Upanishads · Yājñavalkya p4
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ पुनर्व्रती वाव्रती वा स्नातको वाऽस्नातको वा उत्सन्नाग्निरनग्नोकोऽवा यदहरेव विरजेत्तदहरेव प्रव्रजेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
atha punarvratī vāvratī vā snātako vā'snātako vā utsannāgniranagnoko'vā yadahareva virajettadahareva pravrajet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ पुनःatha punaḥand again
व्रती वा अ-व्रती वाvratī vā a-vratī vāunder a vow or without a vow
स्नातकः वा अ-स्नातकः वाsnātakaḥ vā a-snātakaḥ vābathed or unbathed
उत्सन्न-अग्निःutsanna-agniḥwith the fire extinguished
अन्-अग्निकः वाan-agnikaḥ vāor without fire
यत् अहः एव विरजेत्yat ahaḥ eva virajeton whatever day he becomes averse
तत् अहः एव प्रव्रजेत्tat ahaḥ eva pravrajeton that very day let him go forth to wander
Translation
And again: under a vow or without a vow, bathed or unbathed, with the fire extinguished or without fire — on whatever day he becomes averse, on that very day let him go forth to wander.
Version
1e1590d666fa · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here is a line for whose sake this whole book is worth reading, and it is one of the most famous in all upaniṣadic literature: yad ahar eva virajet tad ahar eva pravrajet, "on whatever day he becomes averse, on that very day let him go forth." It is worth examining it word by word, for everything in it matters. Virajet — from vi-rāj, "to become averse, to lose color"; from the same root comes vairāgya, "dispassion," literally "decolorization." That is, it speaks of the day when things stopped being colorful for a person.
Tad ahar eva — "on that very day," without delay. And before this it is listed what is not required: vow, bathing, sacrificial fire. That is, all ritual conditions are set aside at once; one thing remains — the state.
This line is taken from the Jābāla-upaniṣad (4), where it is Yājñavalkya's answer to Atri; and we read it there. Let us add what is worth saying about the rule itself, for it is two-sided. On one side it liberates: do not wait for a deadline, do not wait for a right, do not wait for a rite.
On the other, it grants no delay. One who says "I have become averse, but will leave later" has not, by this reckoning, become averse; for aversion and departure are named as one day. The Vaiṣṇava side accepts the rule, but applies it not to leaving home, but to turning: the day a person heard and acknowledged is the same day he must begin; and every delay is a sign he has not acknowledged.