Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 3p13
॥
Devanāgarī
सप्तद्वीपवती भूमिर्दक्षिणार्थं नावकल्पते । तस्माच्छ्रद्धया यां काञ्चिद्गां दद्यात्सा दक्षिणा भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
saptadvīpavatī bhūmirdakṣiṇārthaṃ nāvakalpate | tasmācchraddhayā yāṃ kāñcidgāṃ dadyātsā dakṣiṇā bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सप्त-द्वीपवती भूमिःsapta-dvīpavatī bhūmiḥthe earth of the seven continents
दक्षिणा-अर्थं न अवकल्पतेdakṣiṇā-arthaṃ na avakalpateis not fit as payment
तस्मात् श्रद्धयाtasmāt śraddhayātherefore, with faith
यां काञ्चित् गां दद्यात्yāṃ kāñcit gāṃ dadyātwhatever cow one gives
सा दक्षिणा भवतिsā dakṣiṇā bhavatithat becomes the payment
Translation
The earth of the seven continents is not fit as payment [for this teaching]. Therefore, whatever cow one gives with faith, that becomes the payment.
Version
e9b895ea875c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a second passage of this book worth all the rest, and it puts an end to the book's own reckoning. It is said: the whole earth with its seven continents na avakalpate, "is not fit" as payment. And then: give some cow or other śraddhayā, "with faith" — and that will be payment.
Between the two halves lies a reversal, and it deserves being stated plainly. A moment ago it was counting thousands and koṭi of cows; now it says even the whole earth is too little — and any one cow will do, so long as it is given with faith. That is, counting is declared unfit in both directions: it does not suffice as sufficient, nor is it necessary as necessary. Everything that can be counted is too little; and so what decides is not quantity but that with which it is given.
The word śraddhā means "faith, trust"; its root is the same as in the Latin credo, and means literally "to place the heart." Placing the heart — this is the one measure this book, in the end, recognizes. The Vaiṣṇava side is built entirely on this position, and it has a story that says the same thing in living figures. Sudāmā, Kṛṣṇa's poor classmate, goes to him at the palace, and all he has is a handful of flattened rice tied in a rag; he is ashamed of it and hides it, and Kṛṣṇa takes the bundle from him and eats (Bhāgavatam 10.80–81).
This story is, in substance, an exposition of the line here. The palace is full of everything; what is brought is nothing; and it is precisely that which is accepted. Hence it is worth saying that this book, for all its cumbersomeness, knows itself better than it seems. It counted koṭi of cows for thirty lines — and in the end admitted that none of this matters, and what matters is a handful, given with faith.