Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 8.4
॥
Devanāgarī
जान्वन्तं पृथिवी ह्यंशो ह्यपां पय्वन्तमुच्यते । हृदयांशस्तथाग्नंशो भ्रूमध्यान्तोऽनिलांशकः
Transliteration (IAST)
jānvantaṃ pṛthivī hyaṃśo hyapāṃ payvantamucyate | hṛdayāṃśastathāgnaṃśo bhrūmadhyānto'nilāṃśakaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जानु-अन्तं पृथिवी हि अंशःjānu-antaṃ pṛthivī hi aṃśaḥup to the knees, indeed, the portion of earth
अपां पयु-अन्तम् उच्यतेapāṃ payu-antam ucyateup to the anus, the portion of water, is said
हृदय-अंशः तथा अग्नि-अंशःhṛdaya-aṃśaḥ tathā agni-aṃśaḥthe heart's portion, likewise the fire's portion
भ्रू-मध्य-अन्तः अनिल-अंशकःbhrū-madhya-antaḥ anila-aṃśakaḥup to the middle of the brows, the portion of wind
Translation
"Up to the knees is indeed the portion of earth; up to the anus is said to be the water portion; the heart's portion is likewise the fire's portion; up to the middle of the brows is the wind portion."
Version
158bafd47413 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The body is charted by elements from bottom to top: legs — earth, the lower belly — water, heart — fire, head down to the brows — wind, crown — space. This chart, for all its arbitrariness, is arranged by common sense: earth is below and heavy, fire is in the middle (there it is warm), wind is higher (there is the breath), space is at the top. Worth noting is that fire is given to the heart.
This correspondence is the same in every people's language, and we speak the same way: "the heart burns," "the heat of the soul," "grew cold." No school is needed for this; it is a universal observation. The Vaishnava side too ties the heart to fire, but its fire is of another kind, and it is worth saying which.
In its books, the heart of a devotee burns with separation: this state is called vipralambha, "disjunction," and is held the highest of all, higher even than the state of meeting. This position is unexpected and deserves explaining. The ground is this: in separation the object is present more fully than in meeting, for the mind is occupied with it entirely; and thirst, unquenched, grows.
Chaitanya, in whom this state is described most fully, says of it: "a moment seems twelve years; the eyes, as in a rainy season, pour tears; and the whole world seems empty" (Shikshashtaka 7). This state, in its books, is not held a misfortune and is not subject to consolation. It is called the highest attainment; and the difference between such a fire in the heart and the element of fire spoken of in this line is the difference between burning and scorching.