उपनिषद् · Bhasmajābāla 2.34
॥
देवनागरी
प्रमादेनापि नान्तर्देवसदने पुरीषं कुर्यात् । व्रतान्न प्रमदितव्यम् । तद्धि तपस्तद्धि तपः काश्यामेव मुक्तिकामानाम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
pramādenāpi nāntardevasadane purīṣaṃ kuryāt | vratānna pramaditavyam | taddhi tapastaddhi tapaḥ kāśyāmeva muktikāmānām
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
प्रमादेन अपि न अन्तः-देव-सदनेpramādena api na antaḥ-deva-sadaneeven by negligence, not in the inner sanctuary
पुरीषं कुर्यात्purīṣaṃ kuryātlet him not relieve himself
व्रतात् न प्रमदितव्यम्vratāt na pramaditavyamlet him not depart from the vow
तत् हि तपःtat hi tapaḥthat indeed is austerity
काश्याम् एव मुक्ति-कामानाम्kāśyām eva mukti-kāmānāmin Kāśī, for those seeking liberation
अनुवाद
«And even by negligence let him not relieve himself in the inner sanctuary. Let him not depart from the vow: that indeed is austerity, that indeed is austerity for those seeking liberation in Kāśī».
संस्करण
981dd77f75f1 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The first half of the line is coarse and deserves being spoken of without squeamishness, for it explains a great deal. The prohibition against defiling a shrine with filth is a prohibition it would not occur to anyone here to write down. Yet here it is written down — and written down in an upaniṣad, amid discourses on the highest.
So the need must have existed. This, to my mind, is the chief thing such a detail shows. Rules are not written for the exemplary, but for those who actually do such things; and every time an odd prohibition turns up in an ancient code, it is worth taking as evidence that this is how people behaved.
Worth noting the second half too: tad dhi tapas, «that indeed is austerity», repeated twice. The word tapas, «asceticism», literally means «heat»; usually it names standing on one leg, fasting, and the like. But here what is called austerity is — not departing from a vow and not soiling a temple.
This revaluation is good and deserves mention. Austerity has been shifted from the extraordinary onto the ordinary; and anyone who has tried knows that not to falter day after day is harder than to perform something extraordinary once. The Vaishnava side says the same in its own words: the Gītā names as the highest austerity not self-torment but «steadfastness, honesty, restraint, and freedom from malice» (17.14–16) — that is, qualities tested daily.