Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 1.20
॥
Devanāgarī
जयन्तीसंभवो वायुश्चमरो धर्मसंज्ञितः । यस्यासौ ज्वलनाभासः खड्गरूपो महेश्वरः
Transliteration (IAST)
jayantīsaṃbhavo vāyuścamaro dharmasaṃjñitaḥ | yasyāsau jvalanābhāsaḥ khaḍgarūpo maheśvaraḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जयन्ती-संभवः वायुःjayantī-saṃbhavaḥ vāyuḥborn in Jayantī — the wind
चमरः धर्म-संज्ञितःcamaraḥ dharma-saṃjñitaḥthe fan, named the law
यस्य असौ ज्वलन-आभासःyasya asau jvalana-ābhāsaḥwhose that flame-resembling
खड्ग-रूपः महेश्वरःkhaḍga-rūpaḥ maheśvaraḥin the form of a sword — Maheśvara
Translation
"Born in Jayantī is the wind; the fan is named the law; that which resembles flame, in the form of a sword — is Maheśvara."
Version
bf6aa07def2c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The mapping by objects continues, and it is worth noting that here too the great gods turn out to be implements: Maheśvara is a sword, as before he was a flute. Of the inverted structure of this mapping it was said when reading the eighth verse; no need to repeat. Let us add another point: the word camara, "fan," is named dharma, "the law."
This correspondence deserves examination, for it is unexpected. A fan is a subordinate object: it is used to fan someone, standing beside them; it does not adorn or defend, but brings comfort. And here it is precisely this that is named the law.
Read out, this means: the law is not a fence and not a weapon, but that by which one is relieved. The Vaiṣṇava side reasons about the law in the same vein and distinguishes dharma from bhāgavata-dharma. The first arranges life; the second turns it toward Him. And of the first her books say that it is subordinate: the Bhāgavatam opens with the rejection of a self-interested dharma and defines the highest law as that "from which devotion arises" (1.2.6).
Let us add what follows from the image of the fan. A fan is waved in someone's presence; on its own it is of no use. That is, the law, taken apart from the One for whose sake it exists, is an object without a use; and the whole book, having mapped implements onto gods, thereby says: all of this is with Him, and outside Him serves nothing.