शुभ्रवर्णमाजायतेश्वरात् । भूयस्तेनैव मार्गेण स्वप्नस्थानं नियच्छति । जलूकाभाववद्यथाकाममाजायतेश्वरात् । तावतात्मानमानन्दयति । परसन्धि यदपरसन्धीति । तत्परं नापरं त्यजति । तदैव कपालष्टकं सन्धाय य एष स्तन इवावलम्बते सेन्द्रयोनिः स वेदयोनिरिति
śubhravarṇamājāyateśvarāt | bhūyastenaiva mārgeṇa svapnasthānaṃ niyacchati | jalūkābhāvavadyathākāmamājāyateśvarāt | tāvatātmānamānandayati | parasandhi yadaparasandhīti | tatparaṃ nāparaṃ tyajati | tadaiva kapālaṣṭakaṃ sandhāya ya eṣa stana ivāvalambate sendrayoniḥ sa vedayoniriti
Of white color it is born from Īśvara; again by that same path it directs to the place of sleep; like the being of a leech, at will, it is born from Īśvara…
c43771aa22ae · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Twice in one line it is said ājāyate īśvarāt, "is born from Īśvara," and this deserves pausing on. The word īśvara means "lord, one able, ruler," from the root īś, "to be able." And it is said that from Him it is born — that is, He is the source, and what is born is not He.
Look at the simile: jalūkā-bhāvavat, "like the being of a leech." It is taken from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (4.4.3) and is one of the most famous in the upaniṣads: "as a leech-caterpillar, having reached the end of a blade of grass, draws itself together and reaches across to another, so the Ātman, having cast off this body, draws itself together and reaches across into another." The image is excellent for its precision. The caterpillar does not jump or fly: it does not let go of the old until it has taken hold of the new; and its crossing is safe precisely because at every moment it is holding on to something.
The Vaiṣṇava reading loves this simile and finds comfort in it. The dying person does not fall into emptiness: he holds on until he takes hold; and the crossing is not a fall, but a hand-over-hand. And the phrase "from Īśvara" adds to this what matters most: he is not passed on by himself or at random, but to where he is directed by the One spoken of twice here.