Upanishads · Varāha 5.73
॥
Devanāgarī
आन्तरं कर्म कुरुते यत्रारंभः स उच्यते । वायुः पश्चिमतो वेधं कुर्वन्नापूर्य सुस्थिरम्
Transliteration (IAST)
āntaraṃ karma kurute yatrāraṃbhaḥ sa ucyate | vāyuḥ paścimato vedhaṃ kurvannāpūrya susthiram
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आन्तरं कर्म कुरुतेāntaraṃ karma kuruteperforms the internal action
यत्र आरम्भः सः उच्यतेyatra ārambhaḥ saḥ ucyatewhere [this occurs], that is called the beginning
वायुः पश्चिमतः वेधंvāyuḥ paścimataḥ vedhaṃthe wind, piercing from behind
कुर्वन् आपूर्य सु-स्थिरम्kurvan āpūrya su-sthiramhaving filled [it] very firmly
Translation
"[Where one] performs the internal action — that is called the beginning; the wind, piercing from behind, having filled [it] very firmly…"
Version
3d00111bf1fd · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The first stage is defined: external action left off, internal action begun. This definition deserves examination, for it is the opposite of what was said in the fourth chapter. There the first stage was named shubheccha, "the wish for good" (4.3), and voiced through a person's own words: "well then, shall I remain a fool?" Here the first stage is named an action: one thing ceased to be done, another begun.
This difference, in my view, shows the difference between the two kinds of composition: one looks at the person, the other at the work. The Vaishnava side defines the first stage as the fourth chapter does, that is, through motive, not through deed. Its first is shraddha, "trust," discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (10.4); and its definition runs thus: trust is the conviction that doing one thing will accomplish everything.
This definition deserves holding onto, for it explains why trust is set first. A person begins not when he has understood, and not when he has decided, but when he has come to believe it is worth it; and before that no work will begin, however well-known all the techniques may be. Let us add what follows from this practically: it is useless to persuade a person with arguments about the benefit of a practice, until he has seen someone in whom that practice has borne fruit.