उपनिषद् · Bhasmajābāla 2.4
॥
देवनागरी
मार्जनं रुद्रसूक्तैः । ततश्चाहतं वासः परिधत्ते पाप्मनोपहृत्यै
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
mārjanaṃ rudrasūktaiḥ | tataścāhataṃ vāsaḥ paridhatte pāpmanopahṛtyai
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
मार्जनं रुद्र-सूक्तैःmārjanaṃ rudra-sūktaiḥcleansing with the hymns of Rudra
ततः च आहतं वासः परिधत्तेtataḥ ca āhataṃ vāsaḥ paridhattethen he puts on an unwashed garment
पाप्मना उपहृत्यैpāpmanā upahṛtyaifor the averting of evil
अनुवाद
«Cleansing — with the hymns of Rudra; then he puts on an unwashed garment for the averting of evil».
संस्करण
4be79c549801 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Āhata vāsas, «unwashed garment», is named, and the word deserves explaining, for it does not mean what it seems to. Āhata means «unbeaten, unfulled»: so a new cloth, not yet laundered, is called. In India cloth is washed by beating it against a stone; and so «unbeaten» is cloth not yet beaten by the washerman, that is, new.
That is, what is prescribed is to put on something new or fresh — not something dirty, as one might think. This detail shows how much material freshness matters in the rite. Everything entering it must be new or renewed: fresh water, today's flowers, clean clothing.
The Vaishnava side holds the same, and for the same reason. Garments for service are not worn in daily life; garlands are not offered stale from yesterday; water is changed daily. Behind this lies a simple thought worth stating. One does not serve a guest yesterday's leftovers. And the whole rite, as noted when reading Tripurātāpinī (61), is the order of receiving a guest; and everything offered to a guest is offered fresh — not from mysticism, but from propriety.