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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.51
॥
Devanāgarī
अपानेऽस्तंगते प्राणो यावन्नाभ्युदितो हृदि । तावत्सा कुंभकावस्था योगिभिर्यानुभूयते
Transliteration (IAST)
apāne'staṃgate prāṇo yāvannābhyudito hṛdi | tāvatsā kuṃbhakāvasthā yogibhiryānubhūyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अपाने अस्तं-गते प्राणःapāne astaṃ-gate prāṇaḥwhen apāna has set, prāṇa
यावत् न अभ्युदितः हृदिyāvat na abhyuditaḥ hṛdias long as it has not risen in the heart
तावत् सा कुम्भक-अवस्थाtāvat sā kumbhaka-avasthāso long that state of retention
योगिभिः या अनुभूयतेyogibhiḥ yā anubhūyatewhich is experienced by yogīs
Translation
«When apāna has set, and prāṇa has not yet risen in the heart — so long is that state of retention which is experienced by yogīs».
Version
5e80750e775c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Kumbhaka, «retention», is described, and described not as a technique but as an interval. This is worth stating, for here the book says something different from most others. Other books commanded the breath to be held: drawn in and kept, as spoken of at Varāha (5.18).
Here, instead, attention is pointed to what happens of itself: between the out-breath and the in-breath there is an interval in which nothing moves; and it is called retention. That is, kumbhaka is not what is done, but what is noticed. This distinction, I think, is the best in this part of the chapter and worth noting with approval.
It removes everything dangerous in breathing exercises: one need not hold and need not strain — one need only notice what already happens a hundred times a day. The Vaishnava side does not object to this reading; and it was said at Varāha (5.18) that the breath is evened incidentally, in the very act of speaking aloud. Add the word anubhūyate, «is experienced».
It says not «is performed» and not «is attained», but is experienced; that is, the matter is one of observation, not of doing. And this agrees with everything noted in this chapter: it prefers to watch, not to press.