Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 2.11
॥
Devanāgarī
यावन्न लभ्यते शास्त्रं तावद्गां पर्यटेद्यतिः । यदा संलभ्यते शास्त्रं तदा सिद्धिः करे स्थिता
Transliteration (IAST)
yāvanna labhyate śāstraṃ tāvadgāṃ paryaṭedyatiḥ | yadā saṃlabhyate śāstraṃ tadā siddhiḥ kare sthitā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यावत् न लभ्यते शास्त्रंyāvat na labhyate śāstraṃuntil the scripture is obtained
तावत् गां पर्यटेत् यतिःtāvat gāṃ paryaṭet yatiḥuntil then let the ascetic wander over the earth
यदा संलभ्यते शास्त्रंyadā saṃlabhyate śāstraṃwhen, however, the scripture is obtained
तदा सिद्धिः करे स्थिताtadā siddhiḥ kare sthitāthen attainment stands in the hand
Translation
"Until the scripture is obtained, until then let the ascetic wander over the earth; but when the scripture is obtained, then attainment stands in the hand".
Version
acdb04a31aa6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
One is commanded to wander until one finds the book. It is worth picturing what this meant in fact, for in our time it is hard to imagine. The book existed in a handful of copies; the copies lay with people, not in shops; and to find the needed treatise meant to find a person who had it and would agree to transmit it.
Hence the command: walk the earth. The search for a book was a search for people; and wandering here is not a feat, but a method. Worth noting how much this has changed, and what has been lost by it. Now every one of these compositions is in everyone's hands, and free; and with that has vanished what was formerly inseparable from the book — the person from whom it is received.
The Vaishnava side feels this position keenly and speaks of it constantly. A book taken without a person is read as information; and so in her practice the custom of reading together is still held, and of receiving a text from one who has read it before — even though the text lies in everyone's pocket. Separately, a word must be said about the expression siddhih kare sthita, "attainment in the hand." The turn is a homely one, like saying "it's in the bag." And it should be noted this is said of the book, not of the exercise: find the book, and consider yourself arrived.