Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 3p15
॥
Devanāgarī
षट्सहस्रलक्षगायत्रीजपफलमवाप्नोति । ब्रह्महत्यासुरापानस्वर्णस्तेयगुरुदारगमनतत्संयोगपातकेभ्यः पूतो भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
ṣaṭsahasralakṣagāyatrījapaphalamavāpnoti | brahmahatyāsurāpānasvarṇasteyagurudāragamanatatsaṃyogapātakebhyaḥ pūto bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
षट्-सहस्र-लक्ष-गायत्री-जप-फलम् अवाप्नोतिṣaṭ-sahasra-lakṣa-gāyatrī-japa-phalam avāpnotiobtains the fruit of six hundred thousand hundred-thousand repetitions of the gāyatrī
ब्रह्म-हत्या-सुरा-पान-brahma-hatyā-surā-pāna-from the killing of a brāhmaṇa, the drinking of liquor
स्वर्ण-स्तेय-गुरु-दार-गमन-svarṇa-steya-guru-dāra-gamana-the theft of gold, going to the teacher's wife
तत्-संयोग-पातकेभ्यः पूतः भवतिtat-saṃyoga-pātakebhyaḥ pūtaḥ bhavatiand from association with those who do these — becomes pure
Translation
One obtains the fruit of six hundred thousand hundred-thousand repetitions of the gāyatrī; one becomes pure from the killing of a brāhmaṇa, the drinking of liquor, the theft of gold, going to the teacher's wife, and from association with those who commit these.
Version
9935725b128f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The pañca-mahāpātaka, the five great sins, already discussed in the Bhasma-jābāla, are listed, and there is no need to repeat that examination. It is worth, however, looking at the fifth item of the list, for it recurs every time and every time stands apart: tat-saṃyoga, "association with them." The first four are deeds: one killed, drank, stole, seduced. The fifth is not a deed but proximity: keeping company with those who did this.
To place proximity on a level with murder is, to my mind, a grave error, and it must be said plainly, for much ill follows from it. If association with a sinner is itself a great sin, then anyone who needs help becomes contagious; and the first thing the pious do is withdraw. The basis for such a rule is understandable and not entirely empty. A person picks up habits from those he lives among, and every tradition, including the Vaiṣṇava, speaks of the harm of bad company: asat-saṅga-tyāga, "the abandonment of bad company," stands among Caitanya's chief instructions.
But there too a distinction is drawn without which the rule turns cruel. One should avoid company that pulls you down, not any person who has sinned; and the measure is not his condition but where you yourself are heading. Vaiṣṇava tradition itself has shown, in living figures, what to do with the fallen, and shown it sharply. Caitanya sent his own to Jagāi and Mādhāi — drunkards and brigands — and when they struck Nityānanda till he bled, Nityānanda asked mercy for them, and both were accepted.
This story is a direct answer to the fifth item of the list here. By the list, one should have withdrawn; by the story, one goes and takes a blow to the head.