Upanishads · Gaṇapati 11.3
॥
Devanāgarī
इदमथर्वशीर्षमशिष्याय न देयम् । यो यदि मोहाद् दास्यति । स पापीयान् भवति । सहस्रावर्तनाद्यं यं काममधीते । तं तमनेन साधयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
idamatharvaśīrṣamaśiṣyāya na deyam | yo yadi mohād dāsyati | sa pāpīyān bhavati | sahasrāvartanādyaṃ yaṃ kāmamadhīte | taṃ tamanena sādhayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इदम् अथर्व-शीर्षम् अ-शिष्याय न देयम्idam atharva-śīrṣam a-śiṣyāya na deyamthis atharva-chapter must not be given to a non-pupil
यः यदि मोहात् दास्यतिyaḥ yadi mohāt dāsyatiwhoever, out of delusion, gives it
सः पापीयान् भवतिsaḥ pāpīyān bhavatibecomes very sinful
सहस्र-आवर्तनात् यं यं कामम् अधीतेsahasra-āvartanāt yaṃ yaṃ kāmam adhītefrom a thousand repetitions, whatever desire he studies for
तं तम् अनेन साधयेत्taṃ tam anena sādhayetthat he will accomplish by this
Translation
This atharva-chapter must not be given to a non-pupil; whoever, out of delusion, gives it, becomes very sinful. From a thousand repetitions — whatever he desires while studying, that he attains by this.
Version
6f6841a6230d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here are two subjects, and both demand to be stated plainly. The first is the prohibition on transmission. Aśiṣyāya na deyam, "not to be given to a non-pupil"; the giver is pāpīyān, "very sinful."
Let us say first what is sound in this, for something is. A word given to one who does not value it is devalued; and anyone who has told something dear to an indifferent person knows that not only the word is lost, but something in the teller as well. In old times this rule meant above all: do not cast pearls.
Let us also say what it turns into. Where knowledge is declared the property of a circle, the circle quickly begins to value not the knowledge but its own separateness; and the secret turns from a means of preservation into a means of power. The Vaiṣṇava side has both movements in itself and, it is worth noting, both in one book. The Gītā says: "this should not be spoken to one without austerity, nor to one without devotion, nor to one unwilling to hear, nor to one who reviles Me" (18.67). But immediately, in the very next verse: "whoever proclaims this highest secret to My devotees will come to Me, and none among men is dearer to Me" (18.68–69).
Comparing the two verses yields a rule absent from this book. The prohibition is addressed to the reviler and the unwilling; the command to disseminate, to the willing; and the highest praise is given not to the one who keeps but to the one who proclaims. Caitanya expressed the very same thing in a command, short and admitting no exceptions: yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa — "whomever you see, to him speak the teaching of Kṛṣṇa" (Madhya 7.128). After such a rule, the prohibition of this line cannot hold.
The second subject — sahasra-āvartanāt, "from a thousand repetitions" — any desire is fulfilled. This has already been discussed: where the fulfillment of any desire is promised, the mantra turns into an instrument, and the one to whom it is addressed into a means. And the very structure of the book resists this, for it has itself named its God devatā, that is, the one to whom one speaks, not the one one uses.