Upanishads · Gaṇapati 6.2
॥
Devanāgarī
त्वं मूलाधारस्थितोऽसि नित्यम् । त्वं शक्तित्रयात्मकः ।त्वां योगिनो ध्यायन्ति नित्यम्
Transliteration (IAST)
tvaṃ mūlādhārasthito'si nityam | tvaṃ śaktitrayātmakaḥ |tvāṃ yogino dhyāyanti nityam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्वं मूलाधार-स्थितः असि नित्यम्tvaṃ mūlādhāra-sthitaḥ asi nityamyou dwell in the mūlādhāra eternally
त्वं शक्ति-त्रय-आत्मकःtvaṃ śakti-traya-ātmakaḥyou whose essence is the three powers
त्वां योगिनः ध्यायन्ति नित्यम्tvāṃ yoginaḥ dhyāyanti nityamthe yogis contemplate you continually
Translation
You dwell in the mūlādhāra eternally, you whose essence is the three powers; the yogis contemplate you continually.
Version
e474f5bbc56d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It was just said that He is beyond the three guṇas, the three states, the three bodies, and the three times. And now it is said that He is mūlādhāra-sthitaḥ, "dwelling in the mūlādhāra" — that is, in a definite place in the body, at the base of the spine. This juxtaposition deserves examination, for it looks like a contradiction and is in fact a precise formulation.
If the highest is only transcendent, it has nowhere to be. If it is only present, it is not beyond the world. To assert both statements in succession is to assert the presence of the transcendent.
This position, in Vaiṣṇava theology, is a separate person, not a figure of speech: Paramātmā, "the highest self," also called antaryāmin, "the inner ruler." The Gītā says: īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṃ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati, "the Lord of all beings dwells in the region of the heart, O Arjuna" (18.61). It is worth comparing the two verbs. There, tiṣṭhati, "stands, dwells"; here, sthitaḥ, from the same root. And in both cases a place is indicated.
An abstract principle does not dwell in a place — it has neither where nor when. Only one who, being everywhere, is able to be right here can dwell; and that is a property of a person, not of a property. Śakti-traya, "the three powers," means the usual triad: icchā ("will"), jñāna ("knowledge"), kriyā ("action"). It is worth noting that will is named first — and that all three are properties of one who wills, knows, and acts.
The last word, dhyāyanti, "they contemplate," adds one thing more to this. One always contemplates someone; and the yogis, of whom it is said that they do this continually, remain, in doing so, yogis — that is, other than Him.