Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.29
॥
Devanāgarī
मासमात्रं त्रिसन्ध्यायां जिह्वयारोप्य मारुतम् । अमृतं च पिबेन्नाभौ मन्दंमन्दं निरोधयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
māsamātraṃ trisandhyāyāṃ jihvayāropya mārutam | amṛtaṃ ca pibennābhau mandaṃmandaṃ nirodhayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मास-मात्रं त्रि-सन्ध्यायांmāsa-mātraṃ tri-sandhyāyāṃfor one month, at the three junctures
जिह्वया आरोप्य मारुतम्jihvayā āropya mārutamhaving raised the wind with the tongue
अमृतं च पिबेत् नाभौamṛtaṃ ca pibet nābhauand let him drink the nectar, at the navel
मन्दं मन्दं निरोधयेत्mandaṃ mandaṃ nirodhayetslowly, slowly, let him hold
Translation
"For one month, at the three junctures, having raised the wind with the tongue, let him drink the nectar and hold it at the navel, slowly, slowly."
Version
ad1eb25c2672 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A term of one month is set — and this is, in my view, the most sensible measure in the whole section. A month is a term that can be endured, and at whose end one can see whether there is any use in it. This detail deserves praise. An instruction that sets a term places itself under a test; an instruction that says "practice for your whole life" is not subject to a test and hence obliges one to nothing.
Worth noting too is the repeated mandam mandam, "slowly, slowly," already discussed when reading the fifth khanda. The book warns, for the third time, against diligence beyond one's strength. The Vaishnava side sets no terms at all, and it is worth saying why.
The reason is that its means has no ending: the repetition of the Name is not a practice to be mastered and then set aside, but the very matter itself, continuing even after attainment. Hence, for it, the question "how long must one practice" does not arise. There is another question — "has one begun" — and it is answered not by a term, but by whether a person is repeating today or not.
This difference deserves stating, for it lifts one of the chief burdens of every undertaking. One who practices for the sake of a result constantly measures the distance to the goal, and grows despondent for it. One for whom the doing itself is the goal does not measure distance; and his today is no worse than his tomorrow.