Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 4.40
॥
Devanāgarī
पिङ्गलायां रविस्तद्वन्मुने वेदविदां वर । पिङ्गलायामिडायां तु वायोः संक्रमणं तु यत्
Transliteration (IAST)
piṅgalāyāṃ ravistadvanmune vedavidāṃ vara | piṅgalāyāmiḍāyāṃ tu vāyoḥ saṃkramaṇaṃ tu yat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पिङ्गलायां रविः तत्-वत्piṅgalāyāṃ raviḥ tat-vatin pingala, likewise the sun
मुने वेद-विदां वरmune veda-vidāṃ varaO sage, best of knowers of the Veda
पिङ्गलायाम् इडायां तुpiṅgalāyām iḍāyāṃ tufrom pingala into ida, however
वायोः संक्रमणं तु यत्vāyoḥ saṃkramaṇaṃ tu yatwhatever passage of the wind there is
Translation
"In pingala, likewise, is the sun, O sage, best of knowers of the Veda; the passage of the wind from pingala into ida…"
Version
55ba9ef35c42 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Sankramana, "passage," is named; and this word, in the calendar, denotes the sun's passage from one sign to another. Here it is applied to the change of breath: the wind that ran on the right passes to the left. This change, as already discussed, is genuinely observable: the dominant nostril alternates through the day, and anyone can notice this in himself, if he takes the trouble to observe.
It is worth saying that this observation is, apparently, the seed of the whole calendrical construction. The change was noticed; it was noticed that the state changes with it; and, seeking a way to express this, a ready comparison was taken — the sun passing from sign to sign. Such an order is common in the history of every science: first observation, then a borrowed image, then the image grows and begins to live on its own.
The danger of such growth is that the image ceases to be distinguished from what was observed. It was observed: breath changes. It was said: a solstice occurs in the body. And a third generation is already discoursing on the solstice as if it were the subject itself.
The Vaishnava side, in similar cases, holds to a rule already discussed and worth repeating, for it is broadly applicable: distinguish the observation from the manner of expressing it. It applies this rule to its own books as well. Its descriptions of the spiritual world are given in material images — trees, rivers, palaces; and its commentators say directly that the images are taken from here, because the Vaishnava tradition has no others, and that what they describe is not an earthly tree and an earthly river.