उपनिषद् · Yājñavalkya p18
॥
देवनागरी
बहिरन्तश्चेत्येतत्सर्वं भूः स्वाहेत्यप्सु परित्यज्यात्मानमन्विच्छेत्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
bahirantaścetyetatsarvaṃ bhūḥ svāhetyapsu parityajyātmānamanvicchet
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
बहिः अन्तः चbahiḥ antaḥ caouter and inner
इति एतत् सर्वंiti etat sarvaṃall this
भूः स्वाहा इति अप्सु परित्यज्यbhūḥ svāhā iti apsu parityajya"to the earth — svāhā" — having cast [it] into the waters
आत्मानम् अन्विच्छेत्ātmānam anvicchetlet him seek the self
अनुवाद
"To the earth — svāhā" — having cast into the waters all this, outer and inner, let him seek the self.
संस्करण
2d9f7547fdde · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The final act is described: all the signs — trident, water-pot, bowl, strainer, tuft, thread — are cast into the water, and what remains is to seek. It is worth noting that bahir antar, "outer and inner," is listed. That is, not only the objects are cast away, but what corresponds to them within.
This detail matters and is worth voicing, for without it the rite would be empty. It is easy to cast away a water-pot; it is hard to cast away the need to have a water-pot. And the book, distinguishing the outer from the inner, thereby says that the first without the second means nothing.
Let us add the verb with which the line ends: anvicchet, "let him seek," from anu-iṣ, "to seek." The meaning of this word was discussed when reading the Pañcabrahma (35), and the main point was said there: one can seek only another; one does not seek oneself. This consideration recurs here and is worth noting, for it stands at the very end of the description of renunciation.
Everything has been cast away — signs, rites, caste, property. And what remains to be done is called seeking. The Vaiṣṇava side insists on precisely this: the goal is described as anveṣaṇa, "searching," not as recognizing something already possessed; and the distinction between "remembering who you are" and "finding the One who is" has been discussed more than once.