उपनिषद् · Yogakuṇḍalinī 3.26
॥
देवनागरी
अङ्गुष्ठमात्रमात्मानमधूमज्योतिरूपकम् । प्रकाशयन्तमन्तस्थं ध्यायेत्कूटस्थमव्ययम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
aṅguṣṭhamātramātmānamadhūmajyotirūpakam | prakāśayantamantasthaṃ dhyāyetkūṭasthamavyayam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अङ्गुष्ठ-मात्रम् आत्मानम्aṅguṣṭha-mātram ātmānamthe self, the size of a thumb
अ-धूम-ज्योतिः-रूपकम्a-dhūma-jyotiḥ-rūpakamhaving the form of smokeless light
प्रकाशयन्तम् अन्तः-स्थंprakāśayantam antaḥ-sthaṃshining, dwelling within
ध्यायेत् कूट-स्थम् अ-व्ययम्dhyāyet kūṭa-stham a-vyayamshall he contemplate — unshaken, undiminishing
अनुवाद
"The self, the size of a thumb, having the form of smokeless light, shining, dwelling within, — shall he contemplate, unshaken, undiminishing".
संस्करण
5fcefcd5ebd2 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A famous description is given: angushtha-matra, "the size of a thumb." This description is in the Kathaka (2.1.12–13), in the Shvetashvatara (3.13), in the Mahabharata; and everywhere it means one thing: a small measure, not boundlessness. It is worth dwelling on this, for the passage is significant in disputes.
If the soul, or that which dwells in the heart, is described the size of a thumb, then it is measurable — and the measurable is not the boundless. And so Vaishnava teachers constantly point to this passage: that which is in the heart is called small, and this smallness is not qualified in the text as conditional. It is answered that the measure is given for contemplation: the boundless cannot be contemplated, and so a measure is offered. The answer is reasonable and probably true for this passage; but it is also an admission that what is contemplated is not the boundless, but something definite.
Worth noting too is the second: adhuma-jyotih, "smokeless light." A physical and precise definition: fire can be smoky and clean; it is smoky where damp burns. This image, I think, is better than the abstract ones. The light within is called not infinite and not all-encompassing, but pure — that is, one that does not soot; and anyone who has seen a lamp with bad oil will understand the difference.