Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 2.14
॥
Devanāgarī
वाचिकोपांशुरुच्चैश्च द्विविधः परिकीर्तितः । मानसोमननध्यानभेदाद्द्वैविध्यमाश्रितः
Transliteration (IAST)
vācikopāṃśuruccaiśca dvividhaḥ parikīrtitaḥ | mānasomananadhyānabhedāddvaividhyamāśritaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वाचिकः उपांशुः उच्चैः चvācikaḥ upāṃśuḥ uccaiḥ cavocal — whispered and loud
द्वि-विधः परिकीर्तितःdvi-vidhaḥ parikīrtitaḥis proclaimed twofold
मानसः मनन-ध्यान-भेदात्mānasaḥ manana-dhyāna-bhedātmental — by the distinction of pondering and contemplation
द्वैविध्यम् आश्रितःdvaividhyam āśritaḥpartakes of twoness
Translation
"Vocal repetition is proclaimed twofold: whispered and loud. Mental repetition is likewise twofold — by the distinction of pondering and contemplation."
Version
61e51bef3a2c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Four grades: aloud, whispered, pondering, contemplating. Upamshu means "in an undertone, so that the lips move but another cannot hear"; uchchaih — "loudly." In the mental, manana, "pondering," and dhyana, "contemplation," are distinguished; the first was spoken of when reading the first khanda, where it was named the purification of the mind.
Worth noting is that this distinction is made not by object, but by manner: one and the same mantra is repeated in four ways. The question that arises here on its own, and that these books rarely answer, is this: why speak aloud at all, if one can do it silently? There are two answers, and both deserve naming.
The first — for oneself: the voice holds the mind. A mind tied to nothing scatters in an instant; a sounding word is an anchor the mind clings to. Anyone who has tried praying silently knows how quickly repetition turns into muttering, with the thought a mile away.
The second — for others: a sounding word is heard. This second answer is precisely the one on which the Vaishnava side builds its objection to the ladder that follows. It does not cancel the merits of quiet repetition, but adds to them a consideration entirely absent from books on yoga: that someone else is nearby.
Hence its chief means is named not japa, but sankirtana, "congregational loud chanting"; and this word, in its books, stands where the word "concentration" stands in yogic ones.