Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.11
॥
Devanāgarī
द्वादशाङ्गुलदैर्घ्यं च अम्बरं चतुरङ्गुलम् । विस्तीर्य तेन तन्नाडीं वेष्टयित्वा ततः सुधीः
Transliteration (IAST)
dvādaśāṅguladairghyaṃ ca ambaraṃ caturaṅgulam | vistīrya tena tannāḍīṃ veṣṭayitvā tataḥ sudhīḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
द्वादश-अङ्गुल-दैर्घ्यं चdvādaśa-aṅgula-dairghyaṃ catwelve fingers in length, and
अम्बरं चतुः-अङ्गुलम्ambaraṃ catuḥ-aṅgulamcloth four fingers wide
विस्तीर्य तेन तत्-नाडींvistīrya tena tat-nāḍīṃstretching it, that channel
वेष्टयित्वा ततः सुधीःveṣṭayitvā tataḥ sudhīḥhaving wound, then the wise man
Translation
"Stretching a cloth twelve fingers long and four fingers wide, and having wound it about that channel, then the wise man…"
Version
e5f14f75e228 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An unexpected line requiring explanation: one is instructed to take a piece of cloth twelve fingers long and four wide. Described here is a technique later manuals call sarasvati-chalana: the tongue is wound with cloth and moved by it. Some commentators understand something else — the binding of the belly; but by the sense of the following lines, which speak of holding with thumb and forefinger, the tongue is meant.
This technique is physical and somewhat crude, and it should be spoken of plainly, without reverence. Yogic manuals of this kind describe bodily exercises the way a craftsman would describe them: so many fingers, so much time, hold it thus. There is no mystery in these lines, and no point seeking a mystical sense in them: this is technique, and it either works or it does not.
The Vaishnava side treats such techniques with two reservations worth naming. The first: this should not be done without a teacher, and not out of secrecy, but because one can injure oneself — the tongue, throat, and breath are delicate things. The second, more general: a bodily exercise is a bodily exercise, and one should not ascribe to it what is achieved by another path.
It is worth adding that the measure angula, "finger," is the measure of the practitioner's own body, not a general one; and this too is a mark of a conscientious composition: everyone's ruler is his own.