Upanishads · Tārasāra 1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
बृहस्पतिरुवाच याज्ञवल्क्यं यदनु कुरुक्षेत्रं देवानां देवयजनं सर्वेषां भूतानां ब्रह्मसदनं तस्माद्यत्र क्वचन गच्छेत्तदेव मन्येतेति
Transliteration (IAST)
bṛhaspatiruvāca yājñavalkyaṃ yadanu kurukṣetraṃ devānāṃ devayajanaṃ sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ brahmasadanaṃ tasmādyatra kvacana gacchettadeva manyeteti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
बृहस्पतिः उवाच याज्ञवल्क्यंbṛhaspatiḥ uvāca yājñavalkyaṃBṛhaspati said to Yājñavalkya
यत् अनु कुरुक्षेत्रं देवानांyat anu kurukṣetraṃ devānāṃthat Kurukṣetra of the gods
देव-यजनं सर्वेषां भूतानांdeva-yajanaṃ sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃthe sacrificial ground of the gods, of all beings
ब्रह्म-सदनं तस्मात् यत्र क्वचनbrahma-sadanaṃ tasmāt yatra kvacanathe abode of brahman; therefore, wherever
गच्छेत् तत् एव मन्येत इतिgacchet tat eva manyeta itione may go, that very place should be so regarded
Translation
«Bṛhaspati said to Yājñavalkya: Kurukṣetra is the sacrificial ground of the gods, the abode of brahman for all beings; therefore, wherever a person finds himself, that place should be regarded as such».
Version
5930ed32b0a7 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The book opens with a claim worth examining at once, for it is unexpected and good. Kurukṣetra, "the field of the Kurus," is the place where the Gītā was spoken; it is revered as the holiest of the holy. And here it is said: yatra kvacana gacchet tad eva manyeta, "wherever you find yourself, consider that Kurukṣetra."
That is, the holiness of the place is declared transferable. We met something similar in the Jābāla-darśana, where holy places were placed inside the body (4.48–4.49), and there it was said that such a transfer abolishes the object. Here it is done differently, and the difference deserves stating. The place is not transferred inward; it is said that every place is it. Not "there is no Kurukṣetra, there is you," but "Kurukṣetra is everywhere."
The difference between these two statements is the difference between abolition and extension; and the second, to my mind, is truer. The Vaiṣṇava side stands on exactly this and says the same about holy places directly. The Bhāgavatam: tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni, "holy places are made holy by those" who dwell in them (1.13.10); and so holiness is not a property of the soil, but a consequence of presence.
The consequence of this for a person living far from any such place is great and deserves naming. If holiness is presence, then it comes wherever He comes; and the place where the Name is uttered thereby becomes exactly what is spoken of here. Caitanya expressed this in the command discussed when reading the Gaṇapati: "whomever you see, to him speak" — that is, not "go there," but "bring it here."