Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.8
॥
Devanāgarī
तत्साधने द्वयं मुख्यं सरस्वत्यास्तु चालनम् । प्राणरोधमथाभ्यासादृज्वी कुण्डलिनी भवेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
tatsādhane dvayaṃ mukhyaṃ sarasvatyāstu cālanam | prāṇarodhamathābhyāsādṛjvī kuṇḍalinī bhavet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्-साधने द्वयं मुख्यंtat-sādhane dvayaṃ mukhyaṃin its attainment, two are chief
सरस्वत्याः तु चालनम्sarasvatyāḥ tu cālanamthe movement of Sarasvati
प्राण-रोधम् अथ अभ्यासात्prāṇa-rodham atha abhyāsātand then the restraint of breath by practice
ऋज्वी कुण्डलिनी भवेत्ṛjvī kuṇḍalinī bhavetstraight does Kundalini become
Translation
"In its attainment two are chief: the movement of Sarasvati, and then the restraint of breath; by practice does Kundalini become straight".
Version
069875b24c25 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Two means are named, and the second of them — prana-rodha, "restraint of breath" — is what these books call pranayama. This word is usually translated "control of breath," and it is composed of prana, "breath," and ayama, "extension, stretching": that is, the lengthening of breath. The most important thing in this line is worth noting: abhyasat, "by practice."
The word abhyasa means "repetition, skill, habit"; and it stands here in the ablative case — "from practice." Not from grace, not from knowledge, not from a diagram, but from repetition does the power become straight. This is said with complete clarity in books on yoga, and herein lies their strength. The Gita says the same, in almost the same words: "by practice and by non-attachment, O son of Kunti, the mind is curbed" (6.35), and adds there: "the mind is indeed restless and hard to hold."
The Vaishnava side holds fast to the word abhyasa and applies it to its own: repetition of the Name is also a practice, and it too requires counting, a term, and constancy. The difference is not that there labor is involved and here a gift; the difference is in the object of the labor: there one repeats the breath, here the Name. Both are done daily, and neither yields anything without daily doing.