Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.47
॥
Devanāgarī
विरक्तस्य तु संसाराज्ज्ञानं कैवल्यसाधनम् । तेन पापापहानिः स्याज्ज्ञात्वा देवं सदाशिवम्
Transliteration (IAST)
viraktasya tu saṃsārājjñānaṃ kaivalyasādhanam | tena pāpāpahāniḥ syājjñātvā devaṃ sadāśivam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
विरक्तस्य तु संसारात्viraktasya tu saṃsārātfor one dispassionate, however, toward the cycle
ज्ञानं कैवल्य-साधनम्jñānaṃ kaivalya-sādhanamknowledge is the means of aloneness
तेन पाप-अपहानिः स्यात्tena pāpa-apahāniḥ syātby that let there be the destruction of sin
ज्ञात्वा देवं सदा-शिवम्jñātvā devaṃ sadā-śivamhaving known the god Sadashiva
Translation
"For one dispassionate toward the cycle, however, knowledge is the means of aloneness; by that let there be the destruction of sin, having known the god Sadashiva."
Version
86effbf6416f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The goal is named: kaivalya, "aloneness," from kevala, "one, sole, apart." This word deserves examination, for it is the proper name of the goal in Sankhya and yoga, and it is also the chief point of divergence from Vaishnava teaching. Kaivalya literally means "sole-ness, apartness": the state in which spirit is separated from matter and remains on its own.
The Yoga-sutras end with exactly this word: "when the purity of consciousness has equaled the purity of spirit — this is kaivalya" (4.34). It must be said plainly what this goal lacks from the Vaishnava point of view, and said without mockery, for this goal is lofty and attained by few. What it lacks is another. Aloneness is the absence of ties — including that one tie for whose sake, by its reckoning, everything is done at all.
The Bhagavatam says this directly, and, worth noting, without denying the state itself: "My devotees take neither salokya, nor sarshti, nor samipya, nor sarupya, nor ekatva, even were I to give them, — but desire only to serve Me" (3.29.13). Every kind of liberation is listed there, including the last, ekatva, "oneness"; and all are named offered and refused. This refusal is not pride and not disdain. It is explained by the same thing that explains everything in its teaching: one who loves does not want to stop being another, for then there would be no one to love.