Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 5.14
॥
Devanāgarī
अज्ञानान्मलिनो भाति ज्ञानच्छुद्धो भवत्ययम् । अज्ञानमलपङ्कं यः क्षालयेज्ज्ञानतो यतः । स एव सर्वदा शुद्धो नान्यः कर्मरतो हि सः
Transliteration (IAST)
ajñānānmalino bhāti jñānacchuddho bhavatyayam | ajñānamalapaṅkaṃ yaḥ kṣālayejjñānato yataḥ | sa eva sarvadā śuddho nānyaḥ karmarato hi saḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अ-ज्ञानात् मलिनः भातिa-jñānāt malinaḥ bhātifrom ignorance it appears soiled
ज्ञानात् शुद्धः भवति अयम्jñānāt śuddhaḥ bhavati ayamfrom knowledge it becomes pure, this [self]
अ-ज्ञान-मल-पङ्कं यःa-jñāna-mala-paṅkaṃ yaḥwho the dirt and mire of ignorance
क्षालयेत् ज्ञानतः यतःkṣālayet jñānataḥ yataḥshall wash away by knowledge, since
सः एव सर्वदा शुद्धःsaḥ eva sarvadā śuddhaḥhe indeed is always pure
Translation
"From ignorance it appears soiled; from knowledge this [self] becomes pure. Who shall wash away the dirt and mire of ignorance by knowledge, he indeed is always pure, and no other, for that one clings to deeds."
Version
ce8c76977d6f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The khanda ends with a position that must be examined carefully, for it repeats what was said at the end of the fourth and slightly softens it. It is said: the self malinah bhati, "appears soiled." The verb bha means "to appear, to seem"; that is, the soiling is not real, but apparent.
Here the Vaishnava side agrees in part, and it is worth saying exactly where. It too asserts that the soul is pure by nature and that matter does not cling to it: the Gita says the embodied one "neither acts nor is stained" (13.31), and compares it to space, which pervades everywhere and is soiled by nothing (13.32). Where they part is in what to count as the bondage.
By this reckoning, bondage is an optical illusion: it seems soiled, but is pure; once known, it is over. By the Vaishnava reckoning, it is a turning: the soul is pure and remains pure, but turned the wrong way; and the turning is not cancelled by being informed that it is pure. This difference deserves stating with a simple example. To a person who only imagines himself in prison, it suffices to tell him the truth. To a person who sits in prison of his own will and does not wish to leave, the truth is not enough: he must want to leave.
The last words of the line — "and no other, for that one clings to deeds" — are the usual, in these books, disparagement of the path of action, discussed when reading the first khanda (1.23). Let me remind only that the Gita answers the same not by cancelling deeds, but by changing the one for whose sake they are done (9.27).