Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.10
॥
Devanāgarī
यस्याः सञ्चालनेनैव स्वयं चलति कुण्डली । इडायां वहति प्राणे बद्ध्वा पद्मासनं दृढम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yasyāḥ sañcālanenaiva svayaṃ calati kuṇḍalī | iḍāyāṃ vahati prāṇe baddhvā padmāsanaṃ dṛḍham
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यस्याः सञ्चालनेन एवyasyāḥ sañcālanena evaby whose movement itself
स्वयं चलति कुण्डलीsvayaṃ calati kuṇḍalīby itself moves Kundali
इडायां वहति प्राणेiḍāyāṃ vahati prāṇewhen breath flows in ida
बद्ध्वा पद्म-आसनं दृढम्baddhvā padma-āsanaṃ dṛḍhambinding the lotus posture firmly
Translation
"By whose movement Kundali itself moves. When the breath flows in ida, binding the lotus posture firmly…"
Version
31f2bb95eba3 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The condition under which one begins is named: idayam vahati prane, "when the breath flows in ida," that is, in the left channel. It is worth saying that behind this stands an observation available to anyone and verifiable at once. A man does not breathe through both nostrils equally: at any given hour one flows more freely than the other, and this precedence changes roughly every hour and a half.
This observation is fundamental in the Indian science of breath, and on it a whole treatise is built — the "Svara-shastra," where by which nostril is open one judges what task to take up. The left channel is called ida and is linked to the moon, to coolness and calm; the right, pingala, to the sun, heat, and action. And the rule set here is sound: one begins the exercise at a calm hour, not an active one.
The Vaishnava side does not use these charts, but it holds its own rule of discerning time. Its day is scheduled by the hour, and the pre-dawn time, brahma-muhurta, is set aside for hearing and repeating; and the reason is not secret but simple — at that hour it is quietest and no one interferes. What is common to both customs is one thing, worth naming: a man is not the same at different hours, and a task set for an unsuitable hour most often is not done at all.