उपनिषद् · Varāha 5.27
॥
देवनागरी
अनन्तरं हस्तिजिह्वा ततो विश्वोदरी स्थिता । प्रदक्षिणक्रमेणैव चक्रस्यारेषु नाडयः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
anantaraṃ hastijihvā tato viśvodarī sthitā | pradakṣiṇakrameṇaiva cakrasyāreṣu nāḍayaḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अनन्तरं हस्ति-जिह्वाanantaraṃ hasti-jihvānext, hasti-jihva
ततः विश्वोदरी स्थिताtataḥ viśvodarī sthitāthen stands vishvodari
प्रदक्षिण-क्रमेण एवpradakṣiṇa-krameṇa evaby the sun's circling order
चक्रस्य आरेषु नाडयःcakrasya āreṣu nāḍayaḥon the spokes of the wheel, the passages
अनुवाद
"Next, hasti-jihva; then stands vishvodari; by the sun's circling order, the passages [are arranged] on the spokes of the wheel."
संस्करण
212f0c3f8377 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The list is complete: twelve passages are named, arranged pradakshina-kramena, "by the sun's circling order." Pradakshina means "keeping the right side toward the object," that is, following the sun's course, left to right. This word is fundamental in practice and denotes circumambulation of a sanctuary; and worth noting is that even in an inner description, the order is set by a ritual word.
That is, the wheel of passages is circumambulated as a temple is circumambulated. This detail deserves attention, in my view, for it shows that even the most abstract description was built on the model of worship. The Vaishnava side holds pradakshina as one of its own practices, discussed when reading the Tarasara (1.11).
Let us add what it explains in this custom. One circumambulates keeping the sanctuary to the right, for the right side is the side of preference toward what is honored; and hence circumambulation is not movement in a circle, but a continuous facing. This, by its reckoning, is the whole sense: a person neither leaves nor stays in place, but moves so that the object remains with him the whole time.
And this image is, in my view, the best description of its own path: not withdrawal and not repose, but movement arranged around.