Upaniṣads · Rudrahṛdaya 37
॥
Devanāgarī
छित्वाऽविद्यामहाग्रन्थिं शिवं गच्छेत्सनातनम् । तदेतदमृतं सत्यं तद्बोद्धव्यं मुमुक्षिभिः
Transliteración (IAST)
chitvā'vidyāmahāgranthiṃ śivaṃ gacchetsanātanam | tadetadamṛtaṃ satyaṃ tadboddhavyaṃ mumukṣibhiḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
छित्त्वा अ-विद्या-महा-ग्रन्थिंchittvā a-vidyā-mahā-granthiṃhaving cut the great knot of ignorance
शिवं गच्छेत् सनातनम्śivaṃ gacchet sanātanamlet him go to the eternal Śiva
तत् एतत् अ-मृतं सत्यंtat etat a-mṛtaṃ satyaṃthat indeed is the immortal, the truth
तत् बोद्धव्यं मुमुक्षिभिःtat boddhavyaṃ mumukṣibhiḥthat must be discerned by those who desire freedom
Traducción
"Having cut the great knot of ignorance, let him go to the eternal Śiva. That indeed is the immortal, the truth; that must be discerned by those who desire freedom."
Versión
1d9fa916060f · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The image of granthi, "the knot," is constant in these books and deserves examination, for it is precise. The word means "knot, tie," and from it comes grantha, "a book" — because a bundle of leaves is tied. Ignorance is named not a veil, not darkness, and not sleep, but precisely a knot; and this is a different picture of the matter.
A veil is removed, darkness is dispersed, one is woken from sleep — all this is done from outside and at once. But a knot must be untangled or cut, and it is drawn tighter the more it is pulled. The Muṇḍaka says in the same passage: "the knot of the heart is cut, all doubts are resolved, and his deeds are exhausted, when He is seen, the higher and the lower" (2.2.8). There it says bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiḥ, "the knot of the heart is cut"; and this knot is called of the heart, that is, tied not in the mind.
Hence the Vaiṣṇava explanation of why understanding alone does not untie it. The knot is tied by attachment, not by error; and so it is untangled not by arguments, but by a person becoming attached to another. There is nothing to untie an attachment with, except an attachment; and in this consists the whole teaching of bhakti in a single image.
It is worth noting also the verb: śivaṃ gacchet, "let him go to Śiva." Again, one goes, rather than dissolving; and again there is one who goes, and that to which he goes.