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Upanishads · Saubhāgyalakṣmī 2.8
॥
Devanāgarī
अतिशून्यो विमर्दश्च भेरीशब्दस्ततो भवेत् । तृतीयां यत्नतो भित्त्वा निनादो मर्दलध्वनिः
Transliteration (IAST)
atiśūnyo vimardaśca bherīśabdastato bhavet | tṛtīyāṃ yatnato bhittvā ninādo mardaladhvaniḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अति-शून्यः विमर्दः चati-śūnyaḥ vimardaḥ casuperempty and grinding
भेरी-शब्दः ततः भवेत्bherī-śabdaḥ tataḥ bhavetthen comes the sound of a kettledrum
तृतीयां यत्नतः भित्त्वाtṛtīyāṃ yatnataḥ bhittvāhaving pierced the third [knot] with effort
निनादः मर्दल-ध्वनिःninādaḥ mardala-dhvaniḥa rumble — the sound of a drum
Translation
"[Then come] superemptiness and grinding, and the sound of a kettledrum arises; having pierced the third [knot] with effort — a rumble, the sound of a drum."
Version
41278cedc9b9 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The hum is described by instruments: first a kettledrum, then a drum; and further on there will be a small bell. This list is a commonplace in yogic books, and its order is curious: the sounds proceed from low and booming to high and fine. That is, ascent is described as a refinement of sound; and this, to my mind, is taken from observation: the quieter it is in the ears, the higher the ringing heard.
Let us add the word vimarda, "grinding," standing beside "superemptiness." This word is obscure; it is interpreted as friction, from which a sound is born — as sound is born from the friction of two sticks in kindling fire. Read this way, the construction becomes coherent: where it is empty, nothing strikes against anything; and yet something is rubbing, and from this comes the hum.
The Vaiṣṇava side does not enter into such details and gives no description of its own sounds; and it is worth saying why. Its listening is turned to words, not to sounds; and a word, unlike a hum, has meaning and a speaker. Hence its books describe not how it sounds, but what is said; and this distinction, to my mind, is the very one we spoke of when reading the fourth verse: one's own noise against another's speech.