Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 3.18
॥
Devanāgarī
अभ्यासवासनाशक्त्या तरन्ति भवसागरम् । परायामङ्कुरीभूय पश्यन्तां द्विदलीकृता
Transliteration (IAST)
abhyāsavāsanāśaktyā taranti bhavasāgaram | parāyāmaṅkurībhūya paśyantāṃ dvidalīkṛtā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अभ्यास-वासना-शक्त्याabhyāsa-vāsanā-śaktyāby the power of practice and tendency
तरन्ति भव-सागरम्taranti bhava-sāgaramthey cross the ocean of existence
परायाम् अङ्कुरी-भूयparāyām aṅkurī-bhūyain "the highest", having become a sprout
पश्यन्ताम् द्वि-दली-कृताpaśyantām dvi-dalī-kṛtāin "the seeing" — split in two
Translation
"By the power of practice and tendency, they cross the ocean of existence. In "the highest", having become a sprout; in "the seeing" — split in two…**
Version
91bb71990ea9 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The charting of the four stages of speech begins, and it is one of the central things in the Indian science of language. The four are: para, "the highest" — speech before any distinction; pashyanti, "the seeing" — where meaning already exists but is not yet divided into words; madhyama, "the middle" — inner speech, in the mind; vaikhari, "the uttered" — that which is heard. This scheme goes back to the grammarians and was elaborated by Bhartrihari; and it is, I think, the best that Indian literature has said about speech.
Worth noting is the image by which it is set forth here: ankuri-bhuya, "having become a sprout," dvi-dali-krita, "split in two." Speech is described as a plant: first a seed, then a sprout, then two cotyledon leaves, then unfolding. The image is beautiful and precise. Thought truly does sprout: first there is something whole and unnamed; then it splits into "what" and "about what"; then it takes shape into words within; and only then does it come out.
Anyone who has tried to say something important knows these stages, and knows that at each one something is lost. Hence the complaint "that's not what I meant to say": what is said is the fourth stage, and one wished to convey the first. The Vaishnava side knows this scheme and applies it to the Name. The Name uttered aloud is vaikhari, and this is no diminishment of it: precisely because it is at the fourth stage, that is, audible and repeatable, it is fit for everyone. The subtle is accessible to few; the uttered — to anyone.