उपनिषद् · Kṛṣṇa 2.13
॥
देवनागरी
एतत्स्मृत्या सर्वेभ्यः पापेभ्यो मुच्यते
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
etatsmṛtyā sarvebhyaḥ pāpebhyo mucyate
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
एतत् स्मृत्या सर्वेभ्यःetat smṛtyā sarvebhyaḥby remembrance of this, from all
पापेभ्यः मुच्यतेpāpebhyaḥ mucyatesins one is freed
अनुवाद
"By remembrance of this one is freed from all sins."
संस्करण
05eb45d5b848 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
It is worth noting the word smṛtyā, "by remembrance," from smṛ, "to remember." Smaraṇa is the third of the nine forms of service, discussed more than once; and it is worth saying how it differs from the first two. Śravaṇam ("listening") requires someone speaking. Kīrtanam ("chanting") requires a voice and, preferably, listeners. Smaraṇam requires nothing: it is performed in silence, alone, lying down, on the road, in prison.
Hence it is named in her books as the means for circumstances where the rest are impossible. Let us add what she notes about it and what is worth knowing. Remembrance is not begun with. It is the fruit of listening: one can remember only what one has heard, and of whom one has heard.
Hence her teachers warn against attempts to begin with contemplation, bypassing listening: imagination then fills the empty place with its own content, and a person contemplates his own inventions. The rule drawn from this is worth keeping: the order of the nine forms of service is no accident, and listening stands first not by rank but by necessity. Let us add the line's promise: sarvebhyaḥ pāpebhyo mucyate, "is freed from all sins."
The measure of such promises has been discussed more than once; and the distinction between pāpa and pāpa-bīja, "sin and the seed of sin," was cited when reading the Mahāvākya (p23).