उपनिषद् · Avadhūta 15
॥
देवनागरी
गुञ्जापुञ्जादि दह्येत नान्यारोपितवह्निना । नान्यारोपितसंसारधर्मा नैवमहं भजे
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
guñjāpuñjādi dahyeta nānyāropitavahninā | nānyāropitasaṃsāradharmā naivamahaṃ bhaje
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
गुञ्जा-पुञ्ज-आदि दह्येतguñjā-puñja-ādi dahyetawould a heap of guñjā seeds burn
न अन्य-आरोपित-वह्निनाna anya-āropita-vahninānot from a fire merely imposed [on it in imagination] by another
न अन्य-आरोपित-संसार-धर्माःna anya-āropita-saṃsāra-dharmāḥnot the properties of the round, merely imposed by another
न एवम् अहं भजेna evam ahaṃ bhajein this way I am not partaker
अनुवाद
A heap of guñjā seeds does not burn from a fire merely imposed [on it in another's imagination]; so too I am not partaker of the properties of the round, merely imposed by another's imagination.
संस्करण
7aeafb663cae · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A clever simile is used, and it deserves explaining, for it rests on a thing unfamiliar to us. Guñjā is the seed of the rosary pea — small, bright red with a black speck; in India it is gathered by the handful and used as a weight for weighing gold. It is so red that from a distance a small heap of it looks like glowing embers.
On this resemblance the image is built: see the heap from afar, and you would think it is burning; come closer, and it is cold and not burning at all. The fire here is imposed by the gaze, not real. The application is transparent and good: as guñjā does not burn from imagined fire, so one who has attained does not suffer from what is thought about him.
And here is what matters: this simile also works in reverse, and the reverse side is instructive. A heap of guñjā can be mistaken for embers — but embers can also be mistaken for guñjā; and then one gets burned. One who has convinced himself that every fire is only imagined will, sooner or later, put his hand into a real one.
This is why the Vaiṣṇava reading advises against applying this argument to oneself before its time. Until it has been verified whether what stands before you is guñjā or embers, it is wiser to assume embers.