Upanishads · Varāha 2.69
॥
Devanāgarī
शास्त्रेण न स्यात्परमार्थदृष्टिः कार्यक्षमं पश्यति चापरोक्षम् । प्रारब्धनाशात्प्रतिभाननाश एवं त्रिधा नश्यति चात्ममाया
Transliteration (IAST)
śāstreṇa na syātparamārthadṛṣṭiḥ kāryakṣamaṃ paśyati cāparokṣam | prārabdhanāśātpratibhānanāśa evaṃ tridhā naśyati cātmamāyā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शास्त्रेण न स्यात् परम-अर्थ-दृष्टिःśāstreṇa na syāt parama-artha-dṛṣṭiḥby scripture there is no vision of the highest meaning
कार्य-क्षमं पश्यति च अ-परोक्षम्kārya-kṣamaṃ paśyati ca a-parokṣamwhat is fit for the deed he sees directly
प्रारब्ध-नाशात् प्रतिभान-नाशःprārabdha-nāśāt pratibhāna-nāśaḥfrom the destruction of the begun — the destruction of appearance
एवं त्रिधा नश्यति च आत्म-मायाevaṃ tridhā naśyati ca ātma-māyāthus in three ways the illusion of the self perishes
Translation
"By scripture there is no vision of the highest meaning; he sees directly only what is fit for the deed. From the destruction of the begun [karma] — the destruction of appearance; thus in three ways the illusion of the self perishes."
Version
f32c32a79e3a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The line asserts something the Vaishnava side directly disputes: shastrena na syat paramartha-drishtih, "by scripture there is no vision of the highest meaning." That is, the word is declared insufficient. It is worth examining what is true here and what is not.
What is true is that reading is not seeing: a person who has read everything may experience nothing; discussed when reading verse forty-one about paroksha and sakshatkara. What is untrue is the opposition: from the fact that the word is not vision, it does not follow that it does not lead to it. The Vaishnava side stands on exactly this, and holds shabda, "word," to be the highest means of knowledge; discussed when reading verse fourteen.
Its argument here is this: if the word does not lead to vision, then where did this very book come from? The question is not rhetorical. The book is a word; and by denying the power of the word, it denies itself.
Let us add what it offers instead of the opposition. The word leads not directly, but through hearing and repetition: what is heard is pondered, what is pondered is remembered, what is remembered becomes one's own; discussed when reading the three stages shravana — manana — nididhyasana in the Bhasma-jabala (1.20). That is, the word is the beginning of a chain, not a substitute for its end; and to deny it on the ground that it is not the end is to deny the road for not being the house.