उपनिषद् · Varāha 5.19
॥
देवनागरी
शरीरं सर्वजन्तूनां षण्णवत्यङ्गुलात्मकम् । तन्मध्ये पायुदेशात्तु द्व्यङ्गुलात्परतः परम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
śarīraṃ sarvajantūnāṃ ṣaṇṇavatyaṅgulātmakam | tanmadhye pāyudeśāttu dvyaṅgulātparataḥ param
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
शरीरं सर्व-जन्तूनांśarīraṃ sarva-jantūnāṃthe body of all creatures
षण्णवति-अङ्गुल-आत्मकम्ṣaṇṇavati-aṅgula-ātmakamconsists of ninety-six finger-widths
तत्-मध्ये पायु-देशात् तुtat-madhye pāyu-deśāt tuin its middle, however, from the region of the anus
द्वि-अङ्गुलात् परतः परम्dvi-aṅgulāt parataḥ paramtwo finger-widths beyond
अनुवाद
"The body of all creatures consists of ninety-six finger-widths; in its middle, however, two finger-widths beyond the region of the anus…"
संस्करण
dcadcee1f8c5 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A description of the inner structure begins, and it will take up more than ten verses; it is worth saying in advance how to read it. Measures are given in angula, "finger-widths"; and this measure is not universal, but one's own for each: the finger is measured on the same person whose body is measured. Hence it is said "ninety-six finger-widths" of everyone's body: a person's height truly is about ninety-six widths of his own finger, and anyone can verify this.
This detail, in my view, deserves attention: before us is not a mystical number, but a proportion, taken from life. Let us add what deserves being said in advance, in substance, about such descriptions. They describe not what one who dissects a body sees: neither nadi, nor kundalini, nor khanda is found in the body by a knife.
Hence, either this is a description of what is experienced from within, or it is a teaching constructed speculatively. The first, in my view, is more likely: people who sat motionless for long periods truly do sense lines, warmth, and movement in the body, and described what they felt. The Vaishnava side does not enter such descriptions and gives none of its own; and it is worth saying why this is not carelessness.
Its occupation is turned outward, toward another, not inward toward oneself; and hence its books describe the Lord's form in detail, not the structure of one's own body. The allocation of attention here is the whole difference: one teaching studies the vessel, the other what is poured into it.