Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 2.8
॥
Devanāgarī
रागाद्यपेतं हृदयं वागदुष्टानृतादिना । हिंसादिरहितं कर्म यत्तदीश्वरपूजनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
rāgādyapetaṃ hṛdayaṃ vāgaduṣṭānṛtādinā | hiṃsādirahitaṃ karma yattadīśvarapūjanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
राग-आदि-अपेतं हृदयंrāga-ādi-apetaṃ hṛdayaṃa heart free of passion and the rest
वाक् अ-दुष्ट-अनृत-आदिनाvāk a-duṣṭa-anṛta-ādināspeech uncorrupted by falsehood and the rest
हिंसा-आदि-रहितं कर्मhiṃsā-ādi-rahitaṃ karmaan act devoid of harm and the rest
यत् तत् ईश्वर-पूजनम्yat tat īśvara-pūjanamthat indeed is worship of the Lord
Translation
"A heart free of passion and the rest; speech uncorrupted by falsehood and the rest; an act devoid of harm and the rest — that indeed is worship of the Lord."
Version
264f946e1064 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here is a definition worth reading this whole khanda for, and it is unexpected: ishvara-pujana, "worship of the Lord," is defined without a single ritual word. Nothing is said of flowers, of a lamp, or of a mantra. It is said: a pure heart, pure speech, a pure act.
This definition deserves comparison with what was said in the Rudraksha-jabala and the Bhasma-jabala, where worship was laid out by substances, times, and measures. Here all of this is absent, and worship is named as conduct. The Vaishnava side observes rites and does not reject them; but it accepts this definition entirely and has a nearly identical one of its own. The Bhagavatam says: one who worships an image but does not serve devotees and shows no mercy to living beings is a bhakta-abhasa, "a semblance of a devotee" (11.2.47).
Worth noting is that the definition by negation is, in both cases, the same: ritual without character does not count. Worth examining too are the three fields, for the list is the same as with non-harming: heart, speech, act. Their order runs from inside outward, and this matters. First the heart is named, then speech, then the act; that is, purification must proceed from the side where it begins, not from the side where it is visible.
The opposite order — first not to do, then not to say, then, someday, not to want — is also possible and, in daily practice, unavoidable; but the final measure here is set by the inward. Hence this definition is not as easy as it first appears. A rite can be performed today; a heart free of raga does not arrange itself by decree — and anyone who has tried commanding himself not to want knows this.