उपनिषद् · Parabrahma 9
॥
देवनागरी
कर्मण्यधिकृतः ये तु वैदिके लौकिकेऽपि वा । ब्राह्मणाभासमात्रेण जीवन्ते कुक्षिपूरकाः । व्रजन्ते निरयं ते तु पुनर्जन्मनि जन्मनि
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
karmaṇyadhikṛtaḥ ye tu vaidike laukike'pi vā | brāhmaṇābhāsamātreṇa jīvante kukṣipūrakāḥ | vrajante nirayaṃ te tu punarjanmani janmani
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
कर्मणि अधिकृताः ये तुkarmaṇi adhikṛtāḥ ye tubut those who are authorized for action
वैदिके लौकिके अपि वाvaidike laukike api vāVedic or worldly
ब्राह्मण-आभास-मात्रेणbrāhmaṇa-ābhāsa-mātreṇaby the mere appearance of brahmin-hood
जीवन्ते कुक्षि-पूरकाःjīvante kukṣi-pūrakāḥlive, filling their bellies
व्रजन्ते निरयं ते तुvrajante nirayaṃ te tuthey go to hell
अनुवाद
But those who, being admitted to action — Vedic or worldly — live by the mere appearance of brahmin-hood, filling their bellies, they go to hell, birth after birth.
संस्करण
46f6a26ccc3a · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The line is harsh, and it is worth saying against whom. The word kukṣi-pūraka, "one who fills his belly," is said of those who live off brahmin-hood as a trade: performing rites for pay, having nothing behind them but a title. This condemnation is constant in Vaiṣṇava books and never softened. The Bhāgavatam speaks directly of such people, more than once; and the Gītā calls them "florid of speech," those who "cling to the letter of the Veda and say there is nothing else" (2.42).
Note that what is condemned here is not poverty, nor that a person is fed by his work. What is condemned is ābhāsa-mātra, "mere appearance": he is not a brahmin and knows it, and lives off the fact that others do not know it. The Vaiṣṇava reading applies this measure to its own as well, and applies it more strictly than to outsiders. To live off preaching without believing it is the worst of positions: a layman at least has no obligation, but this person does, and breaks it daily before the eyes of those who trust him.
The harshness of the line should not mislead. What is condemned is neither the rite nor the title, but pretense; and this same book, two lines below, will demand that both threads be worn — that is, it does not abolish the outer, but demands that something stand behind it.