Upanishads · Varāha 5.36
॥
Devanāgarī
जलेऽग्निज्वलनाच्छाखापल्लवानि भवन्ति हि । नाधन्यं जागतं वाक्यं विपरीता भवेत्क्रिया
Transliteration (IAST)
jale'gnijvalanācchākhāpallavāni bhavanti hi | nādhanyaṃ jāgataṃ vākyaṃ viparītā bhavetkriyā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जले अग्नि-ज्वलनात्jale agni-jvalanātfrom a fire blazing in water
शाखा-पल्लवानि भवन्ति हिśākhā-pallavāni bhavanti hibranches and shoots come to be
न अ-धन्यं जागतं वाक्यंna a-dhanyaṃ jāgataṃ vākyaṃnot fruitless is worldly speech
विपरीता भवेत् क्रियाviparītā bhavet kriyāthe effect turns out reversed
Translation
"From a fire blazing in water, branches and shoots come to be; not fruitless is worldly speech — [though] the effect turns out reversed."
Version
e93de53c6ad2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse is obscure, and it must be said plainly: its sense, in this recension, cannot be reconstructed with certainty. Apparently, the discourse concerns something unnatural occurring in the practice: fire burns in water, and from this shoots grow. That is, it is indicated that the technique goes against the ordinary course of things — as does the word viparita, "reversed," at the end.
This reading is plausible, for hatha-yogic books directly speak of viparita-karani, "the reversed act" — a technique in which the body is inverted, head down, so that nectar does not drip away. Let us add what deserves saying of the design of "the reversed act" itself, for it is expressed here more clearly than anywhere. The design is this: the ordinary course of things leads to death; therefore everything must be done in reverse — hold the breath, keep the nectar from flowing down, invert the body.
This construction is consistent, and has its own logic. The Vaishnava side sets against it its own, and the difference lies in the very ground. It does not hold that the ordinary course of things is an enemy: it is an arrangement, and this arrangement is His.
Hence its means does not reverse the course of things, but changes its purpose: the same body, the same food, the same speech — but surrendered. And of the word yukta-vairagya, "united renunciation," discussed more than once; its sense is that one does not war against nature, but harnesses it.