Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.6
॥
Devanāgarī
शनैः पिङ्गलया तत्र द्वात्रिंशन्मात्रया पुनः । प्राणायामो भवेदेवं ततश्चैवं समभ्यसेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
śanaiḥ piṅgalayā tatra dvātriṃśanmātrayā punaḥ | prāṇāyāmo bhavedevaṃ tataścaivaṃ samabhyaset
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शनैः पिङ्गलया तत्रśanaiḥ piṅgalayā tatraslowly, by pingala, the while
द्वा-त्रिंशत्-मात्रया पुनःdvā-triṃśat-mātrayā punaḥby thirty-two measures, again
प्राणायामः भवेत् एवंprāṇāyāmaḥ bhavet evaṃlet breath control be thus
ततः च एवं समभ्यसेत्tataḥ ca evaṃ samabhyasetand thereafter let him practice thus
Translation
"Slowly, by pingala, the while, by thirty-two measures again — let breath control be thus, and thereafter let him practice thus."
Version
54eb559441b6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The circle is closed: inhale sixteen, retention sixty-four, exhale thirty-two measures. Worth noting is that the exhale is set at twice the length of the inhale. This ratio is not arbitrary and is confirmed by an observation accessible to anyone. A slow exhale calms; a fast inhale excites. Anyone who has taken a deep breath out when agitated knows this without any books.
Here, then, the basis of the practice is what a person does himself when he wants to calm down; and the technique is, in substance, an ordered continuation of a natural movement. This trait does credit to the ancient teachers: they did not invent, but observed and measured. Worth mentioning too the word samabhyaset, "let him practice," repeated here for the third time. Of the meaning of abhyasa — "repeated return" — it was spoken when reading the third khanda.
The Vaishnava side uses this word too, and the Gita places it first among the two means of controlling the mind (6.35). But right there a second is added — vairagya, "dispassion"; and their relation is such that practice without dispassion is labor wasted, for a person practices by day and undoes it by evening. And the reverse holds too: dispassion without practice remains an intention. Hence the Gita names both, not one alone.