Upaniṣads · Jābāladarśana 4.27
॥
Devanāgarī
अपानो वर्तते नित्यं गुदमध्योरुजानुषु । उदरे सकले कट्यां नाभौ जङ्घे च सुव्रत
Transliteración (IAST)
apāno vartate nityaṃ gudamadhyorujānuṣu | udare sakale kaṭyāṃ nābhau jaṅghe ca suvrata
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अपानः वर्तते नित्यंapānaḥ vartate nityaṃapana always dwells
गुद-मध्य-उरु-जानुषुguda-madhya-uru-jānuṣuin the anus, in the thighs, in the knees
उदरे सकले कट्यांudare sakale kaṭyāṃin the whole belly, in the loins
नाभौ जङ्घे च सु-व्रतnābhau jaṅghe ca su-vratain the navel and in the shins, O one true to his vow
Traducción
"Apana always dwells in the anus, in the thighs, in the knees, in the whole belly, in the loins, in the navel, and in the shins, O one true to his vow."
Versión
bfc44c558750 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Apana — from apa-an, "to breathe away": breath going downward; by it is explained the expulsion from the body of all that must go out. Worth noting is the opposition of the two chief breaths: prana above and going upward, apana below and going downward. They pull in opposite directions, and all the work that follows will consist in bringing them together.
The Gita speaks of this briefly and in almost the same words: "some offer prana as a sacrifice into apana, and apana into prana, blocking the flow of inbreath and outbreath, intent on controlling the breath" (4.29). This verse deserves examination, for it shows how the Gita deals with the yogic inheritance. It acknowledges such a practice and calls it a sacrifice; that is, it neither rejects nor mocks it.
But it places it in a list on a level with others — with the sacrifice of possessions, the sacrifice of austerity, the sacrifice of knowledge (4.28); and this list ends with a verse saying that "the sacrifice of knowledge is better than the sacrifice of possessions" (4.33). The order, then, is this: the techniques are not rejected, but neither are they placed at the top; and the whole fourth chapter of the Gita is, in substance, a chart of the possible paths with an indication of their relative worth. This consideration deserves being held onto through the end of this khanda. We shall be reading a detailed instruction on breath; and it is useful to remember that the book most revered in this same tradition fits this same instruction into a single verse and moves on to something else.