Upaniṣads · Kaivalya 11
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मानम् अरणिं कृत्वा प्रणवं चोत्तरारणिम् ज्ञाननिर्मथनाभ्यासात् पापं दहति पण्डितः
Transliteración (IAST)
ātmānam araṇiṃ kṛtvā praṇavaṃ cottarāraṇim jñānanirmathanābhyāsāt pāpaṃ dahati paṇḍitaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
आत्मानम् अरणिम् कृत्वाātmānam araṇim kṛtvāmaking the Ātman the lower fire-stick; turning the ātman into the lower araṇi
प्रणवम् च उत्तरारणिम्praṇavam ca uttarāraṇimand the praṇava the upper; and the syllable Om into the upper
ज्ञाननिर्मथनाभ्यासात्jñānanirmathanābhyāsātby the practice of the churning of knowledge; by diligent kindling through knowing
पापम् दहति पण्डितःpāpam dahati paṇḍitaḥthe learned man burns up sin; the wise one burns away the stain
Traducción
Making the Ātman the lower fire-stick and the praṇava the upper, by the practice of the churning of knowledge the learned man burns up sin.
Versión
f82f41d759e2 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 3:04:38 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
A simile from the rite: the fire for sacrifice is kindled by the friction of two sticks, araṇi.
The lower is laid down, in the upper a rod is twirled, and from the friction flame is born. Fire, then, is not brought — it is drawn out of the wood where it already was.
On this the image rests. The Ātman is the lower stick, the syllable Om the upper, knowledge the friction itself.
Nothing, therefore, is imported from outside. Everything is already there: both what burns and that by which it is kindled.
The Śvetāśvatara gives the same simile and adds: “as oil in sesame, as fire in wood — so the Ātman is found in oneself by truth and austerity”.
Note the word abhyāsa — “practice, repeated doing”. Not a single effort: one rubs long, and at first the sticks only grow warm.
And further: it says dahati pāpam — “burns up sin”, not “obtains light”. The first act of the kindled fire is not to illumine but to consume.
The next four verses will leave the rite and go to what this fire must light up: the three states of the soul.