Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 9.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथातः सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि ध्यानं संसारनाशनम् । ऋतं सत्यं परं ब्रह्म सर्वसंसारभेषजम्
Transliteration (IAST)
athātaḥ sampravakṣyāmi dhyānaṃ saṃsāranāśanam | ṛtaṃ satyaṃ paraṃ brahma sarvasaṃsārabheṣajam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ अतः सम्प्रवक्ष्यामिatha ataḥ sampravakṣyāminow I shall tell henceforth
ध्यानं संसार-नाशनम्dhyānaṃ saṃsāra-nāśanamcontemplation, destroying the cycle
ऋतं सत्यं परं ब्रह्मṛtaṃ satyaṃ paraṃ brahmacosmic order, truth, the highest brahman
सर्व-संसार-भेषजम्sarva-saṃsāra-bheṣajama medicine for the whole cycle
Translation
"Now I shall tell, henceforth, contemplation, destroying the cycle: cosmic order, truth, the highest brahman — a medicine for the whole cycle."
Version
975409e0c408 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The ninth khanda begins — on dhyana, the seventh rung. Worth noting is the word bheshajam, "medicine": the cycle is called a disease, and the expression bhava-roga was discussed when reading the seventh khanda (7.10). It is worth examining too the difference between dharana and dhyana, for it is subtle and often blurred.
The Yoga-sutras define: dharana is the binding of consciousness to a place (3.1); dhyana is tatra pratyayaika-tanata, "single-directedness of the notion there" (3.2). That is, the difference is not in the object, but in continuity. In concentration, the mind is brought back to the object, and it wanders off; in contemplation, it remains, and its flow is unbroken.
The comparison used to explain this in Indian books deserves citing: concentration is like drops of oil falling one after another; contemplation is like a stream of oil, pouring continuously. This comparison is good and useful for self-testing. A person who has brought his mind back thirty times during a prayer is at the first rung, and this is no disgrace — it is its description.
The Vaishnava side uses the same comparison, and its commentators speak of the repetition of the Name: at first it is broken, nama-abhasa; then it becomes continuous. Let us add that continuity, for it, is achieved not by effort, but by the same means as everything else: the object becomes such that one does not turn away from it. And the difference between "I hold on" and "I cannot tear myself away" is, in substance, the difference between the two rungs spoken of here.