Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 1.13
॥
Devanāgarī
यत्तु पौरुषयत्नेन कृतं तन्मध्यमं भवेत् । समान्स्निग्धान्दृढान्स्थूलान्क्षौमसूत्रेण धारयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
yattu pauruṣayatnena kṛtaṃ tanmadhyamaṃ bhavet | samānsnigdhāndṛḍhānsthūlānkṣaumasūtreṇa dhārayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत् तु पौरुष-यत्नेन कृतंyat tu pauruṣa-yatnena kṛtaṃand what is made by human effort
तत् मध्यमं भवेत्tat madhyamaṃ bhavetlet that be middling
समान् स्निग्धान् दृढान् स्थूलान्samān snigdhān dṛḍhān sthūlāneven, smooth, firm, large
क्षौम-सूत्रेण धारयेत्kṣauma-sūtreṇa dhārayetlet him wear with a linen thread
Translation
And what is made by human effort — let that be middling. Even, smooth, firm, large — let him wear it on a linen thread.
Version
38c9bcfa876d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Pauruṣa-yatna, "human effort," is named and assessed: it yields the middling. This assessment is worth examining, for it sits between two extremes people usually fall into. One extreme is to think everything is done by effort: as much as you labored, so much you get. The other is to think effort is not needed at all, since everything is given freely, and one need only wait.
Here a third thing is said: effort is real, but not highest. A drilled seed is fit, it is worn, it is not rejected; it is simply lower than one that came out ready-made. The Vaiṣṇava side holds the same relation and expresses it through two kinds of service. There is sādhana, "means" — what a person does: hears, repeats, serves; and there is kṛpā, grace, which follows from nothing. The first is obligatory, the second unconditioned; and the connection between them is such that one must do, but must not calculate.
The comparison usually given here is simple and good. A farmer plows and sows, but does not make the rain; and yet one who has not plowed will gather nothing, however much it rains. The linen thread, kṣauma-sūtra, is named, apparently, because plant fiber is considered purer than animal; but the book does not explain this, and we shall not think it through on its behalf.