Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.4
॥
Devanāgarī
भुज्यते शिवसम्प्रीत्यै मिताहारः स उच्यते । आसनं द्विविधं प्रोक्तं पद्मं वज्रासनं तथा
Transliteration (IAST)
bhujyate śivasamprītyai mitāhāraḥ sa ucyate | āsanaṃ dvividhaṃ proktaṃ padmaṃ vajrāsanaṃ tathā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
भुज्यते शिव-सम्प्रीत्यैbhujyate śiva-samprītyaiit is eaten for Shiva's pleasure
मित-आहारः सः उच्यतेmita-āhāraḥ saḥ ucyatemoderate food it is called, that
आसनं द्वि-विधं प्रोक्तंāsanaṃ dvi-vidhaṃ proktaṃposture is proclaimed twofold
पद्मं वज्र-आसनं तथाpadmaṃ vajra-āsanaṃ tathālotus and diamond posture, thus
Translation
"…it is eaten for the pleasure of Shiva — that is called moderate food. Posture is declared twofold: lotus and diamond".
Version
6ba5f23deb23 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a definition worth reading this line for: food is moderate not because it is little, but because it is eaten shiva-samprityai, "for the pleasure of Shiva." That is, the measure is set not in weight or count, but in direction: eaten for Him is moderate; eaten for oneself is not, however much of it there is. This definition is unexpected and, I think, the truest of all that has been said about moderation. Anyone who has tried to measure food by quantity knows how that ends: counting, anxiety, and breakdowns. A measure set in direction requires no scales.
The Vaishnava side says here literally the same thing, in its own key word. The Gita: "the righteous, who eat the remnants of sacrifice, are freed from all sins; but those who cook only for themselves eat sin" (3.13). And the whole custom of prasada, spoken of when reading Bhavana (p39), rests on this very verse.
This coincidence is word for word and deserves to be noted. A book on breath and on the channels, at the very start of its work, defines moderation in food through the One to whom it is offered; and with this its whole yoga begins. Separately, a word must be said about the two postures named here: padma, "lotus," and vajra, "diamond." Of the dozens of positions later manuals enumerate, this book names two; and this again is a mark of a sound treatise.