Upaniṣads · Jābāladarśana 4.13
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वमुखेन समावेष्ट्य ब्रह्मरन्ध्रमुखं मुने । सुषुम्नाया इडा सव्ये दक्षिणे पिङ्गला स्थिता
Transliteración (IAST)
svamukhena samāveṣṭya brahmarandhramukhaṃ mune | suṣumnāyā iḍā savye dakṣiṇe piṅgalā sthitā
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
स्व-मुखेन समावेष्ट्यsva-mukhena samāveṣṭyawith her own mouth, having encircled
ब्रह्म-रन्ध्र-मुखं मुनेbrahma-randhra-mukhaṃ munethe mouth of the brahma-aperture, O sage
सुषुम्नायाः इडा सव्येsuṣumnāyāḥ iḍā savyeof sushumna, ida is to the left
दक्षिणे पिङ्गला स्थिताdakṣiṇe piṅgalā sthitāto the right, pingala stands
Traducción
"Having encircled with her own mouth the mouth of the brahma-aperture, O sage, — [she abides there]. To the left of sushumna stands ida, to the right, pingala."
Versión
6f6b9c425db3 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Two side passages are named: ida to the left and pingala to the right. This is the very pair around which everything that follows is built. By the explanation of these books, breath runs now through one nostril, now through the other, and with it the state changes: ida is tied to the moon, coolness, rest; pingala to the sun, warmth, activity.
This observation, it should be said, is not invented: the shift of the dominant nostril is a thing genuinely observable by anyone who pays attention, and it alternates through the day. Worth noting too is the very structure of the thought: two opposites and one middle. Moon and sun, rest and activity, left and right; and between them — a path that opens when the extremes are balanced.
This structure is a favorite in Indian thought and appears far beyond yoga. The Gita employs it constantly: "even in pleasure and pain, in gain and loss, in victory and defeat" (2.38); "evenness is called yoga" — samatvam yoga uchyate (2.48). There is a difference, however, and it deserves stating. In the book on yoga, balance is achieved by a technique: breath is evened out, and the extremes meet. In the Gita, balance is a consequence of a person's having ceased striving for the fruit: "have a right to the deed, but not to its fruits" (2.47) — and the verse on evenness stands right after this.
The order, then, is reversed. There, balance is produced in order to be freed from agitation. Here, one is freed from calculation, and balance comes of itself.