Upanishads · Varāha 4.2
॥
Devanāgarī
सत्त्वापत्तिश्चतुर्थी स्यात्ततोऽसंसक्तिनामिका । पदार्थभावना षष्ठी सप्तमी तुर्यगा स्मृता
Transliteration (IAST)
sattvāpattiścaturthī syāttato'saṃsaktināmikā | padārthabhāvanā ṣaṣṭhī saptamī turyagā smṛtā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सत्त्व-आपत्तिः चतुर्थी स्यात्sattva-āpattiḥ caturthī syātattainment of the pure, the fourth
ततः अ-संसक्ति-नामिकाtataḥ a-saṃsakti-nāmikāthen, named non-attachment
पदार्थ-भावना षष्ठीpadārtha-bhāvanā ṣaṣṭhīcessation of perceiving objects, the sixth
सप्तमी तुर्य-गा स्मृताsaptamī turya-gā smṛtāthe seventh, remembered as going to the fourth
Translation
"Attainment of the pure, the fourth; then, named non-attachment; cessation of perceiving objects, the sixth; the seventh, remembered as going to the fourth."
Version
795aba9732ce · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse repeats the list in verse, for the preceding one set it out in prose. Such repetition is customary in such books and serves memory: prose explains, verse fixes. Let us say briefly of the device itself, for it explains the structure of many Upanishads.
These books were composed for recitation aloud, and measured speech is held by memory better than prose. Hence, again and again, the same thing is said twice: first in prose, then tatraite shloka bhavanti, "and on this there are these verses." This phrase stands at the end of the preceding unit and is the usual formula of transition.
Let us add what stands in Vaishnava practice in place of this device, and deserves noting. There one memorizes not lists, but names and stories; and of teaching being set out as narrative rather than definition, discussed when reading the Krishna Upanishad (1.2). The difference here is not in the device, but in the subject: a list is remembered by effort, a story remembers itself, for it has persons and events.