Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 4.43
॥
Devanāgarī
अमावास्या तदा प्रोक्ता देहे देहभृतां वर । मूलाधारं यदा प्राणः प्रविष्टः पण्डितोत्तम
Transliteration (IAST)
amāvāsyā tadā proktā dehe dehabhṛtāṃ vara | mūlādhāraṃ yadā prāṇaḥ praviṣṭaḥ paṇḍitottama
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अमावास्या तदा प्रोक्ताamāvāsyā tadā proktānew moon is then named
देहे देह-भृतां वरdehe deha-bhṛtāṃ varain the body, O best of body-bearers
मूल-आधारं यदा प्राणःmūla-ādhāraṃ yadā prāṇaḥwhen into the muladhara, prana
प्रविष्टः पण्डित-उत्तमpraviṣṭaḥ paṇḍita-uttamahas entered, O best of the learned
Translation
"New moon is then named in the body, O best of body-bearers. And when prana has entered the muladhara, O best of the learned…"
Version
940491cf7890 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The junction of the breaths is called amavasya, "new moon"; and the correspondence here is chosen precisely. At the new moon the moon is not visible at all: it stands in the same direction as the sun, and is thus lost in its light. That is, the new moon is not the moon's absence, but its coincidence with the sun.
Hence the word: ama-vasya literally means "dwelling together" — from ama, "together," and vas, "to dwell." Moon and sun dwell together. The correspondence with breath is, then, precise: where the lunar and solar passages meet, the same coincidence occurs.
Worth noting is that this image is not an image of emptiness. At the new moon nothing diminishes: the moon is whole, but not visible, because it stands in the same place as the source of light. The Vaishnava side describes in this same way the state spoken of at the end of every book on yoga. Merging, by its reading, is not disappearance, but a coincidence of direction: one who was turned toward himself is now turned toward the same place He is turned; and hence he is not seen separately, while remaining whole.
Confirmation of this it finds in the very language of liberation. Salokya — being in one world; samipya — being near; sarupya — having a like form; and even sayujya — "co-yoking," from yuj, "to yoke together." This last word deserves examination. Two are yoked; a yoke of one does not exist. And the fact that the highest of the liberations is named by a word with the prefix "co-" is, in my view, an argument that cannot be gotten around.