Upanishads · Varāha 5.26
॥
Devanāgarī
शङ्खिनी चैव गान्धारी तदनन्तरयोः स्थिते । उत्तरे तु सुषुम्नाया इडाख्या निवसत्यसौ
Transliteration (IAST)
śaṅkhinī caiva gāndhārī tadanantarayoḥ sthite | uttare tu suṣumnāyā iḍākhyā nivasatyasau
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शङ्खिनी च एव गान्धारीśaṅkhinī ca eva gāndhārīand likewise shankhini and gandhari
तत्-अनन्तरयोः स्थितेtat-anantarayoḥ sthitestand on the [spokes] following these
उत्तरे तु सुषुम्नायाःuttare tu suṣumnāyāḥon the northern, however, of sushumna
इडा-आख्या निवसति असौiḍā-ākhyā nivasati asaudwells the one named ida
Translation
"And shankhini and gandhari stand on the [spokes] following these; on the northern [spoke], however, of sushumna, dwells the one named ida."
Version
97444ea49b16 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Ida, the second of the chief passages, is named, and with it the list of the chief ones is complete. Worth noting is that the cardinal directions are applied to the body: "right spoke," "western," "northern." This device is universal in Indian practice and means the body was conceived as a country, having its own directions.
Let us add what deserves saying of this whole class of descriptions, for we have reached their middle. These descriptions are a map; and a map, like any map, is useful to one who travels by it, and useless to one who merely reads it. Hence to examine them in detail while sitting over a book would be a hollow exercise: there is nothing to argue about here and nothing to interpret, until it is done.
Let us say plainly what a reader should think of this. One who reads this book does not read it in order to raise power at the base; and hence the best he can draw from these verses is an understanding of the structure of this teaching, not an attempt to perform it. The Vaishnava side looks at such chapters exactly this way, and hence does not retell them.
Its rule has been cited more than once, and let us briefly repeat it: the means must be within one's strength; and what requires a teacher, health, time, and solitude cannot be a path for many.