Upanishads · Varāha 5.33
॥
Devanāgarī
स्रवन्तममृतं पश्येन्नेत्राभ्यां सुसमाहितः । अपानं मुकुलीकृत्य पायुमाकृष्य चोन्मुखम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sravantamamṛtaṃ paśyennetrābhyāṃ susamāhitaḥ | apānaṃ mukulīkṛtya pāyumākṛṣya conmukham
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्रवन्तम् अमृतं पश्येत्sravantam amṛtaṃ paśyetlet him see the flowing nectar
नेत्राभ्यां सु-समाहितःnetrābhyāṃ su-samāhitaḥwith the eyes, wholly gathered
अपानं मुकुली-कृत्यapānaṃ mukulī-kṛtyahaving contracted apana into a bud
पायुम् आकृष्य च उन्मुखम्pāyum ākṛṣya ca unmukhamand drawn the anus upward
Translation
"Wholly gathered, let him see the flowing nectar with the eyes; having contracted apana into a bud and drawn the anus upward…"
Version
d584ee710a78 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A technique is described, joining two acts: contemplation of flowing nectar and a bodily lock. Of amrita flowing from the crown, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (6.44) and the Kaivalya; let us briefly repeat. This teaching states that nectar accumulates in the crown and drips down, burning in the fire of the stomach, whereby a person ages; the techniques serve to retain it.
Worth noting is the word mukuli-kritya, "contracted into a bud." Mukula means "bud"; a precise image for a contraction in which something gathers toward the center. This image exists in Vaishnava literature too, and deserves citing, for it is used differently there, and better.
There mukulita is said of the eyes: hearing of the Lord, a listener's eyes "become a bud," that is, half-close of themselves — not by technique, but from fullness. The difference between the two uses of one image is telling: here the bud is made, there the bud makes itself. Let us add what it notes of the promise of nectar itself.
Its word amrita stands constantly, but is applied differently: it calls the Name nectar, nama-amrita, and the narrative, katha-amrita. That is, the object is the same by name and quite different in substance: there nectar is retained in the body, here it is drunk with the ears; and the verse Bhagavatam 10.31.9 says exactly this: shravanya-mangala... bhuvi grinata iha.