Upanishads · Varāha 2.49
॥
Devanāgarī
श्रुत्युत्पन्नात्मविज्ञानप्रदीपो बाध्यते कथम् । अनात्मनां परित्यज्य निर्विकारो जगत्स्थितौ
Transliteration (IAST)
śrutyutpannātmavijñānapradīpo bādhyate katham | anātmanāṃ parityajya nirvikāro jagatsthitau
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
श्रुति-उत्पन्न-आत्म-विज्ञान-śruti-utpanna-ātma-vijñāna-born of hearing, of realization of the self
प्रदीपः बाध्यते कथम्pradīpaḥ bādhyate kathamthe lamp — how could it be extinguished?
अन्-आत्मनां परित्यज्यan-ātmanāṃ parityajyathe non-self having abandoned
निर्विकारः जगत्-स्थितौnirvikāraḥ jagat-sthitauunchanging in the persistence of the world
Translation
"How could the lamp of self-realization, born of hearing, be extinguished? Having abandoned the non-self, [remain] unchanging amid the persistence of the world."
Version
b8f66db884f2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the expression shruti-utpanna, "born of hearing." That is, self-realization is called the fruit of hearing, not of reflection or of practice. This position is fundamental in Vaishnava teaching, and the primacy of hearing has been discussed more than once; but here it stands in a book leaning toward nonduality, and hence deserves noting.
Let us add the image: pradipa, "a lamp." A lamp, unlike a hearth-fire, is light brought: it is lit from another and carried into a dark room. This image is a favorite in Vaishnava books, and is cited when describing transmission: one lamp is lit from another, and the first is not diminished.
Let us add what it draws from the image. If knowledge is a lamp, it comes from outside: a lamp cannot light itself, however hard it tries. And hence the question "where to get it" is settled not by effort, but by meeting one already lit; hence too its whole insistence on company, discussed when reading verse thirty-seven.
The question with which the verse opens — "how could it be extinguished?" — is rhetorical and means: once lit, it does not go out. It is worth noting, however, that a lamp is extinguished by wind; and the whole concern for where to keep it stems from exactly this.