiḥ abhipūjyahaving honored with hundreds
मुक्तः भवति संसार-बन्धनात्muktaḥ bhavati saṃsāra-bandhanāthe becomes free from the bonds of the cycle
Translation
«Having bathed [it] with milk and these other things, he obtains all desires. Thus each — a hundred great measures; having honored with hundreds of great measures — he becomes free from the bonds of the cycle».
Version
eb4a1e3e5938 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A count begins, running for six lines straight: how much of what to pour, and what follows from it. The measure is called mahā-prastha, «great prastha»; the prastha is a measure of dry goods, about two liters, and a hundred such measures make a considerable cartload. This count is worth reading without flinching, for in it is expressed something usually kept hidden elsewhere. The rite is intended for desires, and the book does not conceal this: sarvān avāpnoti kāmān, «he obtains all desires».
The Vaishnava side knows such service too and calls it sa-kāma, «with desire», as distinct from niṣkāma, «desireless». And it does not reject it: the Gītā says directly that «whoever worships whatever deity with faith, in that faith I confirm him» (7.21–22), and that the thing desired is obtained. But immediately it adds what makes all the difference: antavat tu phalaṃ teṣām, «their fruit has an end» (7.23). A measure, a count, a cartload of grain give exactly as much as was put into them; and as what was invested runs out, so does what was gained.
Hence it is worth reading this list to its end. It will itself, on reaching the sixth line, set above all its measures something of which it will say: «from there one does not return» — and by this very fact acknowledge that all the preceding steps are returnable ones.