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Upaniṣads · Gāruḍa 1.6
॥
Devanāgarī
आजानुतः सुवर्णाभमाकट्योस्तुहिनप्रभम् । कुङ्कुमारुणमाकण्ठं शतचन्द्र निभाननम्
Transliteración (IAST)
ājānutaḥ suvarṇābhamākaṭyostuhinaprabham | kuṅkumāruṇamākaṇṭhaṃ śatacandra nibhānanam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
आ-जानुतः सुवर्ण-आभम्ā-jānutaḥ suvarṇa-ābhamgolden-colored to the knees
आ-कट्योः तुहिन-प्रभम्ā-kaṭyoḥ tuhina-prabhamsnow-hued to the thighs
कुङ्कुम-अरुणम् आ-कण्ठंkuṅkuma-aruṇam ā-kaṇṭhaṃcrimson as saffron to the throat
शत-चन्द्र-निभ-आननम्śata-candra-nibha-ānanamwith a face like a hundred moons
Traducción
«Golden-colored to the knees, snow-hued to the thighs, crimson as saffron to the throat, with a face like a hundred moons».
Versión
7c2122471250 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here is a remarkable verse: the body is painted in tiers, each its own color. From the feet to the knees — gold; from the knees to the thighs — snow; from the thighs to the throat — saffron crimson; the face — like a hundred moons, that is, white and radiant. Note how unusual this is.
A deity is usually described in one color: blue, dark, white. Here the color changes with height, and changes in a set order: from gold below to white above, through snow and crimson. This is interpreted so: the tiers correspond to the worlds, and Garuḍa's body passes through them from bottom to top.
Let us add what deserves saying about this device. It is a device of painting, not theology: this is how images were painted, and the description follows the brush, not the doctrine. We have noted, reading many books, that mantric literature is living, workaday literature; here it is clearest of all — before us is, in essence, an instruction to a painter.
The Vaiṣṇava side treats such descriptions as practice, and distinguishes: what is stated in tradition, and what is set by craft. The first is obligatory, the second changeable; and anyone who presents the second as the first ascribes his own workshop to the tradition.