Upaniṣads · Parabrahma 8
॥
Devanāgarī
अग्नेरिव शिखा नान्या यस्य ज्ञानमयी शिखा । स शिखीत्युच्यते विद्वान्नेतरे केशधारिणः
Transliteración (IAST)
agneriva śikhā nānyā yasya jñānamayī śikhā | sa śikhītyucyate vidvānnetare keśadhāriṇaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अग्नेः इव शिखा न अन्याagneḥ iva śikhā na anyāas fire's tuft, no other
यस्य ज्ञान-मयी शिखाyasya jñāna-mayī śikhāone whose tuft consists of knowledge
सः शिखी इति उच्यते विद्वान्saḥ śikhī iti ucyate vidvānhe is called the one who has a tuft, the knower
न इतरे केश-धारिणःna itare keśa-dhāriṇaḥnot the others, who merely bear hair
Traducción
One whose tuft consists of knowledge — as fire has a tuft, no other — he, the knower, is called the one who has a tuft, and not the others, who merely bear hair.
Versión
7c4513311e43 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The wordplay here is excellent and is almost lost in translation, yet deserves explaining. Śikhā means at once "the tuft of hair on the crown" and "the tongue of flame"; and so fire is called śikhin, "having a śikhā." This word is the ordinary Sanskrit name for fire, and also for the peacock — for its crest.
The line plays on both meanings: the knower's tuft is like fire's — that is, not hairy, but flame-like; and so śikhin, "one who has a tuft," is he, not the one with hair on his crown. And here is what matters: the argument here is not philosophical, but verbal, and in this lies its force. It is shown that the word "one who has a tuft" truly suits someone other than the one to whom it is usually applied; and this convinces better than argument, for language itself sides with the speaker.
The Vaiṣṇava reading takes pleasure in such arguments, for Vaiṣṇava teachers used them constantly too. The image of the flame-tuft is good in itself: a hairy tuft does not shine or warm, it merely lies there; while knowledge, if genuine, behaves like fire — seen from afar, and warming those nearby.