Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.64
॥
Devanāgarī
तन्मुक्तिस्थानम् । तत ओङ्काररूपम् । ततो मदर्पितकर्मणां मदाविष्टचेतसां मद्रूपता भवति । नान्येषमियं
Transliteration (IAST)
tanmuktisthānam | tata oṅkārarūpam | tato madarpitakarmaṇāṃ madāviṣṭacetasāṃ madrūpatā bhavati | nānyeṣamiyaṃ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् मुक्ति-स्थानम्tat mukti-sthānamthat is the place of liberation
ततः ओंकार-रूपम्tataḥ oṃkāra-rūpamthen, having the form of the oṃkāra
मत्-अर्पित-कर्मणांmat-arpita-karmaṇāṃfor those who have offered their deeds to me
मत्-आविष्ट-चेतसां मद्-रूपता भवतिmat-āviṣṭa-cetasāṃ mad-rūpatā bhavatifor those whose mind has entered me, my-formedness comes to be
न अन्येषाम् इयम्na anyeṣām iyamnot for others is this
Translation
«That is the place of liberation; then — having the form of the oṃkāra. Then, for those who have offered their deeds to me, for those whose mind has entered me, my-formedness comes to be; not for others is this».
Version
46d102acbc63 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Two words in this line nearly coincide word for word with the Gītā, and the coincidence is worth setting out. Mad-arpita-karmaṇām, «for those who have offered their deeds to me» — the Gītā says mayi sannyasya karmāṇi, «having renounced deeds unto Me» (3.30), and further «whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer — do it as an offering to Me» (9.27). Mad-āviṣṭa-cetasām, «for those whose mind has entered me» — the Gītā says mayy āveśita-cetasām, from the same root ā-viś, «to enter» (12.7).
But the main word here is the third: mad-rūpatā, «my-formedness», that is, the obtaining of a form like His. This word does not mean merger. It has a precise counterpart in the list of liberations — sārūpya, «likeness of form» — and there it stands not at the place of sāyujya, but earlier. To have His form and to be Him are different things, and the book has chosen the first.
The Vaishnava side affirms exactly this: the liberated one obtains a form like the Lord's, down to four arms, and remains another all the while — otherwise there would be no one to bear that form. The last two words, na anyeṣām iyam, «not for others is this», deserve, however, a qualification. This is said not of people of a different kind or birth, but of those who have not offered and not entered; and read this way it is beyond dispute: one who has not given cannot have what is given to the one who gives.