Upanishads · Varāha 5.13
॥
Devanāgarī
क्षमा धृतिर्मिताहारः शौचं चेति यमा दश । तपः सन्तोषमास्तिक्यं दानमीश्वरपूजनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
kṣamā dhṛtirmitāhāraḥ śaucaṃ ceti yamā daśa | tapaḥ santoṣamāstikyaṃ dānamīśvarapūjanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
क्षमा धृतिः मित-आहारःkṣamā dhṛtiḥ mita-āhāraḥpatience, steadfastness, moderate food
शौचं च इति यमाः दशśaucaṃ ca iti yamāḥ daśaand purity — these are the ten restraints
तपः सन्तोषम् आस्तिक्यंtapaḥ santoṣam āstikyaṃausterity, contentment, faith
दानम् ईश्वर-पूजनम्dānam īśvara-pūjanamcharity, worship of the Lord
Translation
"Patience, steadfastness, moderate food, and purity — these are the ten restraints. Austerity, contentment, faith, charity, worship of the Lord…"
Version
dfcd6dc0b9a2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The list of ten observances begins, and in it deserve noting two words, for whose sake the verse is worth examining. The first — astikya, "faith," literally "acknowledgment of what is": from asti, "is." The second — ishvara-pujana, "worship of the Lord."
That is, in the list of yoga's obligatory practices stands worship of God; and this deserves stating, for yoga is often portrayed as a godless matter. In Patanjali the same stands: ishvara-pranidhana, "surrender of oneself to the Lord," is counted both among the niyamas and among the direct means of concentration (1.23). More than that, Patanjali defines the Lord separately (1.24): klesha-karma-vipaka-ashayair aparamrishtah purusha-vishesha ishvarah — "the Lord is a special Purusha, untouched by afflictions, deeds, their ripening, or their traces."
Worth noting is the phrase purusha-vishesha, "special Purusha": he is not a liberated soul and not an abstract principle, but stands apart and was always free. The Vaishnava side points to this passage constantly and says: even a system least disposed to theism was forced to acknowledge a distinct Person, or else concentration would have nothing to hold onto. Let us add what it adds to the word astikya. Faith, in its understanding, is not the assumption that something exists; it is vishvasa, "trust" — that is, a relation to a Person, not an opinion about an object.