Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 2.12
॥
Devanāgarī
कल्पसूत्रे तथा वेदे धर्मशास्त्रे पुराणके । इतिहासे च वृत्तिर्या स जपः प्रोच्यते मया
Transliteration (IAST)
kalpasūtre tathā vede dharmaśāstre purāṇake | itihāse ca vṛttiryā sa japaḥ procyate mayā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कल्प-सूत्रे तथा वेदेkalpa-sūtre tathā vedein the Kalpa-sutra and in the Veda
धर्म-शास्त्रे पुराणकेdharma-śāstre purāṇakein the Dharma-shastra, in the Purana
इतिहासे च वृत्तिः याitihāse ca vṛttiḥ yāand in the Itihasa, what occupation there is
सः जपः प्रोच्यते मयाsaḥ japaḥ procyate mayāthat is called by me repetition
Translation
"Occupation with the Kalpa-sutra, the Veda, the Dharma-shastra, the Purana, and the Itihasa — that is called by me repetition."
Version
41eb27b5285e · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The notion of repetition is broadened, and the broadening deserves noting: reading books is called japa. Five kinds of literature are listed. Kalpa-sutra — a manual of ritual; veda — the Veda itself; dharma-shastra — codes such as Manu's; purana — ancient narratives; itihasa — the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
Worth seeing is what is being done here. Repetition of a mantra is a uniform occupation: one and the same formula, many times. Reading books is a varied occupation. And yet the second is equated with the first.
The ground, apparently, is that both are vritti, "occupation, the mind's turning": what matters is not what exactly is uttered, but what occupies the mind. The Vaishnava side accepts this broadening and does not count the mantra alone as its chief means. Its list of nine forms of service opens with shravanam, "hearing," and kirtanam, "chanting" (Bhagavatam 7.5.23); and hearing there means first of all hearing narratives — that is, reading books, not a formula.
The relation between the two is described by its teachers this way, and it deserves knowing. The mantra deepens; the book nourishes. One who repeats a single formula without reading grows thin in content and sooner or later starts pouring his own inventions into it; one who reads without repeating knows much and goes deep into nothing.
Hence the two occupations are kept side by side, and neither is declared sufficient by itself. Here the book says the very same thing, only more briefly — calling reading by the same name as repetition.