Upaniṣads · Varāha 4.34
॥
Devanāgarī
शुको मुक्तो वामदेवोऽपि मुक्तस्ताभ्यां विना मुक्तिभाजो न सन्ति । शुकमार्गं येऽनुसरन्ति धीराः सद्यो मुक्तास्ते भवन्तीह लोके
Transliteración (IAST)
śuko mukto vāmadevo'pi muktastābhyāṃ vinā muktibhājo na santi | śukamārgaṃ ye'nusaranti dhīrāḥ sadyo muktāste bhavantīha loke
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
शुकः मुक्तःśukaḥ muktaḥShuka is liberated
वाम-देवः अपि मुक्तःvāma-devaḥ api muktaḥand Vamadeva too is liberated
ताभ्यां विनाtābhyāṃ vinābesides these two
मुक्ति-भाजः न सन्तिmukti-bhājaḥ na santithere are no others partaking of liberation
शुक-मार्गं ये अनुसरन्तिśuka-mārgaṃ ye anusarantiwho follow the path of Shuka
धीराःdhīrāḥthe steadfast
सद्यः मुक्ताः ते भवन्तिsadyaḥ muktāḥ te bhavantibecome liberated at once
इह लोकेiha lokein this very world
Traducción
"Shuka is liberated, and Vamadeva too is liberated; besides these two there are no others partaking of liberation. The steadfast who follow the path of Shuka become liberated at once, in this very world."
Versión
6be34de27c37 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Here begins the passage for whose sake, in my view, the fourth chapter is worth reading: the teaching of two paths, named after two people. Shuka is the son of Vyasa, the narrator of the Bhagavatam; discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (2.6). Vamadeva is a Vedic sage credited with the utterance "I was Manu, I was the sun" (Brihadaranyaka 1.4.10).
And it is said: the path of Shuka gives sadyo-mukti, "liberation at once"; the path of Vamadeva, as the next verse will say, gives krama-mukti, "liberation by stages." Worth noting is the device: the teaching is set out through two people, not through two concepts. This device is a favorite in Indian books, and we have noted it more than once: the abstract is given through a person, for a person is remembered while a definition is forgotten.
Let us add what the Vaishnava side notes in the choice of names. Shuka is, for it, its own, and moreover the first: the Bhagavatam begins with him, and he is the model of one who went into renunciation and returned for the sake of a story. His story is this: he was born already renounced and left home without looking back at his father; and was drawn back by hearing a verse on the beauty of Krishna — and stopped.
That is, in its tradition, Shuka is a person in whom renunciation turned into attachment; and the path named after him means, for it, not speed of attainment, but speed of this turning. The verse, however, means something else, and speaks of the speed of liberation; but the choice of the name is itself telling.