Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.60
॥
Devanāgarī
दक्षिणायां दिशि मुक्तिस्थानं तन्मुक्तिमण्डपसंज्ञितम् । तत्रानेकगणाः पालकाः सायुधाः पापघातकाः
Transliteration (IAST)
dakṣiṇāyāṃ diśi muktisthānaṃ tanmuktimaṇḍapasaṃjñitam | tatrānekagaṇāḥ pālakāḥ sāyudhāḥ pāpaghātakāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दक्षिणायां दिशि मुक्ति-स्थानंdakṣiṇāyāṃ diśi mukti-sthānaṃin the southern quarter, the place of liberation
तत् मुक्ति-मण्डप-संज्ञितम्tat mukti-maṇḍapa-saṃjñitamit is called the pavilion of liberation
तत्र अनेक-गणाः पालकाःtatra aneka-gaṇāḥ pālakāḥthere, many hosts — guardians
स-आयुधाः पाप-घातकाःsa-āyudhāḥ pāpa-ghātakāḥarmed, destroyers of sin
Translation
«In the southern quarter — the place of liberation; it is called the pavilion of liberation. There, many hosts — guardians, armed, destroyers of sin».
Version
f35a088f68b2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
At the place of liberation a guard is posted: armed hosts, called pāpa-ghātakāḥ, «destroyers of sin». This word is ambiguous, and the ambiguity deserves unpacking, for it rests not on wordplay but on the substance of the matter. Pāpa-ghātaka can be read as «destroying sin» and as «slaying the sinner»; the compound in Sanskrit allows both readings, and the book does not choose.
The difference between these two occupations is, to my mind, among the most important differences in any code. To destroy sin means to free a person from what holds him; to kill the sinner means to remove the person together with what holds him. The first requires patience and discernment: the person must be separated from his deed. The second is simple, and so tempting: nothing needs to be separated.
The Vaishnava side makes this very distinction its foundation and states it directly: «hate the sin, not the sinner» — a rule applied in its books even to demons, for even those slain by the Lord receive good. Hence the guard at the gates raises a question worth asking without fear of seeming impudent. If liberation is granted according to worth, the guard is superfluous — the unworthy will not get through on his own; but if a guard is needed, the matter is decided not by worth but by admission.