Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.8
॥
Devanāgarī
धारयेत्पूरितं विद्वान्प्रणवं संजपन्वशी । उकारमूर्तिं स ध्यायंश्चतुःषष्ट्या तु मात्रया
Transliteration (IAST)
dhārayetpūritaṃ vidvānpraṇavaṃ saṃjapanvaśī | ukāramūrtiṃ sa dhyāyaṃścatuḥṣaṣṭyā tu mātrayā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
धारयेत् पूरितं विद्वान्dhārayet pūritaṃ vidvānlet the knowing one hold the filled [breath]
प्रणवं संजपन् वशीpraṇavaṃ saṃjapan vaśīrepeating the pranava, having subdued himself
उ-कार-मूर्तिं सः ध्यायन्u-kāra-mūrtiṃ saḥ dhyāyancontemplating the form of the sound 'u'
चतुः-षष्ट्या तु मात्रयाcatuḥ-ṣaṣṭyā tu mātrayāby sixty-four measures
Translation
"Let the knowing one, having subdued himself, hold the filled [breath] by sixty-four measures, repeating the pranava, contemplating the form of the sound 'u'."
Version
75d5ade058de · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Worth noting is the word vashi, "having subdued himself," from vasha, "power, will." This word, in the list of the practitioner's qualifications, stands on a level with vidvan, "knowing"; that is, both knowledge and mastery of oneself are required. This combination is constant in books on yoga and forms their distinguishing trait. Knowledge without mastery of oneself counts for nothing here.
The Vaishnava side accepts this relation, but derives it differently, and the difference deserves stating one last time for this book. By the yogic reckoning, mastery of oneself is a condition: subdue yourself, and then you will be able. By the Vaishnava reckoning, it is a consequence: serve, and mastery will come.
The ground of the second is stated in a verse already cited: "objects fall away from the abstinent, but the taste remains; and the taste falls away from one who has seen the Highest" (Gita 2.59). The whole dispute, then, is over the order: first mastery, then vision — or first vision, then mastery. The practical difference here is great, and deserves naming. By the first order, a person cannot begin until he has changed; by the second, he begins today, and the change proceeds along the way.
Hence its practice sets no moral conditions at the entrance. It sets them at the exit — as signs; and the difference between a condition and a sign was discussed when reading the first khanda (1.6).