Upanishads · Yājñavalkya p14
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राश्याचम्यायं विधिरथ वा परिव्राड्विवर्णवासा मुण्डोऽपरिग्रहः शुचिरद्रोही भैक्षमाणो ब्रह्म भूयाय भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
prāśyācamyāyaṃ vidhiratha vā parivrāḍvivarṇavāsā muṇḍo'parigrahaḥ śuciradrohī bhaikṣamāṇo brahma bhūyāya bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
परिव्राट् वि-वर्ण-वासाःparivrāṭ vi-varṇa-vāsāḥor a wanderer, in faded clothing
मुण्डः अ-परिग्रहःmuṇḍaḥ a-parigrahaḥshaven, accepting nothing
शुचिः अ-द्रोहीśuciḥ a-drohīpure, harming no one
भैक्षम् आणःbhaikṣam āṇaḥliving on alms
ब्रह्म भूयाय भवतिbrahma bhūyāya bhavatibecomes fit for being brahman
Translation
Or a wanderer — in faded clothing, shaven, accepting nothing, pure, harming no one, living on alms — becomes fit for being brahman.
Version
564e27edadc2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An inventory of the wanderer is given, and it is worth examining it word by word, for everything in it matters. Vivarṇa-vāsas, "in faded clothing": clothing without color — that is, unchosen clothing. Muṇḍa, "shaven": hair is an object of care and distinction, and the shaven loses appearance.
Aparigraha, "accepting nothing": not "having nothing," but precisely not accepting. Śuci, "pure"; adrohī, "harming no one," from druh, "to harm, to plot against." It is worth noting that of the six qualifiers, two are moral: not taking, not harming; the rest are a description of appearance.
And it is worth noting the last as well: brahma bhūyāya bhavati, "becomes fit for being brahman." Of the word kalpate, "becomes fit," it was said when reading the Gaṇapati (11.1), where the Gītā's verse 14.26 was cited; and the main point was said there: this is a threshold, not an end. The Vaiṣṇava side accepts this inventory, but shifts the emphasis, and the distinction is worth naming.
For her, the same inventory is given as signs that manifest of themselves, not as conditions fulfilled deliberately; and the difference between a condition and a sign was discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (1.6). Let us add what she notes about faded clothing and a shaven head. These signs are easy to put on; and a person who puts them on without the corresponding inner state is called by her veśa-dhārī, "one wearing a costume" — that is, in disguise.