Upanishads · Varāha 4.38
॥
Devanāgarī
विदित्वा स्वात्मनो रूपं सम्प्रज्ञातसमाधितः । शुकमार्गेण विरजाः प्रयान्ति परमं पदम्
Transliteration (IAST)
viditvā svātmano rūpaṃ samprajñātasamādhitaḥ | śukamārgeṇa virajāḥ prayānti paramaṃ padam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
विदित्वा स्व-आत्मनः रूपंviditvā sva-ātmanaḥ rūpaṃhaving known the form of one's own self
सम्प्रज्ञात-समाधितःsamprajñāta-samādhitaḥthrough samadhi with cognition
शुक-मार्गेण विरजाःśuka-mārgeṇa virajāḥby the path of Shuka, dust-free
प्रयान्ति परमं पदम्prayānti paramaṃ padamthey go to the highest place
Translation
"Having known the form of one's own self through samadhi with cognition, dust-free, they go by the path of Shuka to the highest place."
Version
3130dc1830ef · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the word samprajnata-samadhi, "samadhi with cognition." This is a technical distinction of Patanjali: samprajnata — concentration in which there is an object and there is cognition; asamprajnata — that in which there is neither. The first is also called sa-bija, "with seed," the second nir-bija, "without seed."
In Patanjali's school, the second is held highest; but here the path of Shuka, that is, the swiftest, is tied to the first. This detail is curious and deserves noting, for it runs against the usual order. Here the Vaishnava side finds its own: its own concentration is exactly samprajnata, for it has an object.
Its definition of samadhi, cited when reading the Jabala-darshana (1.5), is this: a mind unceasingly occupied with the Lord. That is, in it there is both an object and cognition, and a distinction between the occupied one and what occupies him; and hence, by Patanjali's reckoning, it is "with seed." The objection usually raised against it is known: "with seed" means the seed of the cycle remains.
Its answer is this: the seed is desire for oneself, not the presence of an object; and an object that is He is never a seed, for it does not produce a new birth, but cancels its cause. Let us add the word virajah, "dust-free": from rajas, "dust" and "passion." The wordplay here is deliberate — the dust of the road has fallen from them, and passion too.