Upanishads · Pañcabrahma 7
॥
Devanāgarī
धीरस्वरमधीनं चावहनीयमनुत्तमम् । ज्ञानसंहारसंयुक्तं शक्तिद्वयसमन्वितम्
Transliteration (IAST)
dhīrasvaramadhīnaṃ cāvahanīyamanuttamam | jñānasaṃhārasaṃyuktaṃ śaktidvayasamanvitam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
धीर-स्वरम् अधीनं चdhīra-svaram adhīnaṃ caa steady sound, and what is subordinate
आवहनीयम् अनुत्तमम्āvahanīyam anuttamamthe fire of offering, unsurpassed
ज्ञान-संहार-संयुक्तंjñāna-saṃhāra-saṃyuktaṃjoined with knowledge and destruction
शक्ति-द्वय-समन्वितम्śakti-dvaya-samanvitamendowed with two powers
Translation
"A steady sound, and what is subordinate, the fire of offering, unsurpassed; joined with knowledge and destruction, endowed with two powers."
Version
0496b1437839 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Āhavanīya, "the fire of offering," is the third of the three sacrificial fires — the eastern one, into which the offering is poured; and it completes the set begun by the household fire (2) and the southern fire (3). It is worth noting that the third face is given knowledge and destruction at once. This joining seems strange at first glance, but is in fact consistent: knowledge is precisely that by which ignorance is destroyed, and so in these books it always stands beside saṃhāra, "the folding-up."
Let us add what follows from this and is worth voicing. Knowledge, by Indian reckoning, is an action, not a state. It does something: it removes, burns, disperses. Hence it is spoken of with verbs of destruction — and the Gītā uses the same device: "as a kindled fire turns wood to ash, so the fire of knowledge turns all deeds to ash" (4.37).
The Vaiṣṇava side accepts this verse and adds to it what is essential for her and worth knowing. The fire of knowledge burns away the consequences of deeds; but it does not produce love and does not replace it. The Bhāgavatam says that knowledge devoid of attachment to the Lord "does not adorn" (11.14.20).
Hence in her ladder knowledge stands between deed and devotion: it clears the ground and there its task ends. Let us add the warning that follows from this. A fire that has burned its wood and has nothing left to burn goes out; and a person who has reached knowledge and found no one to love is left with ash.