उपनिषद् · Varāha 4.41
॥
देवनागरी
अनेकजन्माभ्यासेन वामदेवेन वै पथा । सोऽपि मुक्तिं समाप्नोति तद्विष्णोः परमं पदम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
anekajanmābhyāsena vāmadevena vai pathā | so'pi muktiṃ samāpnoti tadviṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अनेक-जन्म-अभ्यासेनaneka-janma-abhyāsenaby the practice of many births
वाम-देवेन वै पथाvāma-devena vai pathāby the path of Vamadeva indeed
सः अपि मुक्तिं समाप्नोतिsaḥ api muktiṃ samāpnotihe too attains liberation
तत् विष्णोः परमं पदम्tat viṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padamthat is the highest place of Vishnu
अनुवाद
"By the practice of many births, by the path of Vamadeva, he too attains liberation — that is the highest place of Vishnu."
संस्करण
ad4c9008c764 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Worth noting is that the goal of both paths is named by one and the same expression: tad vishnoh paramam padam, "that highest place of Vishnu." This expression is Vedic, taken from the famous hymn of the Rigveda (1.22.20): tad vishnoh paramam padam sada pashyanti surayah, "that highest place of Vishnu the wise always see, like an eye stretched across the sky." Discussed when reading the Tarasara (3.13), where it also closed that book.
This verse stands at the end of the exposition of two paths and serves as their common conclusion. That is, wherever a person goes, by bird or by ant, he arrives at one place, and that place is named. This detail is, in my view, the chief thing in this chapter.
The whole dispute over paths is a dispute over means; but the goal here is named not "undivided consciousness" and not "non-dual," but the place of Vishnu. The Vaishnava side builds its reading of the whole Vedic literature on exactly this: where the goal is spoken of in general, an abstract word stands; where the final limit is named, a name surfaces. Let us add the word pada, "place, foot, footstep."
It means also "footprint"; and in the ancient understanding, vishnoh paramam padam is "the highest footstep of Vishnu" — that which His third step reached, discussed when reading the Tarasara. That is, the Highest is named, in language itself, as the very place He stepped to; and this is, in my view, the most eloquent of Vedic expressions.