Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.57
॥
Devanāgarī
ततः काश्यां प्रयतैरेवाहमन्वहं पूज्यः । तत्र गणा रौद्रानना नानामुखा नानाशस्त्रधारिणो नानारूपधरा नानाचिह्निताः
Transliteration (IAST)
tataḥ kāśyāṃ prayatairevāhamanvahaṃ pūjyaḥ | tatra gaṇā raudrānanā nānāmukhā nānāśastradhāriṇo nānārūpadharā nānācihnitāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ततः काश्यां प्रयतैः एवtataḥ kāśyāṃ prayataiḥ evatherefore, in Kāśī, only by the purified
अहम् अन्वहम् पूज्यःaham anvaham pūjyaḥI must be worshipped daily
तत्र गणाः रौद्र-आननाःtatra gaṇāḥ raudra-ānanāḥthere [are] hosts with fierce faces
नाना-शस्त्र-धारिणः नाना-रूप-धराःnānā-śastra-dhāriṇaḥ nānā-rūpa-dharāḥbearing various weapons, taking various forms
Translation
«Therefore in Kāśī, only by the purified, I must be worshipped daily. There [are] hosts with fierce faces, with various faces, bearing various weapons, taking various forms, marked with various signs».
Version
6c09c4c95e85 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A description begins of what this city holds besides people: gaṇas, «hosts» — Śiva's retinue, beings with fierce and varied faces, armed. This description is not decoration but part of the matter. Behind it lies the conviction that a holy place is inhabited, and that one who lives there does not live alone; and if so, one must conduct oneself accordingly.
The Vaishnava side shares this conviction fully, and its books are full of the same: Vṛndāvana has its own inhabitants, Dvārakā its own, and tradition requires the newcomer to behave as in someone else's house, not on a vacant lot. There is one practical consequence here, and it matters more than the theological one. Whoever believes a place is inhabited does not litter in it, does not curse, and does not haggle there; and all the severity of the lines that follow grows precisely from this, not from malice.
The word prayata, «purified», from pra-yam, «to restrain oneself», deserves special note: purification here is named not as bathing but as self-restraint. One is pure not by washing, but by holding oneself.