Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 3.11
॥
Devanāgarī
समुन्नतशिरःपादो दण्डवद्व्योम्निसंस्थितः । मयूरासनमेतत्स्यात्सर्वपापप्रणाशनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
samunnataśiraḥpādo daṇḍavadvyomnisaṃsthitaḥ | mayūrāsanametatsyātsarvapāpapraṇāśanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
समुन्नत-शिरः-पादःsamunnata-śiraḥ-pādaḥwith head and feet raised up
दण्ड-वत् व्योम्नि संस्थितःdaṇḍa-vat vyomni saṃsthitaḥlike a staff, held fast in the air
मयूर-आसनम् एतत् स्यात्mayūra-āsanam etat syātthis will be the peacock sitting-posture
सर्व-पाप-प्रणाशनम्sarva-pāpa-praṇāśanamdestroying all sins
Translation
"…with head and feet raised up, like a staff, held fast in the air — this will be the peacock sitting-posture, destroying all sins."
Version
a3f47d7c1f1d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The posture is described: the body is stretched danda-vat, "like a staff," and held on the elbows, propped against the belly; head and feet suspended. The name explains itself: a peacock, with its tail fanned, stands so that its body is extended and nearly horizontal. It is promised that this posture is sarva-papa-pranashanam, "destroys all sins"; and this must be said once, for the last time in this whole book, so as not to have to return to it.
The promise that a bodily technique removes all sins cannot be accepted, and the reason is not distrust of the technique, but the incommensurability of the two things. Sin is a relation between persons: harm has been caused to someone. A posture is a position of the body. Between the two there is no connection by which the second could annul the first.