Upanishads · Varāha 2.12
॥
Devanāgarī
अज्ञानान्धतमोरूपं कर्मधर्मादिलक्षणम् । स्वयंप्रकाशमात्मानं नैव मां स्प्रष्टुमार्हति
Transliteration (IAST)
ajñānāndhatamorūpaṃ karmadharmādilakṣaṇam | svayaṃprakāśamātmānaṃ naiva māṃ spraṣṭumārhati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अ-ज्ञान-अन्ध-तमः-रूपंa-jñāna-andha-tamaḥ-rūpaṃhaving the form of the blind darkness of ignorance
कर्म-धर्म-आदि-लक्षणम्karma-dharma-ādi-lakṣaṇamwhose mark is deed, law, and the rest
स्वयं-प्रकाशम् आत्मानंsvayaṃ-prakāśam ātmānaṃthe self-luminous self
न एव मां स्प्रष्टुम् अर्हतिna eva māṃ spraṣṭum arhaticannot touch me at all
Translation
"Having the form of the blind darkness of ignorance, whose mark is deed, law, and the rest, — it cannot touch me, the self-luminous self, at all."
Version
947d5e7c748c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Worth noting is that karma-dharma-adi, "deeds, law, and the rest," are assigned to "the blind darkness of ignorance." That is, the ritual and moral order is called darkness. This position is not new in the Upanishads and was discussed when reading the Mahavakya (p6), where "the world of self-interested deeds, proclaimed by the whole Veda," was assigned to darkness.
Let us briefly repeat the conclusion drawn there: what is condemned is not the deed, but the calculation of a fruit; and the Bhagavatam opens with the very same — dharmah projjhita-kaitavo'tra, "self-interested religion is rejected here" (1.1.2). Let us add what deserves saying specifically of this verse. It is said: darkness cannot touch the self-luminous self.
This assertion the Vaishnava side accepts fully and holds as its own: the soul is not soiled, and a verse of the Gita 13.32 was cited for this when reading the Jabala-darshana (5.14). But it also adds what is not said here, and without which the assertion becomes dangerous. If darkness cannot touch, then why does a person suffer?
Its answer: it did not touch — but it covered. Not a stain on the mirror, but a veil before it; the mirror is whole, but does not reflect. The difference between soiled and covered deserves stating, for the means depends on it. What is soiled is washed; what is covered is uncovered; and hence its means is not self-purification, but turning to the One who removes the veil.