तानि ह वै एतानि चित्तैकायनानि चित्तात्मानि चित्ते प्रतिष्ठितानि तस्मात् यदि अपि बहुविद् अचित्तः भवति न अयम् अस्ति इति एव एनम् आहुः यत् अयम् वेद यत् वा अयम् विद्वान् न इत्थम् अचित्तः स्यात् इति अथ यदि अल्पवित् चित्तवान् भवति तस्मा एव उत शुश्रूषन्ते चित्तं हि एव एषाम् एकायनम् चित्तम् आत्मा चित्तं प्रतिष्ठा चित्तम् उपास्स्व इति
tāni ha vai etāni cittaikāyanāni cittātmāni citte pratiṣṭhitāni tasmāt yadi api bahuvid acittaḥ bhavati na ayam asti iti eva enam āhuḥ yat ayam veda yat vā ayam vidvān na ittham acittaḥ syāt iti atha yadi alpavit cittavān bhavati tasmā eva uta śuśrūṣante cittaṃ hi eva eṣām ekāyanam cittam ātmā cittaṃ pratiṣṭhā cittam upāssva iti
All this converges in thought, consists of thought, is established in thought. Therefore, though a man be much-knowing, if he is thoughtless, people say of him: "He is nothing; were he truly a knower, he would not be so thoughtless." But if he be little-knowing and thoughtful, they are eager to listen to him. Thought is the single course of all this, thought is the essence, thought is the support. Venerate thought."
b105ad4c3b0c · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:44:07 UTC
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The praise of the citta turns into one of the sharpest maxims of the Upaniṣads — about the much-knowing man without thought: nāyam astīti — "he is as good as nothing". A mountain of information with consciousness asleep does not make a man present; and conversely, one who knows little but is attentive is "eagerly listened to" — his few words are alive. The Upaniṣad, itself made of knowledge, testifies mercilessly: a man's weight is measured not by his stock but by his wakefulness.
This is a direct verdict on Nārada's condition too: eighteen sciences — and "he is not there" in the face of sorrow. And it is an eternal lesson for all learning, spiritual learning included: hearing without attention is that very "oblation into ashes" (5.24.1). The citta is the living point at which knowledge becomes a person; hence the bhakti tradition prizes attention in service so highly: a scattered prayer is information, a gathered one is a meeting.