उपनिषद् · Gaṇapati 14.1
॥
देवनागरी
अष्टौ ब्राह्मणान् सम्यग् ग्राहयित्वा । सूर्यवर्चस्वी भवति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
aṣṭau brāhmaṇān samyag grāhayitvā | sūryavarcasvī bhavati
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अष्टौ ब्राह्मणान् सम्यक् ग्राहयित्वाaṣṭau brāhmaṇān samyak grāhayitvāhaving duly instructed eight brahmins
सूर्य-वर्चस्वी भवतिsūrya-varcasvī bhavatibecomes radiant as the sun
अनुवाद
Having duly instructed eight brahmins, he becomes radiant as the sun.
संस्करण
09a4d03567a9 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here it is necessary to say something we cannot accept, and to say it without evasion: brāhmaṇān, "brahmins." The promise is given for instructing eight — but eight brahmins, and no one else. Two parts earlier it was forbidden to transmit to a non-pupil; here the circle is narrowed further, by birth as well.
Let us say why this is bad, and say it briefly, for it has already been discussed in the Rudrākṣa-jābāla and the Bhasma-jābāla. A restriction by birth has no basis either in the nature of the matter or in this book itself: it nowhere explains why what is said would work for one and not for another. There is no need to cite the Vaiṣṇava answer in full; let me recall only the two passages to which it reduces. The Gītā: "taking refuge in Me, even those low in birth — women, vaiśyas, śūdras — attain the highest goal" (9.32). And the Caitanya-caritāmṛta: "be he a brahmin, a renunciate, or even a śūdra — whoever knows the truth about Kṛṣṇa is a teacher" (Madhya 8.128).
It is worth noting, however, the good that is in the line too, for it is not small. The promise is given not for what a person has read himself, but for having taught others. The verb here is grāhayitvā, causative of grah, "to take": literally "having made [them] take," that is, having achieved that they took and absorbed it. Not "having told," but precisely having brought them to receive it.
This nuance deserves to be kept, for it places on the teacher responsibility for absorption, not for exposition. One can speak into a void; making someone take something is work of an entirely different kind, and anyone who has taught anyone knows how the two differ.