कुटीचको बहूदकश्चापि हंसः परमहंस इव वृत्त्या च भिन्नाः । सर्व एते विष्णुलिङ्गं दधाना वृत्त्या व्यक्तं बहिरन्तश्च नित्यम् । पञ्चयज्ञा वेदशिरःप्रविष्टाः क्रियावन्तोऽमी सङ्गता ब्रह्मविद्याम् । त्यक्त्वा वृक्षं वृक्षमूलं श्रितासः संन्यस्तपुष्पा रसमेवाश्नुवानाः । विष्णुक्रीडा विष्णुरतयो विमुक्ता विष्ण्वात्मका विष्णुमेवापियन्ति
kuṭīcako bahūdakaścāpi haṃsaḥ paramahaṃsa iva vṛttyā ca bhinnāḥ | sarva ete viṣṇuliṅgaṃ dadhānā vṛttyā vyaktaṃ bahirantaśca nityam | pañcayajñā vedaśiraḥpraviṣṭāḥ kriyāvanto'mī saṅgatā brahmavidyām | tyaktvā vṛkṣaṃ vṛkṣamūlaṃ śritāsaḥ saṃnyastapuṣpā rasamevāśnuvānāḥ | viṣṇukrīḍā viṣṇuratayo vimuktā viṣṇvātmakā viṣṇumevāpiyanti
"Kuṭīcaka, bahūdaka, haṃsa, and paramahaṃsa differ by way of life; all of them bear the mark of Viṣṇu, manifest by way of life, outwardly and inwardly, always. With the five sacrifices, having entered the head of the Veda, active, having met with the knowledge of brahman; having abandoned the tree, having taken refuge at the root of the tree, having set aside the flower and tasting only the sap — playing in Viṣṇu, delighting in Viṣṇu, liberated, consisting of Viṣṇu — they enter into Viṣṇu himself."
5296598658ff · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here is a verse that, in this collection of a hundred and eight books, is to my mind the most Vaiṣṇava in language; and it is worth examining part by part. First — the comparison with the tree: tyaktvā vṛkṣaṃ vṛkṣa-mūlaṃ śritāsaḥ, "having abandoned the tree, having taken refuge at the root of the tree." Its meaning is this: they have abandoned the branches and leaves, that is, the particulars of the code, and hold to the root.
Second — sannyasta-puṣpāḥ rasam evāśnuvānāḥ, "having set aside the flower and tasting only the sap." The image is superb: the flower is beautiful and is taken in hand, while the sap is taken within; and the distinction between one who has adorned himself and one who has drunk is the distinction between a rite and its meaning. Let us add the word rasa, "sap, taste," for here it stands in its chief meaning, discussed when reading the Varāha (2.71).
Third, and chief — three words in a row: viṣṇu-krīḍā, viṣṇu-ratayaḥ, viṣṇu-ātmakāḥ. Krīḍā means "play"; rati means "delight, loving inclination"; ātmaka means "consisting of." That is, the liberated are called not "stilled," not "dissolved," not "indifferent," but playing and delighting.
Let us compare this with how the previous book ended: there the Ṛgveda called the seers vipra, vipanyavaḥ, jāgṛvāṃsaḥ, "trembling, praising, and wakeful" (Varāha 5.p). Two books in a row, arriving at the description of the accomplished, take words of motion and joy; neither takes words of stillness. The Vaiṣṇava side builds its chief objection to the whole of non-dual literature on this very point, and here it is expressed by the upaniṣad itself.
If the goal is dissolution, there can be neither play nor joy in it, for it takes two to play and delight. And it is said viṣṇum evāpiyanti, "they enter into Viṣṇu himself": that is, they enter into someone, not into something; and the verb api-i means "to come, to arrive," not "to vanish." Let us add the words kriyāvanto'mī saṅgatā brahma-vidyām, "active, having met with the knowledge of brahman."
That is, knowledge has not canceled action: they are knowers and doers at once. And this, to my mind, is the precise definition of what the Vaiṣṇava side calls yukta-vairāgya.