Upaniṣads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 5.9
॥
Devanāgarī
कृतं दिने यद्दुरितं पक्षमासर्तुवर्षजम् । सर्वं दहति निःशेषं तूलाचलमिवानलः
Transliteración (IAST)
kṛtaṃ dine yadduritaṃ pakṣamāsartuvarṣajam | sarvaṃ dahati niḥśeṣaṃ tūlācalamivānalaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
कृतम् दिने यत् दुरितम्kṛtam dine yat duritamwhat evil is done in a day; the transgression wrought in a day
पक्षमासर्तुवर्षजम्pakṣamāsartuvarṣajamborn of a fortnight, a month, a season, a year; sprung of half-month, month, season and year
सर्वम् दहति निःशेषम्sarvam dahati niḥśeṣamall it burns without remainder; it scorches all away completely
तूलाचलम् इव अनलःtūlācalam iva analaḥas fire — a mountain of cotton; like flame — a heap of wadding
Traducción
“What evil is done in a day, in a fortnight, in a month, in a season, in a year — all of it it burns without remainder, as fire burns a mountain of cotton.”
Versión
8a56e0d55974 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 5:15:19 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The first verse of the list, and in it an image that all the Vaiṣṇava books afterwards repeated: the mountain of cotton and the fire.
Tūla is cotton, wadding; acala — a mountain. The comparison is chosen exactly: cotton is enormous to look at and weighs almost nothing; fire eats it in an instant and without trace.
So with sins: they are many and they frighten by their bulk, but they have no weight before what meets them.
Note the count of time: a day, a fortnight, a month, a season, a year. This is the ladder of the ritual calendar — the terms by which expiations are appointed.
That is, the verse says: what has terms and rites appointed for it ends at once.
This is the very matter of the dispute waged in the śāstras for centuries: does the name replace the prescribed expiation?
Our book answers without evasion. And therefore the next eighteen verses will list precisely that for which the expiations are appointed — and repeat each time: “this too”.