Upanishads · Varāha 1.15
॥
Devanāgarī
आहत्य तत्त्वजातानां षण्णवत्यस्तु कीर्तिताः । पूर्वोक्ततत्त्वजातानां वैलक्षण्यमनामयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
āhatya tattvajātānāṃ ṣaṇṇavatyastu kīrtitāḥ | pūrvoktatattvajātānāṃ vailakṣaṇyamanāmayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आहत्य तत्त्व-जातानांāhatya tattva-jātānāṃtaking together the whole array of principles
षट्-णवत्यः तु कीर्तिताःṣaṭ-ṇavatyaḥ tu kīrtitāḥninety-six, however, are proclaimed
पूर्व-उक्त-तत्त्व-जातानांpūrva-ukta-tattva-jātānāṃwhat is distinct from the previously stated
वैलक्षण्यम् अन्-आमयम्vailakṣaṇyam an-āmayamarray of principles is painless
Translation
"Taking together the whole array of principles, ninety-six are proclaimed; what is distinct from the previously stated array of principles is painless."
Version
c0380ef8784f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The count is carried to ninety-six, and at once the chief point is stated: what is sought is that which is vailakshanya, "distinct," from everything listed. That is, the whole list was composed in order to point to what is not included in it. It is worth appraising this design at its full worth, for it is a model of the whole Upanishadic method.
One lists things not in order to know what is listed, but in order to draw a boundary; and what is sought is found beyond it. This device is the same neti neti, "not this, not this," discussed when reading the Mahavakya (p7), only performed positively: there one denied item by item, here everything was listed at once. Let us add the word anamaya, "painless," by which what is sought is named here.
This word is from amaya, "disease"; and a definition by the absence of disease is, in substance, a definition by the absence of the six waves (1.9): where there is no hunger, thirst, grief, delusion, old age, and death. The Vaishnava side accepts this definition and adds a positive one to it, as discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (9.3): negative definitions cut away the false, while positive definitions point to the deed. Let us add that the book gives its positive definition in the very next verse, and it will prove unexpected for a work that has just counted ninety-six principles.