Upanishads · Varāha 2.37
॥
Devanāgarī
अहिरिव जनयोगं सर्वदा वर्जयेद्यः कुणपमिव सुनारीं त्यक्तुकामो विरागी । विषमिव विषयादीन्मन्यमानो दुरन्ताञ्जगति परमहंसो वासुदेवोऽहमेव
Transliteration (IAST)
ahiriva janayogaṃ sarvadā varjayedyaḥ kuṇapamiva sunārīṃ tyaktukāmo virāgī | viṣamiva viṣayādīnmanyamāno durantāñjagati paramahaṃso vāsudevo'hameva
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अहिः इव जन-योगंahiḥ iva jana-yogaṃlike a serpent, association with people
सर्वदा वर्जयेत् यःsarvadā varjayet yaḥalways who avoids
विषम् इव विषय-आदीन्viṣam iva viṣaya-ādīnlike poison, the objects of the senses
मन्यमानः दुरन्त-आन्manyamānaḥ duranta-ānconsidering them endless
परमहंसः वासुदेवः अहम् एवparamahaṃsaḥ vāsudevaḥ aham evathe paramahamsa, he is I, Vasudeva alone
Translation
"Who always avoids association with people, like a serpent, and, desiring to leave [the world], dispassionate, [regards] a beautiful woman as a corpse, considering the objects of the senses endless poison in the world, — that one is a paramahamsa; he is I, Vasudeva."
Version
b9c9ff76cb20 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse contains three comparisons, and all three require examination, for two of them we cannot accept. The first: to avoid association with people like serpents. The second: to regard a beautiful woman as a corpse.
The third: to consider the objects of the senses poison. Of the second, it was discussed in detail when reading the Yajnavalkya (5–14), and there is no need to repeat the examination; let me recall only the main point: the argument applies to any body, including the speaker's own, and shifts the blame from one's own lust to the object. Let us speak of the first, for it is new and no less important.
To avoid people as serpents is a rule that turns every person into a danger. The Vaishnava side has no such rule, and has the exact opposite. Its sadhu-sanga, "company," is called not a hindrance but a necessity, and stands first after faith in its ladder.
More than that, the Bhagavatam says, in the verse cited when reading verse thirty-two, that a moment's association with devotees does not compare to heaven or to liberation (1.18.13). The distinction it makes here deserves citing, for without it, it would seem to call for association of every kind. It distinguishes asat-sanga and sat-sanga, "bad company" and "good"; and bids one avoid the first and seek the second. That is, what is named the danger is not association, but its quality.
Let us add the last words of the verse: paramahamso vasudevo'ham eva, "the paramahamsa — I am he, Vasudeva." Even here, in the middle of a hermit's rule, the book calls itself by the name of Vishnu.