Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.44
॥
Devanāgarī
उत्थानं च शरीरस्य चिह्नमेतज्जितेऽनले । एवमभ्यासतस्तस्य मूलरोगो विनश्यति
Transliteration (IAST)
utthānaṃ ca śarīrasya cihnametajjite'nale | evamabhyāsatastasya mūlarogo vinaśyati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
उत्थानं च शरीरस्यutthānaṃ ca śarīrasyaand the rising of the body
चिह्नम् एतत् जिते अनलेcihnam etat jite analeis this sign, when the fire is conquered
एवम् अभ्यासतः तस्यevam abhyāsataḥ tasyathus from his practice
मूल-रोगः विनश्यतिmūla-rogaḥ vinaśyatithe root disease perishes
Translation
"And the rising of the body is this sign, when the fire is conquered; thus, from his practice, the root disease perishes."
Version
b70aceb2d584 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Mula-roga, "the root disease," is understood, by commentators, as hemorrhoids; in the next line a fistula too will be named. This detail deserves attention, and not for mockery's sake. It shows that before us is an instruction for the living, not for abstract minds. The compiler knew that people who sit motionless for long periods suffer precisely this, and wrote of what he knew.
This trait, on reflection, does the book credit. A teaching that undertakes to lead a person to brahman, and along the way notices that he aches from long sitting, is a teaching that deals with real people. This is worth comparing to what was said when reading the Bhasma-jabala (2.34), where, amid discourses on the Highest, stands a prohibition against relieving oneself in the sanctuary; and it was said there that codes of conduct are written not for the exemplary, but for those actually doing the thing.
The Vaishnava side is no less thorough in matters of this kind. Its ritual books lay out how to prepare, how to store, how to clean up — and all of this stands beside discourses on love. The ground it gives for this is the same one named when reading the Ganapati: service is done with the hands; and one who serves with the hands inevitably has questions about vessels and about timing.
Hence "the lofty" and "the low" should not be distinguished in such books. Where a matter is genuine, it always accrues details; and the absence of details more often means there was no matter at all.