Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.22
॥
Devanāgarī
पवित्रे निर्जने देशे शर्करादिविवर्जिते । धनुःप्रमाणपर्यन्ते शीताग्निजलवर्जिते
Transliteration (IAST)
pavitre nirjane deśe śarkarādivivarjite | dhanuḥpramāṇaparyante śītāgnijalavarjite
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पवित्रे निर्जने देशेpavitre nirjane deśein a pure, unpeopled place
शर्करा-आदि-विवर्जितेśarkarā-ādi-vivarjitefree of pebbles and the like
धनुः-प्रमाण-पर्यन्तेdhanuḥ-pramāṇa-paryanteextending a bow's measure at the edges
शीत-अग्नि-जल-वर्जितेśīta-agni-jala-varjitefree of cold, fire, and water
Translation
"In a pure, unpeopled place, free of pebbles and the like, a bow's measure at the edges, free of cold, fire, and water…"
Version
3af381972116 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The place for practice is described, and the description is practical down to the last trifle: clean, unpeopled, without pebbles beneath the seat, the size of a "bow" (about four cubits), not cold, not by a fire and not by water. This plainness deserves praise. The matter concerns an undertaking requiring an hour of stillness; and anyone who has tried to sit still knows that it is precisely these things that decide everything: a draft, a pebble, noise, and neighbors.
The Gita describes the place in the same words: "in a pure place, having made oneself a firm seat, neither too high nor too low" (6.11), and before that — "in solitude, alone, having curbed the mind, free of hopes and possessions" (6.10). This coincidence shows we are dealing with a common possession: descriptions of the place passed from book to book because they are not theological but empirical. Separately, a word must be said about the requirement of solitude, because here the Vaishnava side departs, and departs consciously. Its chief occupation — sankirtana, communal singing of the Name — requires not solitude but, on the contrary, people; and Chaitanya directly preferred it to solitary repetition. His argument is simple and appears constantly in her books: in solitude a man more easily deceives himself; among others, this is harder.
Both customs, though, do not really contend: solitude is good for labor on oneself, gathering — for not losing one's way.