Upaniṣads · Jābāladarśana 6.17
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राणश्चित्तेन संयुक्तः परमात्मनि तिष्ठति । प्राणायामपरस्यास्य पुरुषस्य महात्मनः
Transliteración (IAST)
prāṇaścittena saṃyuktaḥ paramātmani tiṣṭhati | prāṇāyāmaparasyāsya puruṣasya mahātmanaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
प्राणः चित्तेन संयुक्तःprāṇaḥ cittena saṃyuktaḥprana, joined with consciousness
परम-आत्मनि तिष्ठतिparama-ātmani tiṣṭhatidwells in the highest self
प्राणायाम-परस्य अस्यprāṇāyāma-parasya asyaof this one, devoted to breath control
पुरुषस्य महा-आत्मनःpuruṣasya mahā-ātmanaḥa man of great soul
Traducción
"Prana, joined with consciousness, dwells in the highest self — of this man of great soul, devoted to breath control."
Versión
0322d78f3c18 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Paramatma, "the highest self," is named — and this is the first place in the book where the goal is denoted not by a property, but by a Person. The word deserves examination, for it is among the three chief ones in Vaishnava theology. Parama-atman means "highest self," and, unlike jivatman, "the self of a living being," denotes the One who dwells in the heart as another.
This distinction is set out in the Upanishads by the famous image of the two birds, already discussed when reading the Rudra-hridaya. The Mundaka: "two birds, friends, inseparable, sit on the same tree; one of them eats the sweet fruit, while the other looks on without eating" (3.1.1). This image deserves slow examination, for it is the clearest testimony to two.
It is said sayuja sakhaya, "joined together, friends": they are together and inseparable. It is said samanam vriksham parishasvajate, "they embrace the same tree": their place is one. And it is said that one eats, and the other does not eat, but looks on.
Were there but one bird, the verse could not ascribe different acts to two; but it does. The very next verse of the Mundaka speaks of what happens further: "on that same tree, a person, immersed, deluded, grieves over his own powerlessness; but when he sees the other, the contented Lord, and His majesty, then he is freed from grief" (3.1.2). Worth noting is the word anyam, "the other." It is not "he learns that he is that very bird," but — he sees another; and from this seeing comes relief.
Hence the appearance of the word paramatma in this line matters. The union of breath with consciousness leads, by the book, not to emptiness and not to light, but to the One who is in the heart.