उपनिषद् · Varāha 5.65
॥
देवनागरी
ब्रह्मग्रन्थिं ततो भित्त्वा विष्णुग्रन्थिं भिनत्त्यसौ । विष्णुग्रन्थिं ततो भित्त्वा रुद्रग्रन्थिं भिनत्त्यसौ
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
brahmagranthiṃ tato bhittvā viṣṇugranthiṃ bhinattyasau | viṣṇugranthiṃ tato bhittvā rudragranthiṃ bhinattyasau
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
ब्रह्म-ग्रन्थिं ततः भित्त्वाbrahma-granthiṃ tataḥ bhittvāhaving pierced the Brahma-knot
विष्णु-ग्रन्थिं भिनत्ति असौviṣṇu-granthiṃ bhinatti asauhe then pierces the Vishnu-knot
विष्णु-ग्रन्थिं ततः भित्त्वाviṣṇu-granthiṃ tataḥ bhittvāhaving pierced the Vishnu-knot
रुद्र-ग्रन्थिं भिनत्ति असौrudra-granthiṃ bhinatti asauhe then pierces the Rudra-knot
अनुवाद
"Having pierced the Brahma-knot, he then pierces the Vishnu-knot; having pierced the Vishnu-knot, he then pierces the Rudra-knot."
संस्करण
3d9b5ab5458c · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The three knots are named: Brahma's, Vishnu's, and Rudra's; and it is worth saying what they signify. They are ordinarily interpreted thus: the knot of Brahma is attachment to matter and to deeds; the knot of Vishnu — to position and merit; the knot of Rudra — to oneself, to the subtle "I". This interpretation is reasonable, and its order is correct: the coarse falls away before the subtle.
Worth noting that the names of the three gods are used here as names of stages, not as names of persons; and this is ordinary in Tantric writings. The Vaishnava side objects to such usage, and its objection deserves citing, for it is not trivial. It says: a name is not a label.
If the name Vishnu is set as the name of what is to be pierced through, it is used out of its proper purpose; and a person accustomed to such language grows accustomed too to the thought that names are designations of stages. Hence its own practice holds the rule cited when reading the Ganapati (7.3): a name is an address, not a term; and every use of it as a term is, by its reckoning, a corruption. Let us add, however, what is true in the interpretation of the knots, and what it accepts fully.
The last knot is attachment to oneself, and it is named last with good reason: it is untied last of all and holds fastest of all. And of the fact that even the appropriation of the spiritual is asuratva, "demonic-ness," discussed when reading the third chapter (3.23).