उपनिषद् · Jābāladarśana 4.36
॥
देवनागरी
पूषाधिदेवता प्रोक्ता वरुणा वायुदेवता । हस्तिजिह्वाभिधायास्तु वरुणो देवता भवेत्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
pūṣādhidevatā proktā varuṇā vāyudevatā | hastijihvābhidhāyāstu varuṇo devatā bhavet
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
पूषा-अधिदेवता प्रोक्ताpūṣā-adhidevatā proktāof pusha, a deity is named
वरुणा वायु-देवताvaruṇā vāyu-devatāof varuna, the deity is Vayu
हस्ति-जिह्वा-अभिधायाः तुhasti-jihvā-abhidhāyāḥ tuof the one named hasti-jihva, however
वरुणः देवता भवेत्varuṇaḥ devatā bhavetlet Varuna be the deity
अनुवाद
"Of pusha, a deity is named; of varuna, the deity is Vayu; of the one named hasti-jihva, let Varuna be the deity."
संस्करण
4ab36cb40ed9 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The distribution of deities continues, and worth noting is one peculiarity: the names do not match the names of the passages. The passage is called varuna, but its deity is Vayu; the passage is called hasti-jihva, but its deity is Varuna. This mix-up, most likely, is a trace of what has already been discussed: the compilation was assembled from different sources, and the lists are not reconciled.
It is worth saying something, however, about the very custom of assigning a deity to each part, for this custom is universal in Indian books and deserves examination. Behind it stands the notion of adhidevata, "the overseeing deity": every sense, limb, and function has its own governor. The Aitareya Upanishad sets this out in detail: the sun entered the eye as sight, the quarters of the sky entered the ears as hearing, fire entered speech (1.2.4).
This notion, put plainly, means the following: no capacity of mine belongs to me wholly. I see — but sight is not my invention and not my property; it is given and sustained. The Upanishads draw the same conclusion we noted when reading the preceding lines: listing everything that is not mine, one arrives at the question of what, then, is mine.
The Vaishnava side answers this question briefly, and, it should be said, unexpectedly. What is truly mine is only my own turning: everything else — body, senses, capacities, circumstances — is given, and will be taken away. But no one chooses my turning for me — that is, toward whom I am turned; and hence its whole literature discourses not on capacities, but on choice.