Upaniṣads · Parabrahma 13
॥
Devanāgarī
इदं यज्ञोपवीतं तु परमं यत्परायणम् । विद्वान्यज्ञोपवीती संधारयेद्यः स मुक्तिभाक्
Transliteración (IAST)
idaṃ yajñopavītaṃ tu paramaṃ yatparāyaṇam | vidvānyajñopavītī saṃdhārayedyaḥ sa muktibhāk
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
इदं यज्ञ-उपवीतं तुidaṃ yajña-upavītaṃ tuthis sacrificial thread, moreover
परमं यत् परायणम्paramaṃ yat parāyaṇamthe highest, which is the refuge
विद्वान् यज्ञ-उपवीतीvidvān yajña-upavītīthe knower, wearing the sacrificial thread
संधारयेत् यः सः मुक्ति-भाक्saṃdhārayet yaḥ saḥ mukti-bhākwhoever wears it, has a share in liberation
Traducción
This sacrificial thread is the highest, the very refuge; the knower, wearing the sacrificial thread, whoever wears it, has a share in liberation.
Versión
79cd6ac906e1 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The word parāyaṇa, "refuge, highest goal, that toward which one goes," deserves attention, for it is among the chief words in Vaiṣṇava books. It is composed of para, "highest," and ayana, "going, path": literally, "that to which one goes in the end." And it is said of the thread.
The phrase at first glance is strange: the thread — a refuge? But let us recall that here the thread has been named "the imperishable, which is the Highest brahman" (1.22); and then everything falls into place: the refuge is He, and He is called a thread because by it a person is bound to Him. Let us add that the word parāyaṇa stands in the Gītā at its most important passages: "know Me... as the highest refuge" (7.7 and following); "one whose highest refuge is I" (9.34, 18.65).
This is why the Vaiṣṇava reading reads this line directly: to wear the thread means to hold to the One denoted by it. And note: the thread is not a means of getting somewhere — it is a mark of belonging; the one who wears it is not going somewhere, but showing whose he is. That is why what is promised is not "will attain," but mukti-bhāk, "will receive a share" — discussed when reading the fifth verse.