Upanishads · Māṇḍūkya 3
॥
Devanāgarī
जागरितस्थानो बहिःप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः स्थूलभुग् वैश्वानरः प्रथमः पादः
Transliteration (IAST)
jāgaritasthāno bahiḥprajñaḥ saptāṅga ekonaviṃśatimukhaḥ sthūlabhug vaiśvānaraḥ prathamaḥ pādaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जागरितस्थानःjāgaritasthānaḥwhose sphere is waking (jāgarita-sthāna); abiding in the waking state; dwelling in wakefulness
बहिःप्रज्ञःbahiḥprajñaḥconscious outward (bahiḥ-prajña); with awareness turned outwards; outwardly cognising
सप्ताङ्गःsaptāṅgaḥseven-limbed (sapta-aṅga — a body commensurate with the cosmos); having seven limbs; with seven members
एकोनविंशतिमुखःekonaviṃśatimukhaḥwith nineteen mouths (ekonaviṁśati-mukha — the senses, the organs of action, the prāṇas, the inner faculties); having nineteen mouths; nineteen-mouthed
स्थूलभुक्sthūlabhukenjoying the gross (sthūla-bhuj); eater of dense things; feeding on gross objects
वैश्वानरःvaiśvānaraḥVaiśvānara ('the All-Man' — the common daylight consciousness); the All-Human one; the lord of the waking state
प्रथमःprathamaḥthe first; the initial
पादःpādaḥquarter, foot (pāda); pāda; support
Translation
The first quarter is Vaiśvānara: his sphere is waking, his awareness is turned outwards; seven-limbed, with nineteen mouths, he enjoys the gross.
Version
d21dd59e458a · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:21:18 PM UTC
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An inventory of the first pāda — the daytime human being. jāgarita-sthānaḥ — "his place is waking"; bahiḥ-prajñaḥ — "conscious outward": the whole force of consciousness is turned inside out, towards objects (the Kaṭha: "the Self-existent pierced the openings outward"). saptāṅgaḥ — "seven-limbed": his body is the cosmos — head the heaven, eye the sun, breath the wind, trunk the space, lower parts the earth (following Chāndogya 5.18): the waking man lives in a body commensurate with the universe. ekonaviṁśati-mukhaḥ — "with nineteen mouths": five senses of knowledge, five organs of action, five prāṇas, mind, intelligence, ego and citta — nineteen mouths with which he eats the world; sthūla-bhuk — "enjoying the gross": his food is dense objects.
The name of the first pāda is vaiśvānaraḥ, "the All-Man": daylight consciousness is common, universally human — in it we share one world, one set of objects, one order. It is precious (only when awake do we hear teachers and perform works) — and it is superficial: nineteen mouths chew the outside, while the eater is unknown to himself.
The Upaniṣad does not condemn waking — it puts it in its place: prathamaḥ pādaḥ — the first quarter, not the whole of reality. The error lies not in being awake but in believing that there is nothing besides it (the Kaṭha called this "there is only this world" — and "again and again he falls into my power").