उपनिषद् · Kaṭharudra 29
॥
देवनागरी
अस्यैवानन्दकोशेन स्तम्बान्ता विष्णुपूर्वकाः । भवन्ति सुखिनो नित्यं तारतम्यक्रमेण तु
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
asyaivānandakośena stambāntā viṣṇupūrvakāḥ | bhavanti sukhino nityaṃ tāratamyakrameṇa tu
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अस्य एव आनन्द-कोशेनasya eva ānanda-kośenaby his very sheath of bliss
स्तम्ब-अन्ताः विष्णु-पूर्वकाःstamba-antāḥ viṣṇu-pūrvakāḥdown to a tuft of grass, beginning with Viṣṇu
भवन्ति सुखिनः नित्यंbhavanti sukhinaḥ nityaṃbecome happy always
तारतम्य-क्रमेण तुtāratamya-krameṇa tuby the order of the ladder of degrees
अनुवाद
By his very sheath of bliss — beginning with Viṣṇu and down to a tuft of grass — all become happy always, and moreover by the order of the ladder of degrees.
संस्करण
81f76bbbfe03 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here is a verse for whose sake this book is worth remembering, and it contains three things, each essential. First: viṣṇu-pūrvakāḥ, "beginning with Viṣṇu." The row of living beings is listed from top to bottom, and at the top stands Viṣṇu; and this stands in a book named after Rudra and counted among the Śaiva circle.
Second: stamba-antāḥ, "down to a tuft of grass." The row is carried to the very bottom — not even to a worm, but to a clump of grass; and it is said that it too is happy. Third, and most remarkable: tāratamya-krameṇa, "by the order of the ladder of degrees." Tāratamya is a noun formed from the comparative and superlative forms tara and tama, "more" and "most": literally "more-and-most-ness," that is, a ladder.
This word is the central word of the Madhva school, and there it means this: souls are not equal among themselves and differ in capacity; and after liberation this difference does not disappear, for each contains as much as he can. The image here is simple and convincing. Pour water into a thimble and into a bucket — both are full, and equally full — but the quantity of water in them differs. So here too: all are happy, sukhinaḥ, and all — from Viṣṇu to the blade of grass — but by a ladder, not equally.
That this refutes the Advaitic reading is seen at once. If all were one, there would be no ladder: one has no degrees. A ladder presupposes both a multitude of steps and one who stands on them — and stands on his own.