Upaniṣads · Varāha 5.42
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वासामेव नाडीनामेष बन्धः प्रकीर्तितः । बन्धस्यास्य प्रसादेन स्फुटीभवति देवता
Transliteración (IAST)
sarvāsāmeva nāḍīnāmeṣa bandhaḥ prakīrtitaḥ | bandhasyāsya prasādena sphuṭībhavati devatā
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
सर्वासाम् एव नाडीनाम्sarvāsām eva nāḍīnāmof all the passages, indeed
एषः बन्धः प्रकीर्तितःeṣaḥ bandhaḥ prakīrtitaḥthis lock is proclaimed
बन्धस्य अस्य प्रसादेनbandhasya asya prasādenaby the grace of this lock
स्फुटी-भवति देवताsphuṭī-bhavati devatāthe deity becomes manifest
Traducción
"This lock is proclaimed of all the passages; by the grace of this lock, the deity becomes manifest."
Versión
b9525e209d98 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Worth noting is the word prasadena, "by grace," applied to the lock. That is, grace is ascribed to the technique — not to the one bestowing it, but to what is done. This phrasing is usual in craft-oriented books, and is, in my view, a sign of how the language of relation passes into the language of technique, losing a Person along the way.
Let us add the phrase sphuti-bhavati devata, "the deity becomes manifest." That is, the goal is named the appearing of a deity; and again this is not an abstract state, but the appearing of someone. Worth noting is that the verb here is passive in sense: the deity becomes manifest, not "is attained."
We have noted such phrasings more than once — when reading the Jabala-darshana (10.8), the Mahavakya (p10), and here at verse thirty-seven of the fourth chapter; and the conclusion is always the same. Manifestation is not produced by the one who sees it: it occurs. The Vaishnava side draws from this its chief rule about means, cited when reading the Jabala-darshana (10.9): the means is a condition, not a cause.
Let us add what it says of the word prasada, for it is used here out of its proper place. Prasada means "favor, grace," and presupposes one who is favorably disposed; a thing cannot be gracious. And hence the phrase "by the grace of the lock" is, strictly speaking, a figure of speech; and its strict reading leads to the fact that the grace is, after all, someone's — and one is left to ask, whose.