Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 1.7
॥
Devanāgarī
वेदोक्तेन प्रकारेण विना सत्यं तपोधन । कायेन मनसा वाचा हिंसाऽहिंसा न चान्यथा
Transliteration (IAST)
vedoktena prakāreṇa vinā satyaṃ tapodhana | kāyena manasā vācā hiṃsā'hiṃsā na cānyathā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वेद-उक्तेन प्रकारेणveda-uktena prakāreṇaapart from what is prescribed by the Veda
विना सत्यं तपः-धनvinā satyaṃ tapaḥ-dhanabesides truth, O wealthy in austerity
कायेन मनसा वाचाkāyena manasā vācāby body, mind, speech
हिंसा अ-हिंसा न च अन्यथाhiṃsā a-hiṃsā na ca anyathāharm — non-harm, and not otherwise
Translation
"Apart from what is prescribed by the Veda, O wealthy in austerity — harm by body, mind, and speech [is harm]; non-harming is nothing other [than abstaining from it]."
Version
d554e5d60f86 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A definition of non-harming is given, and in it are two matters: three fields and one exception. The three fields are named: kayena manasa vacha, "by body, mind, and speech." That is, harm is not only a deed; one can kill with a word, and wish evil in the mind.
This extension matters and deserves stating. A person who has struck no one, but who daily humiliates his household with words, does not, by this reckoning, keep the first yama; and anyone who credits himself for causing no bodily harm is deceiving himself by two-thirds. The second matter is the qualification veda-uktena prakarena vina, "apart from what is prescribed by the Veda," that is, apart from sacrificial slaughter.
This qualification must be spoken of honestly, not passed over. It is a concession to ritual antiquity: the Vedic sacrifices included the slaughter of animals, and a book honoring the Veda had to somehow reconcile this with non-harming. The Vaishnava side takes a definite position here, and it deserves naming. It does not perform sacrificial slaughter and abstains from meat entirely; and it explains this with the Bhagavatam's own words, where it is said that the injunctions on slaughter were given not to encourage it, but to restrain an already-existing custom by placing ritual restrictions upon it (11.5.11–13, where the reasoning runs: people eat meat and drink regardless, and so the injunctions direct this, rather than approve it).
It adds to this the general rule of our age, spoken of when reading the Bhasma-jabala: in the present age one rite alone is prescribed — sankirtana, congregational chanting — and it knows no sacrificial slaughter at all.