Upanishads · Varāha 2.73
॥
Devanāgarī
अज्ञानमेव न कुतो जगतः प्रसङ्गो जीवेशदेशिकविकल्पकथातिदूरे । एकान्तकेवलचिदेकरसस्वभावे ब्रह्मैव केवलमहं परिपूर्णमस्मि
Transliteration (IAST)
ajñānameva na kuto jagataḥ prasaṅgo jīveśadeśikavikalpakathātidūre | ekāntakevalacidekarasasvabhāve brahmaiva kevalamahaṃ paripūrṇamasmi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अ-ज्ञानम् एव न कुतःa-jñānam eva na kutaḥthere is no ignorance at all — whence, then
जगतः प्रसङ्गःjagataḥ prasaṅgaḥtalk of the world?
जीव-ईश-देशिक-विकल्प-कथा-अति-दूरेjīva-īśa-deśika-vikalpa-kathā-ati-dūrefar from the discourse distinguishing the living being, the lord, and the teacher
ब्रह्म एव केवलम् अहंbrahma eva kevalam ahaṃI am brahman alone
परिपूर्णम् अस्मिparipūrṇam asmiI am full
Translation
"There is no ignorance at all — whence, then, talk of the world? Far from the discourse distinguishing the living being, the lord, and the teacher, — in the essence whose single taste is undivided consciousness, I am brahman alone, full."
Version
42426b723753 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse rejects a third figure the earlier ones did not reject: deshika, "the teacher." That is, among the contrivances are placed the living being, the Lord, and the teacher. Worth noting is this, for it carries the position to its end.
If there is no teacher, then no teaching was received from anyone; and this book, it must be recalled, is a record of instruction, received by Ribhu from the boar. That is, the verse denies the very relation in which it is spoken. This objection we have raised more than once, and let us repeat it briefly: a teaching of complete oneness cannot be taught, for teaching requires two.
Let us add what the Vaishnava side says of the teacher, and what constitutes its distinctive feature. For it, the teacher is never cancelled, at any rung. It distinguishes diksha-guru and shiksha-guru, discussed when reading the Pranagnihotra (3.3); and its attained ones continue to call themselves pupils.
The ground given is this: the relation to the teacher is the model of the relation to the Lord; and one who cancels the first will cancel the second. Let us add what deserves noting in the expression ekanta-kevala-chid-eka-rasa-svabhave, "in the essence whose single taste is undivided consciousness." The word rasa, "taste," stands here too; discussed when reading verse seventy-one. Worth noting is that taste is ascribed to essence, not to relation; and in this lies the whole difference from how the Vaishnava side uses this same word.