Upaniṣads · Jābāladarśana 6.2
॥
Devanāgarī
वर्णत्रयात्मकाः प्रोक्ता रेचपूरककुम्भकाः । स एष प्रणवः प्रोक्तः प्राणायामस्तु तन्मयः
Transliteración (IAST)
varṇatrayātmakāḥ proktā recapūrakakumbhakāḥ | sa eṣa praṇavaḥ proktaḥ prāṇāyāmastu tanmayaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
वर्ण-त्रय-आत्मकाः प्रोक्ताःvarṇa-traya-ātmakāḥ proktāḥconsisting of three letters, are called
रेच-पूरक-कुम्भकाःreca-pūraka-kumbhakāḥemptying, filling, and retention
सः एषः प्रणवः प्रोक्तःsaḥ eṣaḥ praṇavaḥ proktaḥthat indeed is the pranava, it is said
प्राणायामः तु तत्-मयःprāṇāyāmaḥ tu tat-mayaḥbreath control, however, consists of it
Traducción
"Emptying, filling, and retention are called consisting of three letters; that indeed is the pranava, it is said, and breath control consists of it."
Versión
86ba06976d85 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The three actions are identified with the three sounds of om: a, u, m. This correspondence defines the whole khanda: further on it will be prescribed to hold a in mind during the inhale, u during the retention, m during the exhale. The expression tan-maya, "consisting of it," was met when reading the Ganapati (4.1), where the meaning of the suffix maya was examined: it indicates composition.
That is, breath turns out to be made of a word; and this, on reflection, is a bold assertion, not an ornament. Behind it stands a conviction already discussed: a word is not a designation of a thing, but the substance of the world. From this conviction grows the whole Indian work with sound.
The Vaishnava side shares this conviction, but its application of it differs, and the difference deserves noting. Here the word is applied to breath: sound measures a bodily act. For it, the word is applied to relation: sound is a call.
Let us add what it itself says of om. The Gita sets it beside two others: om tat sat — "such is the three-part designation of brahman" (17.23) — and examines these three words as an indication of dedicating every deed to Him. That is, in its own usage too, om is not a means of concentration, but an exclamation of dedication: by it one gives, rather than tunes oneself.