Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 3.9
॥
Devanāgarī
मेढ्रादुपरि निक्षिप्य सव्यं गुल्फं ततोपरि । गुल्फान्तरं च संक्षिप्य मुक्तासनमिदं मुने
Transliteration (IAST)
meḍhrādupari nikṣipya savyaṃ gulphaṃ tatopari | gulphāntaraṃ ca saṃkṣipya muktāsanamidaṃ mune
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मेढ्रात् उपरि निक्षिप्यmeḍhrāt upari nikṣipyaabove the organ, having placed
सव्यं गुल्फं ततः उपरिsavyaṃ gulphaṃ tataḥ uparithe left ankle, then above [that]
गुल्फ-अन्तरं च संक्षिप्यgulpha-antaraṃ ca saṃkṣipyaand having laid the other ankle
मुक्त-आसनम् इदं मुनेmukta-āsanam idaṃ munethis is the free sitting-posture, O sage
Translation
"Having placed the left ankle above the organ, and above it having laid the other ankle — this is the free sitting-posture, O sage."
Version
8521da91a2d0 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A second description under the same name, and it disagrees with the previous one: there the ankles are at the sides of the seam, here one is above the other. This disagreement deserves noting, not smoothing over. The book has given two different descriptions under one name, and they cannot be reconciled.
The cause, in all likelihood, is the same as with the three accounts of the origin of the bead in the Rudraksha-jabala: before us is a compilation, assembled from several sources, and the compiler did not bother to harmonize them. The conclusion for the reader is the same, and deserves repeating. One should not build arguments on details in which the book itself is unstable; but neither should one reject the book on this account, for what disagrees here is the description of a technique, not the teaching.
This trait, it must be said, is found in Vaishnava books too. The Puranas disagree among themselves in details of narrative — in the number of wives, the order of events, the names; and its commentators have worked out a rule for such cases. The rule says: where traditions disagree in details, one must see what they agree on. Agreement in substance amid disagreement in details is a mark that a tradition is living and was passed down by many, not composed by one.
Applying this rule here, let us say: both lines agree that the legs are folded tightly and that the position must be closed; while which ankle goes where is a detail each school held its own way.