Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 4.31
॥
Devanāgarī
अपानाख्यस्य वायोस्तु विण्मूत्रादिविसर्जनम् । समानः सर्वसामीप्यं करोति मुनिपुङ्गव
Transliteration (IAST)
apānākhyasya vāyostu viṇmūtrādivisarjanam | samānaḥ sarvasāmīpyaṃ karoti munipuṅgava
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अपान-आख्यस्य वायोः तुapāna-ākhyasya vāyoḥ tuof the wind named apana
विट्-मूत्र-आदि-विसर्जनम्viṭ-mūtra-ādi-visarjanamthe expulsion of feces, urine, and the rest
समानः सर्व-सामीप्यंsamānaḥ sarva-sāmīpyaṃsamana produces universal drawing-together
करोति मुनि-पुङ्गवkaroti muni-puṅgavaO bull among sages
Translation
"Of the wind named apana, the expulsion of feces, urine, and the rest; samana, however, produces universal drawing-together, O bull among sages."
Version
60f7eb4e8e3b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The functions continue to be charted: apana expels, samana sarva-samipya karoti, "produces universal drawing-together." This last expression is somewhat obscure; apparently what is meant is that samana brings together what has been assimilated and distributes it evenly through the body. Worth noting is the relation between the two breaths itself: one expels, the other unites.
This pair — expulsion and assimilation — is, on reflection, a description of all life. What is living differs from what is not precisely in that it takes from outside, assimilates part, casts off part; and the halting of either action is equally fatal. This observation deserves extending beyond the body, for it fits there too.
A person, both mentally and emotionally, lives by the same order: receiving, assimilating, casting off. One who casts off nothing becomes clogged; one who assimilates nothing remains empty, however much he reads. The Vaishnava side expresses this relation through its own pair of notions, worth citing. There is anartha-nivritti, "the cessation of the unneeded," and there is nishtha, "steadfastness"; and in its ladder of stages the first stands before the second (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.4.15).
This order, it should be said, is the reverse of what is usually expected. One expects to first acquire the good, and the bad to fall away of itself. By this chart, it turns out that first the unneeded falls away — and only after that does steadfastness appear.