Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 2.15
॥
Devanāgarī
तदेतद्दिवाऽधीयानो रात्रिकृतं पापं नाशयति । नक्तमधीयानो दिवसकृतं पापं नाशयति
Transliteration (IAST)
tadetaddivā'dhīyāno rātrikṛtaṃ pāpaṃ nāśayati | naktamadhīyāno divasakṛtaṃ pāpaṃ nāśayati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् एतत् दिवा अधीयानःtat etat divā adhīyānaḥthis, studying by day
रात्रि-कृतं पापं नाशयतिrātri-kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ nāśayatidestroys the sin committed by night
नक्तम् अधीयानःnaktam adhīyānaḥstudying by night
दिवस-कृतं पापं नाशयतिdivasa-kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ nāśayatidestroys the sin committed by day
Translation
"One who studies this by day destroys the sin committed by night; one who studies by night destroys the sin committed by day."
Version
6976203b9e73 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The usual phala-śruti, and its structure is the same as we read in the Gaṇapati and the Mahāvākya; no need to repeat the analysis. It is worth noting, however, that here the order is reversed from the usual. Ordinarily it is said: what was done at night is removed in the morning, what was done by day in the evening. Here: by day what was done at night is removed, by night what was done by day.
The difference is small but curious: the reading is assigned not to the boundaries of the day but to its very course. Let us add what is worth saying about the word adhīyāna, "studying," from adhi-i. It was discussed when reading the Bhasma-jābāla (3p1): it is the same verb from which come adhyayana, "learning," and adhyāpana, "teaching."
Its meaning is not "to read through" but "to repeat while learning"; in antiquity one learned by heart, and "to study" meant to recite after the teacher. Hence all these promises for "studying" should be read as promises for daily repetition, not for a single reading; and read this way, they become intelligible. A person who repeats the same thing about Him twice a day truly changes; and changes not because the words work magic, but because the mind is occupied with something other than what it would otherwise be occupied with.