Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.11
॥
Devanāgarī
वत्सराद्ब्रह्मविद्वान्स्यात्तस्मान्नित्यं समभ्यसेत् । योगाभ्यासरतो नित्यं स्वधर्मनिरतश्च यः
Transliteration (IAST)
vatsarādbrahmavidvānsyāttasmānnityaṃ samabhyaset | yogābhyāsarato nityaṃ svadharmanirataśca yaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वत्सरात् ब्रह्म-वित् विद्वान् स्यात्vatsarāt brahma-vit vidvān syātin a year, let the wise one become a knower of brahman
तस्मात् नित्यं समभ्यसेत्tasmāt nityaṃ samabhyasettherefore let him always practice
योग-अभ्यास-रतः नित्यंyoga-abhyāsa-rataḥ nityaṃalways devoted to the practice of yoga
स्व-धर्म-निरतः च यःsva-dharma-nirataḥ ca yaḥand devoted to his own duty, who
Translation
"In a year let the wise one become a knower of brahman; therefore let him always practice. Whoever is always devoted to the practice of yoga and devoted to his own duty…"
Version
c03ce753fdcf · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A second time-span: a year until becoming brahma-vit, "a knower of brahman." The promise here is already substantial, and the measure of such promises has been discussed more than once. Worth noting, however, is something else — a second condition, placed alongside it.
Sva-dharma-niratah, "devoted to his own duty." That is, the practitioner does not abandon his work or his position. This condition we already met at the start of the fifth khanda (5.2), and it is repeated here; and the repetition matters.
The book, for all its abstraction, does not call for abandoning one's life. It presumes a person who lives as he lived and has added a practice to it. The Vaishnava side stands on this too, resting on a verse of the Gita already discussed: "better one's own duty, poorly performed, than another's, performed well" (3.35), and, more definitely — "honoring with his own deed Him from whom the origin of beings comes, a person attains perfection" (18.46).
This second verse deserves examination, for it gives a combination rare in these books. It is not said "abandon your work and serve"; it is said — sva-karmana tam abhyarchya, "having honored Him by his own deed." That is, the deed is not replaced by service and not cancelled by it: it becomes service. And the difference between "serve instead of working" and "serve through working" is, in my view, exactly what separates some traditions that retreat into a monastery from others that remain in the world.