Upaniṣads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 2.19
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मात्त्र्यंशकमाख्यातमक्षरं चन्द्ररूपकम् । तस्मादप्यष्टमं वर्णं विलोमेन परं मुने
Transliteración (IAST)
tasmāttryaṃśakamākhyātamakṣaraṃ candrarūpakam | tasmādapyaṣṭamaṃ varṇaṃ vilomena paraṃ mune
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
तस्मात् त्रि-अंशकम् आख्यातम्tasmāt tri-aṃśakam ākhyātamtherefore the threefold is proclaimed
अ-क्षरं चन्द्र-रूपकम्a-kṣaraṃ candra-rūpakamthe sound, having the form of the moon
तस्मात् अपि अष्टमं वर्णंtasmāt api aṣṭamaṃ varṇaṃand from it too, the eighth sound
विलोमेन परं मुनेvilomena paraṃ munein reverse order, the supreme, O sage
Traducción
"Therefore the threefold is proclaimed — the sound, having the form of the moon; and from it too, the eighth sound, in reverse order, the supreme, O sage".
Versión
f3162ac472de · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The riddle continues, and there is no point breaking it apart syllable by syllable: the key is given at initiation, and without the key the workings will be mere guesswork. It is worth saying, though, a word about akshara, "sound, syllable," itself, because in these books it is two-sided, and this two-sidedness does work. Akshara means both "syllable" and "imperishable": from a-kshar, "not flowing away, not diminishing." Both meanings walk together, and every time this word stands in a text, it drags the second along with it.
Hence the whole teaching about the mantra, in these books, rests on an assonance: the syllable is called imperishable, and so what it denotes is also imperishable. The Vaishnava side uses this same assonance too, and it must be granted that the argument from it is no stronger there than here. From the fact that one word means both syllable and imperishable, nothing follows about syllables or about the imperishable; and that theology is not built on assonances was discussed when reading Tripuratapini (7).
Separately, a word must be said about the number three standing in this line: tryamshaka, "threefold." The division of sound into portions is the subject of the science of pronunciation, shiksha, named when reading Rudra-hridaya (29); and there these portions are measures of length. That is, behind the riddle here too stands grammar, not a mystery.