उपनिषद् · Varāha 5.24
॥
देवनागरी
अनन्तरारयुग्मे तु वारुणा च यशस्विनी । दक्षिणारे सुषुम्णायाः पिङ्गला वर्तते क्रमात्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
anantarārayugme tu vāruṇā ca yaśasvinī | dakṣiṇāre suṣumṇāyāḥ piṅgalā vartate kramāt
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अनन्तर-अर-युग्मे तुanantara-ara-yugme tuon the nearest pair of spokes, however
वारुणा च यशस्विनीvāruṇā ca yaśasvinīvaruna and yashasvini
दक्षिण-अरे सुषुम्णायाःdakṣiṇa-are suṣumṇāyāḥon the right spoke, of sushumna
पिङ्गला वर्तते क्रमात्piṅgalā vartate kramātpingala dwells, in order
अनुवाद
"On the nearest pair of spokes, however, varuna and yashasvini; on the right spoke, of sushumna, pingala dwells, in order."
संस्करण
ec561e808252 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The list of passages proceeds by the spokes of a wheel; worth noting is that the arrangement is set circularly, not in a line. This construction is curious: the passages do not run side by side like pipes, but branch out from the knot in rays. Pingala, "the tawny one," is named — one of the two chief passages, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (4.28).
Let us briefly repeat: ida and pingala are left and right, lunar and solar, cold and hot; and the whole work of breathing exercises consists in balancing them and thereby opening the middle. Let us add one observation relevant here. The alternation of breath through the nostrils is an observable thing: a person's breath truly does alternate through one nostril, then the other, and the switch occurs roughly every hour or hour and a half.
That is, this teaching has a ground, and it is drawn from self-observation. The Vaishnava side does not dispute the observation; its remark pertains to the conclusion. From the fact that breath alternates, it does not follow that balancing it opens a path to liberation; between the observation and the conclusion lies a whole teaching that does not follow from anywhere on its own.
Its rule in such cases is one: we accept the observation, we test the interpretation.