उपनिषद् · Yogakuṇḍalinī 3.5
॥
देवनागरी
मनसा मन आलोक्य तत्त्यजेत्परमं पदम् । मन एव हि बिन्दुश्च उत्पत्तिस्थितिकारणम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
manasā mana ālokya tattyajetparamaṃ padam | mana eva hi binduśca utpattisthitikāraṇam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
मनसा मनः आलोक्यmanasā manaḥ ālokyahaving seen mind by mind
तत् त्यजेत् परमं पदम्tat tyajet paramaṃ padamthat shall he abandon — the highest place
मनः एव हि बिन्दुः चmanaḥ eva hi binduḥ camind, indeed, is the point
उत्पत्ति-स्थिति-कारणम्utpatti-sthiti-kāraṇamcause of arising and standing
अनुवाद
"Having seen mind by mind, that shall he abandon — the highest place. Mind indeed is the point, cause of arising and standing".
संस्करण
4933c7c936f3 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
It is said manasa manah alokya, "having seen mind by mind"; and this turn deserves unpacking, for it holds a difficulty. Mind looks at mind. But the one who looks and that which is looked at are not one; and so either there are two minds, or it is not the mind that looks.
This difficulty is ancient and has been examined many times in disputes. Some answered that the mind can turn upon itself, as an eye sees itself in a mirror; others — that it is not the mind that looks, but the one whose mind it is. The Vaishnava side holds the second and brings the argument discussed when reading Katharudra (8): the witness is never that which he watches. If the mind is observed, then the observer is not the mind; and this observer is the soul.
This argument, I think, is unanswerable and deserves being remembered. Everything you can notice in yourself is not you: noticed a thought — then you are not the thought; noticed a feeling — then not the feeling. And the one who notices cannot be noticed, for otherwise a new noticer would be needed.
Separately, a word must be said about the word bindu, "point, drop," by which the mind is here named. Much is said of it in these books; here it is enough to say that the mind is named the cause of arising — that is, that from which everything else begins. And this agrees with the very first line of the first chapter, where two causes were named of consciousness: tendency and breath.