Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 1.18
॥
Devanāgarī
वेदादेव विनिर्मोक्षः संसारस्य न चान्यथा । इति विज्ञाननिष्पत्तिर्धृतिः प्रोक्ता हि वैदिकैः । अहमात्मा न चान्योऽस्मीत्येवमप्रच्युता मतिः
Transliteration (IAST)
vedādeva vinirmokṣaḥ saṃsārasya na cānyathā | iti vijñānaniṣpattirdhṛtiḥ proktā hi vaidikaiḥ | ahamātmā na cānyo'smītyevamapracyutā matiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वेदात् एव विनिर्मोक्षःvedāt eva vinirmokṣaḥfrom the Veda alone, deliverance
संसारस्य न च अन्यथाsaṃsārasya na ca anyathāfrom the cycle, and not otherwise
इति विज्ञान-निष्पत्तिःiti vijñāna-niṣpattiḥsuch a ripening of understanding
धृतिः प्रोक्ता हि वैदिकैःdhṛtiḥ proktā hi vaidikaiḥis called steadfastness by knowers of the Veda
अहम् आत्माaham ātmāI am the self
न च अन्यः अस्मिna ca anyaḥ asmiand not other am I
Translation
"'From the Veda alone [comes] deliverance from the cycle, and not otherwise' — such a ripened understanding is called steadfastness by knowers of the Veda; [and further:] 'I am the self, and not other' — such an unfalling understanding."
Version
74ee6d710f3a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Dhriti, "steadfastness," is defined as vijnana-nishpatti, "the ripening of understanding," and as aprachyuta matih, "an understanding that does not fall away." The word aprachyuta is from the same root as achyuta, "the unfallen," one of the names of Vishnu: a-chyu, "not to shift, not to slip." This definition deserves examination, because steadfastness here is understood not as strength of character, but as stability of conviction.
This is something familiar to everyone in life. A person, while reading or listening, assents, and at that moment is entirely convinced; but a day later, amid affairs, the conviction slips, and he lives as though he had heard nothing. This very slipping is prachyuti; and steadfastness is what stands against it.
The book does not name the means of attaining this, but the Vaishnava side names it, and names it directly: repetition and company. Conviction is upheld not by the force of a first impression, but by its daily confirmation; and hence in its practice the chief means are named shravanam ("hearing") and sadhu-sanga ("the company of those on the same path"). The ground here is not mystical but observable. A person thinks as those around whom he lives think; and anyone who has tried to hold a conviction alone, among people of an opposite temper, knows what this costs and how seldom it succeeds.
The second half of the line — aham atma na chanyo'smi, "I am the self, and not other am I" — is again a raising to the ground, of the kind spoken of above. Only this deserves noting: here too the assertion stands in the first person: "I am," not "there is no I at all"; and the difference between these two statements is not merely grammatical.