Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 2.44
॥
Devanāgarī
जपं च मथनं चैव कृत्वा शीघ्रं फलं लभेत् । स्वर्णजां रौप्यजां वापि लोहजां वा शलाकिकाम्
Transliteration (IAST)
japaṃ ca mathanaṃ caiva kṛtvā śīghraṃ phalaṃ labhet | svarṇajāṃ raupyajāṃ vāpi lohajāṃ vā śalākikām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जपं च मथनं च एवjapaṃ ca mathanaṃ ca evarepetition, and churning, and indeed
कृत्वा शीघ्रं फलं लभेत्kṛtvā śīghraṃ phalaṃ labhethaving performed, swiftly the fruit does he obtain
स्वर्ण-जां रौप्य-जां वा अपिsvarṇa-jāṃ raupya-jāṃ vā apiof gold, or of silver, or too
लोह-जां वा शलाकिकाम्loha-jāṃ vā śalākikāmof iron, a small rod
Translation
"Having performed both repetition and churning, swiftly does he obtain the fruit. A rod — of gold, of silver, or of iron…**
Version
846748f2d65c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An instrument appears: shalakika, "a small rod, a probe," of gold, silver, or iron; with it the described "churning" is performed — that is, the insertion of a probe into the nasal passage. Let me say this briefly and for the last time, for all that is needed was already said when reading the twenty-eighth line. This is a dangerous and unnecessary undertaking; this must not be done.
Only what pertains to the list of metals itself deserves adding, for it is instructive. Gold, silver, and iron are named as equally fit; and this shows that the matter is not in the substance or its properties, but in the smoothness and strength of the probe. Before us, again, is a craftsman's consideration, not a mysterious one.
Worth noting too is the first half of the line: japam cha mathanam cha, "and repetition, and churning." Two means are named together; and in the preceding line it was said that for one who has attained repetition, one alone is enough. That is, the book itself has ranked them by worth: the word can do without the technique, the technique cannot do without the word.
Here the Vaishnava side will stop. Of the whole second chapter — with its blade, its salt, its seven years, and its golden probe — one thing is worth holding on to: it acknowledged itself that for one who has the word, all this is unnecessary (2.43); and that what all this is done for is not produced by exercise, but is given at the meeting (2.5–2.8).