Upaniṣads · Bhasmajābāla 2.57
॥
Devanāgarī
ततः काश्यां प्रयतैरेवाहमन्वहं पूज्यः । तत्र गणा रौद्रानना नानामुखा नानाशस्त्रधारिणो नानारूपधरा नानाचिह्निताः
Transliteración (IAST)
tataḥ kāśyāṃ prayatairevāhamanvahaṃ pūjyaḥ | tatra gaṇā raudrānanā nānāmukhā nānāśastradhāriṇo nānārūpadharā nānācihnitāḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
ततः काश्यां प्रयतैः एवtataḥ kāśyāṃ prayataiḥ evatherefore, in Kāśī, only by the purified
अहम् अन्वहम् पूज्यःaham anvaham pūjyaḥI must be worshipped daily
तत्र गणाः रौद्र-आननाःtatra gaṇāḥ raudra-ānanāḥthere [are] hosts with fierce faces
नाना-शस्त्र-धारिणः नाना-रूप-धराःnānā-śastra-dhāriṇaḥ nānā-rūpa-dharāḥbearing various weapons, taking various forms
Traducción
«Therefore in Kāśī, only by the purified, I must be worshipped daily. There [are] hosts with fierce faces, with various faces, bearing various weapons, taking various forms, marked with various signs».
Versión
6c09c4c95e85 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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A description begins of what this city holds besides people: gaṇas, «hosts» — Śiva's retinue, beings with fierce and varied faces, armed. This description is not decoration but part of the matter. Behind it lies the conviction that a holy place is inhabited, and that one who lives there does not live alone; and if so, one must conduct oneself accordingly.
The Vaishnava side shares this conviction fully, and its books are full of the same: Vṛndāvana has its own inhabitants, Dvārakā its own, and tradition requires the newcomer to behave as in someone else's house, not on a vacant lot. There is one practical consequence here, and it matters more than the theological one. Whoever believes a place is inhabited does not litter in it, does not curse, and does not haggle there; and all the severity of the lines that follow grows precisely from this, not from malice.
The word prayata, «purified», from pra-yam, «to restrain oneself», deserves special note: purification here is named not as bathing but as self-restraint. One is pure not by washing, but by holding oneself.