Upanishads · Bhāvanā p40
॥
Devanāgarī
मूलाधारादाब्रह्मरन्ध्रपर्यन्तं ब्रह्मरन्ध्रादामूलाधारपर्यन्तं गतागतरूपेण प्रादक्षिण्यम्
Transliteration (IAST)
mūlādhārādābrahmarandhraparyantaṃ brahmarandhrādāmūlādhāraparyantaṃ gatāgatarūpeṇa prādakṣiṇyam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मूल-आधारात् आ-ब्रह्म-रन्ध्र-पर्यन्तंmūla-ādhārāt ā-brahma-randhra-paryantaṃfrom the base to the crown
ब्रह्म-रन्ध्रात् आ-मूल-आधार-पर्यन्तंbrahma-randhrāt ā-mūla-ādhāra-paryantaṃand from the crown back to the base
गत-आगत-रूपेण प्रादक्षिण्यम्gata-āgata-rūpeṇa prādakṣiṇyamin the form of coming and going — circumambulation
Translation
From the base to the crown, and from the crown back to the base, in the form of coming and going — this is circumambulation.
Version
6508d6b606f6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The sixteenth service — pradakṣiṇā, circling the image sunwise, that is, left to right, keeping it on one's right hand. It is reinterpreted as movement along the central path, up and down; and this is reasonable, for circumambulation is movement in a circle around a center. It is worth saying a word about the custom itself, for it is among those understood by everyone without explanation. One circles what one reveres: a temple, a fire, a tree, an elder, a bride around the fire at a wedding. The meaning is not to turn one's back, and to keep the revered one always on the right.
It is worth noting that in circling, a person does not draw closer. He walks around, remaining at one distance; and there is a true sense of measure in this: not everything revered can be taken into the hands. Vaiṣṇava practice of circumambulation extends to places too: Vṛndāvana, Govardhan, Navadvīpa are circled; and such circumambulation takes days and weeks. Behind this stands the same thought as here: reverence is movement around, not a seizing.
It is worth adding that the present reinterpretation preserves this too. It says gata-āgata-rūpeṇa, "in the form of coming and going": not "reached the crown and stayed," but — up and down, up and down. Even on the inward path there is no arrival here, only walking.