The verse and its meaning · Yoga in Practice · Yoga in Practice — Dhyana

The lotus of the heart, and the light in it

Dhyanabindu Upanishad 18

तैलधारामिवाच्छिन्नं दीर्घघण्टानिनादवत्। अवाच्यं प्रणवस्याग्रं यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥

Meaning · English

Unbroken like a thread of poured oil, like the sound of a long bell, the tip of Om cannot be put into words. Whoever knows it is a knower of the Veda.

Two comparisons carry the line. The first is taila-dhara, a stream of oil. Oil poured from a vessel falls as one smooth thread with no gaps. The second is a long bell: after the strike the sound goes on, thinning slowly, without a seam. Both say the same thing about attention and sound. Om, the pranava, is to be held as one continuous flow, not as separate repeated bursts. Then comes agra, the tip or topmost point of Om. The text calls it avacya, what cannot be spoken. It gives no description, only the comparisons. Teachers commonly read the tip as the faint last edge of the sound, where it thins toward silence, but that is a reading and the line does not state it. The last half gives the reason to care. Whoever knows this tip is called a veda-vit, a knower of the Veda. The text claims this without explaining how. The line therefore teaches a quality of attention: smooth, unbroken, following the sound to its finest end. It also says that the end of the sound is known by experience and not by speech.

1. Sit upright with the eyes softly closed. 2. Let Om sound as one smooth thread, like oil being poured, with no gaps. 3. Let the sound run on like a long bell and thin out slowly. 4. Listen for the tip of the sound, the finest end of it. 5. When the mind wanders, return to the thread of the sound without scolding yourself. 6. To finish, let the sound go, rest in the quiet for a few breaths, and open the eyes.

The text gives the quality of the meditation and not the posture or the breath. What follows is the common teaching of the schools, offered so the line can be tried. 1. Sit on the floor or a chair with the spine upright and the hands resting in the lap. Let the eyes close softly. 2. Breathe in through the nose at an ordinary pace. 3. As you breathe out, hum Om softly, so that the sound goes out as one smooth thread with no jerks. 4. Let the sound run as long as the breath comfortably allows, and let it thin out like a bell dying away. 5. Stay with the very end of the sound, where it is almost gone, and listen to the silence that follows it. 6. Breathe in again naturally and repeat, keeping each round as even as the first. 7. After some rounds, stop humming and let Om sound inside the mind with the same unbroken quality, still listening to the tip. 8. To come out, let the inner sound drop, rest in the quiet for a few breaths, and open the eyes slowly. Fine points: never stretch the breath out to make the sound last longer. A shorter, smoother sound is closer to the oil thread than a long strained one. The jaw, throat and shoulders stay loose. The text asks for no count, so none is needed.

The body part is simple. A hummed sound needs a slow, steady out-breath, so the ribs and belly soften gradually and the throat stays open. Stretching the breath out slowly tends to leave the body feeling quieter. A shaky or forced sound shows where the breath is being gripped, which is useful information for the person doing it. The breath here is not controlled by any rule. It simply has to be even enough to carry an unbroken sound. That is the reason for the oil comparison: unevenness shows up at once in the voice. The mind is where the line does most of its work. A single continuous sound gives attention one thing to hold, and the bell comparison gives it a direction: follow the sound as it thins. The mind has less room to jump between thoughts when it is listening for the faintest part of a sound. Attention is drawn to something quieter and quieter, so it has to become finer to stay with it. The tradition's own account is that Om is the pranava, the sound that stands for the highest, and that the tip of it is beyond speech. That is the tradition's teaching about what the sound is. The physical and attentional effects described above are separate and need no belief.

The text names one claim only: whoever knows the tip of Om is a knower of the Veda. Nothing else is promised in this line, no health result and no power. The schools that teach this kind of Om meditation add that it steadies the mind and makes the breath calmer, and that it prepares the sitter for the heart-centred meditations that follow in the same text. These are the schools' claims, not the line's.

A grandmother sits in a courtyard as the evening temple bell is struck. She stops talking without deciding to and listens until the sound is gone. Most people know this small pull of attention toward a fading sound. Today's mainstream understanding agrees on some general points. Slow, even breathing and quiet humming are commonly found calming. Steady attention on one simple object is the basis of many mindfulness methods used in ordinary clinical settings. Following a sound to its end is a reasonable way to train that attention. What has no modern match is the claim that knowing the tip of Om makes someone a knower of the Veda. That is a spiritual claim and cannot be tested. The same goes for the idea that the tip of the sound is beyond speech in some special sense. Physiology can describe the breath and the hearing, but it has nothing to say on this.

This is not medical advice. A teacher can correct what a page cannot, and anyone who feels pain or discomfort should stop. Humming Om is gentle, but it can still go wrong. Do not stretch the out-breath beyond what is comfortable, and do not hold the breath. If you feel dizzy or breathless, return to ordinary breathing. People with a throat or voice problem, lung or heart conditions, or high blood pressure should keep the sound soft and short, or do it silently. Anyone who is pregnant, or recovering from surgery, should check with a doctor or teacher. Long sits on the floor can strain the knees or back, so use a chair or support when needed. Learn the practice with a teacher, not from a page alone.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Om as the bow, the self as the arrow · Dhyanabindu Upanishad 9
• Next: Mahamudra, the great seal · Dhyanabindu Upanishad 93
• All of Yoga in Practice · Ask Krishna about it

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