Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 3.19
॥
Devanāgarī
मध्यमायां मुकुलिता वैखर्यां विकसीकृता । पूर्वं यथोदिता या वाग्विलोमेनास्तगा भवेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
madhyamāyāṃ mukulitā vaikharyāṃ vikasīkṛtā | pūrvaṃ yathoditā yā vāgvilomenāstagā bhavet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मध्यमायां मुकुलिताmadhyamāyāṃ mukulitāin "the middle" — as a bud
वैखर्यां विकसी-कृताvaikharyāṃ vikasī-kṛtāin "the uttered" — unfolded
पूर्वं यथा उदिता या वाक्pūrvaṃ yathā uditā yā vākas before rose the speech
विलोमेन अस्तगा भवेत्vilomena astagā bhavetso in reverse order it sets
Translation
"In "the middle" — as a bud; in "the uttered" — unfolded; and as speech rose before, so in reverse order it sets".
Version
6bbb6c653b8f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image is carried to its end: in the mind speech is mukulita, "a bud"; uttered, it is vikasi-krita, "unfolded." The flower-image for speech is, I think, the best of all. A bud already contains everything, but nothing in it can be told apart; an unfolded flower is spread out, and all its parts are visible — and it too will wither by evening.
The second half of the line adds something important to this: vilomena astaga bhavet, "in reverse order it sets." That is, speech not only rises, but also sets: like the sun. And it sets by the same path by which it rose — from the uttered to the bud, from the bud to the sprout, from the sprout to the seed.
This description is precise and familiar to anyone. Words spoken and heard first sound; then remain in the mind; then become something whole and unnamed — and in this form live long, when the words themselves are no longer remembered. The Vaishnava side builds on this her relation to hearing. What is heard does not remain as words: it goes within and coils there; and so she commands hearing much and not being troubled that not everything is remembered. What is remembered is not what is stored in memory, but what has managed to coil up.
It is worth adding that the reverse course here too is named by the word viloma, "against the grain," discussed when reading Tripuratapini (35). One and the same word means both the reading of a spell backward and this natural return of speech to its source.