Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.7
॥
Devanāgarī
कुण्डल्येव भवेच्छक्तिस्तां तु सञ्चालयेद्बुधः । स्वस्थानादाभ्रुवोर्मध्यं शक्तिचालनमुच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
kuṇḍalyeva bhavecchaktistāṃ tu sañcālayedbudhaḥ | svasthānādābhruvormadhyaṃ śakticālanamucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कुण्डली एव भवेत् शक्तिःkuṇḍalī eva bhavet śaktiḥKundali indeed is power
तां तु सञ्चालयेत् बुधःtāṃ tu sañcālayet budhaḥit, however, the wise man shall set in motion
स्व-स्थानात् आ-भ्रुवोः मध्यंsva-sthānāt ā-bhruvoḥ madhyaṃfrom its own place to the space between the brows
शक्ति-चालनम् उच्यतेśakti-cālanam ucyatemovement of power that is called
Translation
"Kundali is indeed power; it shall the wise man set in motion, from its own place to the space between the brows — that is called the movement of power".
Version
9fe4a287e5c5 · published Aug 7, 2026, 7:25:06 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third means and the subject of the whole book is named: kundali, "the coiled one" — the power said to sleep coiled, like a serpent, at the base of the spine. The word kundalini means "having rings, coiled"; and the whole image is taken from a sleeping serpent. Let me speak of this subject at once and honestly, because around it has gathered as much excessive rapture as excessive fear.
First: these descriptions are descriptions of sensations, not of internal organs; the same was said when reading Bhavana (p13). There is no coiled serpent in the spine, and it is pointless to search for one there. Second: these sensations, it seems, are genuine. People who have long and persistently practiced breath and concentration describe them in agreement, in different lands and different ages; and a concordant testimony of this kind cannot be waved away.
Third, and more important than the first two: from the fact that something occurs, it does not follow that it is good. A power risen in one unready is described, in these very books, as a cause of mental derangement; and that is why they all require a teacher, and require one not for show. The Vaishnava side does not walk this path and does not forbid it to others. Its argument is one: this path requires conditions most people lack (health, leisure, a teacher, celibacy), while what it promises is attainable otherwise. The Bhagavatam speaks of the present age directly: people are short-lived, lazy, unhappy, and sickly (1.1.10); and a means requiring years of labor over the body is simply unworkable for them.