Upaniṣads · Bhasmajābāla 1.18
॥
Devanāgarī
एतन्मध्याह्नसायाह्नेषु त्रिकालेषु विधिवद्भस्मधारणमप्रमादेन कार्यम् । प्रमादात्पतितो भवति । ब्राह्मणानामयमेव धर्मोऽयमेव धर्मः
Transliteración (IAST)
etanmadhyāhnasāyāhneṣu trikāleṣu vidhivadbhasmadhāraṇamapramādena kāryam | pramādātpatito bhavati | brāhmaṇānāmayameva dharmo'yameva dharmaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
एतत् मध्याह्न-सायाह्नेषुetat madhyāhna-sāyāhneṣuthis, at midday and in the evening
त्रि-कालेषु विधि-वत् भस्म-धारणम्tri-kāleṣu vidhi-vat bhasma-dhāraṇamat the three times, according to rule, the wearing of ash
अ-प्रमादेन कार्यम्a-pramādena kāryammust be done without negligence
प्रमादात् पतितः भवतिpramādāt patitaḥ bhavatifrom negligence he becomes fallen
ब्राह्मणानाम् अयम् एव धर्मःbrāhmaṇānām ayam eva dharmaḥfor brahmins this is the very law
Traducción
«This, at midday and in the evening, at the three times, according to rule, the wearing of ash must be done without negligence; from negligence [a man] becomes fallen. For brahmins this is the very law, this is the very law».
Versión
df7ac528779d · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Here is a place about which one must speak plainly: brāhmaṇānām ayam eva dharmaḥ, «for brahmins this is the very law». That is, the prescription is addressed to one caste; and two lines on it will be said that the one who does not observe it pratyavaiti, «suffers loss». Let me say this without evasion, for the subject demands clarity.
Caste restriction is present everywhere in ritual books, and it is a sign of the time and place. Rites belonged to lineages; the right to perform them was inherited; and a book written in such a milieu could not have been written otherwise. We do not accept this ordering, and we do not reject it out of novelty, but on the testimony of these very books. The Bhāgavatam says that «even one born a dog-eater» becomes worthy at once if he has devotion (3.33.7); the Gītā directly lists women, vaiśyas, and śūdras among those who attain the highest path (9.32); the Padma-purāṇa bids one hold a devotee of low birth above a brahmin without devotion.
This position cost the Vaishnava tradition many quarrels, and it is worth saying the quarrels were not theological. Caitanya received Muslims and untouchables into his circle; he called Haridāsa, born a Muslim, nāmācārya, teacher of the Name — and was beaten for it. Hence a measure worth holding when reading all such passages. A rite may be caste-bound; salvation may not. And where a book conflates the two, it speaks of its own custom, not of God.