Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 4.53
॥
Devanāgarī
बहिस्तीर्थात्परं तीर्थमन्तस्तीर्थं महामुने । आत्मतीर्थं महातीर्थमन्यत्तीर्थं निरर्थकम्
Transliteration (IAST)
bahistīrthātparaṃ tīrthamantastīrthaṃ mahāmune | ātmatīrthaṃ mahātīrthamanyattīrthaṃ nirarthakam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
बहिः-तीर्थात् परं तीर्थम्bahiḥ-tīrthāt paraṃ tīrthamhigher than the outer place, the place
अन्तः-तीर्थं महा-मुनेantaḥ-tīrthaṃ mahā-munethe inner place, O great sage
आत्म-तीर्थं महा-तीर्थम्ātma-tīrthaṃ mahā-tīrthamthe self-place — the great place
अन्यत् तीर्थं निरर्थकम्anyat tīrthaṃ nirarthakamanother place is useless
Translation
"Higher than the outer place is the place — the inner place, O great sage. The self-place is the great place; another place is useless."
Version
cfe2bff74530 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is said nirarthakam, "useless" — and this step we shall not accept. It is one thing to say that the inner is higher than the outer: everyone agrees with this, and the Vaishnava side says the same. It is another to declare the outer useless.
It is worth examining why this second step is taken so easily, and why it is wrong. It is taken because a teaching of degrees is inconvenient: to hold in mind that one thing is higher than another, but that the lower is still needed, is harder than simply cancelling the lower. It is wrong for this reason: the outer is the entrance; and anyone who has arrived has passed through it, including the one who now declares it useless.
This consideration is drawn from ordinary life and is convincing for that reason. The teacher who wrote this line was himself once brought to a holy place as a child, himself saw images, himself heard chanting; and only having passed through all this did he arrive at no longer needing any of it. The Vaishnava side expresses this relation through its own three grades of devotee: kanishtha ("the lowest," honors the form, does not distinguish among people), madhyama ("the middle," distinguishes four categories — the Lord, devotees, the innocent, the hostile), uttama ("the highest," sees Him in everything) — Bhagavatam 11.2.45–47.
This ladder is arranged so that the lowest rung is not cancelled: the highest too honors the form, only he is not limited to the form alone. Hence, in its practice, no one tells another "you no longer need this": a person learns this himself, and usually just when he stops being proud of it.