Upanishads · Varāha 4.31
॥
Devanāgarī
सद्ब्रह्मणि स्थिरे स्फारे पूर्णे विषयवर्जिते । आचार्यशास्त्रमार्गेण प्रविश्याशु स्थिरो भव
Transliteration (IAST)
sadbrahmaṇi sthire sphāre pūrṇe viṣayavarjite | ācāryaśāstramārgeṇa praviśyāśu sthiro bhava
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सत्-ब्रह्मणि स्थिरे स्फारेsat-brahmaṇi sthire sphārein the existent brahman, firm, expansive
पूर्णे विषय-वर्जितेpūrṇe viṣaya-varjitefull, free of objects
आचार्य-शास्त्र-मार्गेणācārya-śāstra-mārgeṇaby the path of the teacher and scripture
प्रविश्य आशु स्थिरः भवpraviśya āśu sthiraḥ bhavahaving entered, quickly become firm
Translation
"Having entered, by the path of the teacher and scripture, the existent brahman — firm, expansive, full, free of objects — quickly become firm."
Version
025aa501668d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the phrase acharya-shastra-margena, "by the path of the teacher and scripture." This pairing recurs here for the third time: it was in the third verse of this chapter and the fourth, and each time both are named — the book and the person. This constancy is telling, for it contradicts what was said in the second chapter, where the teacher was called a contrivance (2.73).
Let us add what deserves saying of the pairing itself, for it is, in my view, one of the most useful rules in all this literature. A book without a teacher is interpreted as one pleases: everyone reads into it what he already thought. A teacher without a book degenerates into personal opinion, with nothing to check it against.
Hence both are required: the book limits the teacher, the teacher limits the reader. The Vaishnava side holds this rule and adds a third to the two, discussed when reading the Krishna Upanishad (2.15). The third is sadhu, "honest people," that is, a tradition carried by the living: not one teacher, but a line, in which the teaching was checked by many.
Its rule is stated briefly: sadhu-shastra-guru-vakya, "the word of the honest, of scripture, and of the teacher" — and it requires that all three agree. If they diverge, something has been misunderstood; and this check is, in my view, the best that can be arranged for such a subject.