Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.41
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रणवेन नियुक्तेन बिन्दुयुक्तेन बुद्धिमान् । मूलाधारस्य विप्रेन्द्र मध्ये तं तु निरोधयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
praṇavena niyuktena binduyuktena buddhimān | mūlādhārasya viprendra madhye taṃ tu nirodhayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रणवेन नियुक्तेनpraṇavena niyuktenaby the pranava, applied
बिन्दु-युक्तेन बुद्धिमान्bindu-yuktena buddhimānjoined with the point, the wise one
मूल-आधारस्य विप्र-इन्द्रmūla-ādhārasya vipra-indraof the muladhara, O lord of the vipras
मध्ये तं तु निरोधयेत्madhye taṃ tu nirodhayetin its middle, let him hold it
Translation
"…by the pranava, applied and joined with the point, let the wise one hold it in the middle of the muladhara, O lord of the vipras."
Version
3dc8ef5ec4e1 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The technique joins three things: a bodily lock, breath retention, and the syllable om. Worth noting is how consistently the book holds to this combination. Not one of its techniques is purely bodily: a word is added everywhere.
This consideration deserves extending, for it explains the whole cast of Indian practice. Body, breath, and word are here neither separated nor opposed. Posture, breath, and mantra are three facets of one act, and none is conceived without the others.
The Vaishnava side preserves this combination, but composes it differently, and it is worth saying how. For it, bodily participation is prostration, dance, circumambulation, service with the hands; breath is not measured at all; the word occupies the whole central place. Its list of nine forms of service (Bhagavatam 7.5.23) is arranged so that bodily and verbal are mixed together: hearing, chanting, remembrance, service to the feet, worship, prostration, service, friendship, surrender of oneself.
Worth noting is that of the nine, three are verbal, three bodily, and three of the heart; and they are not arranged by rungs, but listed intermixed. This arrangement is, in my view, more sensible than a ladder. A ladder presumes that the lower is left behind; an intermixed list presumes that everything is done at once, and that a person participates wholly, not by parts.