LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Hayagrīva 2.p3
॥
Devanāgarī
दिक्पालानां राज्ञां नागानां किन्नराणामधिपतिर्भवति । हयग्रीवैकाक्षरजपशीलाज्ञया सूर्यादयः स्वतः स्वस्वकर्मणि प्रवर्तन्ते
Transliteration (IAST)
dikpālānāṃ rājñāṃ nāgānāṃ kinnarāṇāmadhipatirbhavati | hayagrīvaikākṣarajapaśīlājñayā sūryādayaḥ svataḥ svasvakarmaṇi pravartante
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दिक्-पालानां राज्ञांdik-pālānāṃ rājñāṃof the guardians of the directions, of kings
नागानांnāgānāṃof nāgas
किन्नराणाम् अधिपतिः भवतिkinnarāṇām adhipatiḥ bhavatiand of kinnaras, he becomes the lord
हयग्रीव-एक-अक्षर-hayagrīva-eka-akṣara-of the one-syllable [mantra] of Hayagrīva
जप-शील-आज्ञयाjapa-śīla-ājñayāby the word of one devoted to its repetition
सूर्य-आदयः स्वतःsūrya-ādayaḥ svataḥthe sun and the rest, of themselves
स्व-स्व-कर्मणिsva-sva-karmaṇieach in its own task
प्रवर्तन्तेpravartanteproceed
Translation
«[Such a one] becomes lord of the guardians of the directions, of kings, of nāgas, and of kinnaras; by the word of one devoted to the repetition of the one-syllable [mantra] of Hayagrīva, the sun and the rest proceed, each of themselves, in its own task».
Version
f556c2016552 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The promises have grown loud, and it is worth saying how to read them. It is said that by the word of the one who repeats, the sun proceeds in its task. This cannot be read literally, and it must be stated plainly: no one who repeats the mantra has ever commanded the sun.
Add, however, also what stands behind such phrases and makes them meaningful. There is a constant device in Indian literature: power over the world is described as the world’s consent. Its sense is that a person who has ceased to quarrel with the arrangement of things lives as though everything cooperates with him; and this is not power, but the absence of resistance.
We examined the same thing reading Varāha (3.14), where it is said: in the presence of the sun, the world moves of itself. Comparing the two passages, we see a difference worth noting. There the movement is ascribed to His presence; here — to the practitioner’s word.
The Vaiṣṇava side allows the second only in a subordinate sense, and its rule is this: the practitioner commands nothing by himself; but the Lord fulfills the request of one who is dear to Him, and hence it appears from outside as though the practitioner commands. Its verse on this account is Kṛṣṇa’s word about the devotee: mad-bhakta-jana-vallabhaḥ — and that He is “subject” to the devotee was discussed reading Gopāla-tāpanī. That is, subjection is the consequence of love, not of the power of command; and this distinction, to my mind, removes all the awkwardness of such promises.