उपनिषद् · Yogakuṇḍalinī 2.40
॥
देवनागरी
तस्माच्छनैः शनैः कार्यमभ्यासं मुनिपुङ्गव । यदा च बाह्यमार्गेण जिह्वा ब्रह्मबिलं व्रजेत्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tasmācchanaiḥ śanaiḥ kāryamabhyāsaṃ munipuṅgava | yadā ca bāhyamārgeṇa jihvā brahmabilaṃ vrajet
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तस्मात् शनैः शनैः कार्यम्tasmāt śanaiḥ śanaiḥ kāryamtherefore gradually must be done
अभ्यासं मुनि-पुङ्गवabhyāsaṃ muni-puṅgavathe practice, O bull among sages
यदा च बाह्य-मार्गेणyadā ca bāhya-mārgeṇawhen, however, by the outer path
जिह्वा ब्रह्म-बिलं व्रजेत्jihvā brahma-bilaṃ vrajetthe tongue reaches the Brahman-hole
अनुवाद
"Therefore gradually must the practice be done, O bull among sages; but when the tongue, by the outer path, reaches the Brahman-hole…**
संस्करण
b7a194389a40 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The address muni-pungava, "bull among sages," deserves examination, for to our ear it sounds strange. Pungava means "bull, leader of the herd"; and in Sanskrit this is the highest praise: so is called the best of a lineage — nara-pungava, "man among men," kuru-pungava, "best of the Kurus." In the Gita, Arjuna is called bharata-rishabha, "bull among the Bharatas," and this is no mockery.
The image is taken from a herd: the bull walks in front, and others follow. That is, the best is named not by strength and not by intellect, but by the fact that others follow him. This definition, I think, is more precise than many others. The first is not the one who stands higher, but the one whom others have followed; and anyone who has been in an assembly knows that seniority is determined exactly this way, not by rank.
The Vaishnava side understands this, and so measures a teacher not by learning and not by power, but by whether people follow him and where they arrive. A tree is known by its fruit; a teacher by his disciples. It is worth adding that the phrase bahya-margena, "by the outer path," means here that the tongue goes from outside, through the mouth, not from within. This distinction is needed in the description, and it too shows how physical the description is.