Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.21
॥
Devanāgarī
विनियोगान्प्रवक्ष्यामि प्राणायामस्य सुव्रत । सन्ध्ययोर्ब्राह्मकालेऽपि मध्याह्ने वाथवा सदा
Transliteration (IAST)
viniyogānpravakṣyāmi prāṇāyāmasya suvrata | sandhyayorbrāhmakāle'pi madhyāhne vāthavā sadā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
विनियोगान् प्रवक्ष्यामिviniyogān pravakṣyāmiapplications I shall tell
प्राणायामस्य सु-व्रतprāṇāyāmasya su-vrataof breath control, O one true to his vow
सन्ध्ययोः ब्राह्म-काले अपिsandhyayoḥ brāhma-kāle apiat both junctures, and at the brahma-hour too
मध्याह्ने वा अथवा सदाmadhyāhne vā athavā sadāor at noon, or else always
Translation
"I shall tell the applications of breath control, O one true to his vow: at both junctures, and at the brahma-hour too, or at noon, or else always."
Version
c54350863458 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The times are named, and the last of them deserves noting: athava sada, "or else always." That is, after listing the hours, it is said: and it is also possible at any time. This qualification is of the same kind as "sit however is comfortable" (3.12) and "as long as possible" (6.5); and we have already noted that the book leaves such exits constantly.
Brahma-kala is the pre-dawn hour, discussed when reading the eleventh line of the eleventh part of the Ganapati; in Vaishnava practice it is called brahma-muhurta and is set aside for the repetition of the Name. It is worth saying something of the word viniyoga, "application," for it is used here in an unusual sense. In ritual books, viniyoga is the preface to a mantra, naming the seer, the meter, and the deity; so it stood in the Ganapati (7.3). Here it simply means "use": when and for what to use the technique.
This change of meaning is telling. In a ritual book, "application" indicated to whom it was addressed; in a yogic one, what it is good for. This difference, on reflection, is the difference between address and use; and it determines the whole cast of the lines that follow, where the technique will be applied to diseases, as a medicine is applied.