Upanishads · Varāha 5.62
॥
Devanāgarī
वेधकक्रमयोगेन चतुष्पीठं तु वायुना । आस्फालयेन्महामेरुं वायुवक्त्रे प्रकोटिभिः
Transliteration (IAST)
vedhakakramayogena catuṣpīṭhaṃ tu vāyunā | āsphālayenmahāmeruṃ vāyuvaktre prakoṭibhiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वेधक-क्रम-योगेनvedhaka-krama-yogenaby the order of piercing
चतुः-पीठं तु वायुनाcatuḥ-pīṭhaṃ tu vāyunāthe four seats, by the wind
आस्फालयेत् महा-मेरुंāsphālayet mahā-meruṃlet him strike the great Meru
वायु-वक्त्रे प्रकोटिभिःvāyu-vaktre prakoṭibhiḥat the mouth of the wind, repeatedly
Translation
"By the order of piercing — the four seats, by the wind; let him strike the great Meru at the mouth of the wind, repeatedly."
Version
9427a00aa9b2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Maha-meru, "great Meru," is named — so this teaching calls the spine. Meru is the world mountain, the axis of the earth; and the transfer of its name to the spine is part of the same correspondence between body and world discussed when reading the twenty-fifth verse of this chapter. This correspondence is carried through Indian literature with rare consistency: the body has its own rivers, its own mountain, its own cardinal directions, its own deities.
Let us add what deserves saying of this view in substance, for it is not empty. It means that a person is a small world, arranged on the model of the large one; and this thought is not India's alone, but common to many peoples. The Vaishnava side accepts it, but sets it a limit, worth stating.
It says: a person resembles the world, but is not equal to it; and resemblance grants no power. That there is a mountain within me does not make me the holder of the earth; and that there is a Ganga within me does not cancel the Ganga. And hence its usual objection against this whole class of teachings: the correspondence is read as identity, and from identity it is concluded that working on oneself suffices.
Its own conclusion runs the other way: since I am built on a model, there must be a model; and attention ought to be turned to it, not to the copy.