Upanishads · Varāha 3.13
॥
Devanāgarī
आदरेण यथा स्तौति धनवन्तं धनेच्छया । तथा चेद्विश्वकर्तारं को न मुच्येत बन्धनात्
Transliteration (IAST)
ādareṇa yathā stauti dhanavantaṃ dhanecchayā | tathā cedviśvakartāraṃ ko na mucyeta bandhanāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आदरेण यथा स्तौतिādareṇa yathā stautias with respect one praises
धनवन्तं धन-इच्छयाdhanavantaṃ dhana-icchayāa wealthy man, desiring money
तथा चेत् विश्व-कर्तारंtathā cet viśva-kartāraṃif thus the creator of the world
कः न मुच्येत बन्धनात्kaḥ na mucyeta bandhanātwho would not be freed from bondage?
Translation
"As one praises a wealthy man with respect, desiring money — if the creator of the world were praised so, who would not be freed from bondage?"
Version
2e4ab278e923 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is an excellent argument, and, in my view, the most biting in the whole book; it deserves examination. A person who needs money knows how to praise: he finds the words, remembers the name, never forgets to bow, arrives on time, and does not complain of fatigue. And it is said: if he treated the Creator the same way — who would not be freed?
This argument strikes not at unbelief, but at the misallocation of effort: a person can do what he supposedly cannot; he simply applies it elsewhere. That is, the trouble is not incapacity, but distribution. The Vaishnava side holds this argument and cites it constantly; and the Bhagavatam says the same, listing where life goes: the night to sleep and pleasures, the day to earning and caring for family (2.1.3).
Let us add a verse fitting here, one of its usual ones: ayur harati vai pumsam udayan astam cha yasann, "rising and setting, the sun carries away the life of people — except for one whose time passes in discourse of the Highest" (2.3.17). Worth noting is the qualification: time is carried away for everyone except those occupied with one thing; and this qualification is, in substance, the same argument as here, only stated from the side of loss. Let us add what follows from this verse for everyday practice. One should test oneself not by what one believes, but by what one spends the same effort on that one would spend on a wealthy man.