Upaniṣads · Jābāladarśana 4.3
॥
Devanāgarī
देहमध्यं मुनिप्रोक्तमनुजानीहि सांकृते । कन्दस्थानं मुनिश्रेष्ठ मूलाधारान्नवाङ्गुलम्
Transliteración (IAST)
dehamadhyaṃ muniproktamanujānīhi sāṃkṛte | kandasthānaṃ muniśreṣṭha mūlādhārānnavāṅgulam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
देह-मध्यं मुनि-प्रोक्तम्deha-madhyaṃ muni-proktamthe middle of the body, named by sages
अनुजानीहि सांकृतेanujānīhi sāṃkṛteunderstand, O Sankriti
कन्द-स्थानं मुनि-श्रेष्ठkanda-sthānaṃ muni-śreṣṭhathe place of the bulb, O best of sages
मूल-आधारात् नव-अङ्गुलम्mūla-ādhārāt nava-aṅgulamfrom the muladhara, nine finger-widths
Traducción
"Understand, O Sankriti, the middle of the body, as named by sages. The place of the bulb, O best of sages, is nine finger-widths from the muladhara…"
Versión
841914749e9f · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Kanda, "the bulb," appears — a notion that in books on yoga holds the place of the root of the whole inner network. The word literally means "tuber, bulb," as of garlic or a lotus; and this image is chosen because from a bulb rootlets go out in every direction. So too here: from the kanda all the passages branch out.
The plant image deserves noting, for it runs throughout these books. The body is described as a plant growing head-down: the root above or in the middle, the shoots downward and outward. This image is older than the books on yoga and goes back to the Vedas. The Katha Upanishad says: "root above, branches below — the eternal fig tree; it is the pure, it is brahman" (2.3.1).
The Gita takes the same image and unfolds it into a whole chapter: "with roots above, branches below, they call the imperishable fig tree... its branches, sprung from the gunas, stretch below and above; its shoots are the objects of the senses; and below stretch its roots, binding to action, in the world of men" (15.1–2). Worth noting is that the Gita adds to the image what the Katha does not have, and this addition settles everything. It commands one to cut down this tree: asanga-shastrena dridhena chhittva, "having cut it with the firm weapon of non-attachment" (15.3) — and after that, to seek the place "whence none return."
The difference between the two uses of the image deserves stating. In the book on yoga, the network of channels is described so that one may work along it. In the Gita, the same tree is described so that it may be left; and what is sought is found not in the tree, but beyond it.