Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.19
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वपापविनिर्मुक्तः सम्यग्ज्ञानमवाप्नुयात् । मनोजवत्वमाप्नोति पलितादि च नश्यति
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvapāpavinirmuktaḥ samyagjñānamavāpnuyāt | manojavatvamāpnoti palitādi ca naśyati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-पाप-विनिर्मुक्तःsarva-pāpa-vinirmuktaḥfreed from all sins
सम्यक् ज्ञानम् अवाप्नुयात्samyak jñānam avāpnuyātlet him obtain perfect knowledge
मनः-जवत्वम् आप्नोतिmanaḥ-javatvam āpnotiattains swiftness of mind
पलित-आदि च नश्यतिpalita-ādi ca naśyatiand greyness and the rest perish
Translation
"Freed from all sins, let him obtain perfect knowledge; he attains swiftness of mind, and greyness and the rest perish."
Version
30bfccdb3a6e · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is promised that palita, "greyness," will vanish. This promise we already met in the Yoga-kundalini, where it was stated even more decisively, with the addition "there is no doubt"; and there is no need to repeat what was said there. Let me only recall the conclusion: this is not true, and it must be said directly. No breathing exercise abolishes greyness, and anyone who has seen old yogis will confirm this.
It is worth saying, however, where such promises come from, for the matter is not mere boasting. A person who practices long and correctly truly does look more vigorous than his peers; and this observation is sound. The error begins where a sound observation is stretched to the unheard-of: from "looks younger" to "greyness disappears" is one step, and it is taken.
This flaw is eternal in instructions of every kind and has not died out to this day; and there is one remedy for it — checking promises against what is visible. The Vaishnava side refrains from bodily promises, and it is worth saying what it promises instead. The Bhagavatam says of a devotee that he "desires not one of the four liberations... but desires only to serve" (3.29.13); and no bodily change is named there.
More than that, its books are full of accounts of devotees who fell ill, aged, and died in poverty; and not one of these accounts is presented as a failure. This relation deserves being held on to. A teaching that promises the bodily is verifiable, and hence vulnerable; a teaching that promises relation is verified differently — by what a person lives by when the bodily fails him.