Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.14
॥
Devanāgarī
तेन कुण्डलिनी तस्याः सुषुम्नाया मुखं व्रजेत् । जहाति तस्मात्प्राणोऽयं सुषुम्नां व्रजति स्वतः
Transliteration (IAST)
tena kuṇḍalinī tasyāḥ suṣumnāyā mukhaṃ vrajet | jahāti tasmātprāṇo'yaṃ suṣumnāṃ vrajati svataḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तेन कुण्डलिनी तस्याःtena kuṇḍalinī tasyāḥby that, Kundalini its
सुषुम्नायाः मुखं व्रजेत्suṣumnāyāḥ mukhaṃ vrajetmouth of sushumna reaches
जहाति तस्मात् प्राणः अयंjahāti tasmāt prāṇaḥ ayaṃabandons then this breath
सुषुम्नां व्रजति स्वतःsuṣumnāṃ vrajati svataḥsushumna it enters by itself
Translation
"By that, Kundalini reaches the mouth of sushumna; this breath then abandons [its former path] and enters sushumna by itself".
Version
837c37eea566 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The sought-for outcome is described: the breath abandons the side channels and itself enters the central one. Worth noting is the word svatah, "by itself." Not "it is led in," but — it enters by itself; that is, a man's work ends with the preparation, and the main thing is accomplished without him.
This observation recurs constantly in books on yoga and is the best thing in them. All the techniques described are preparations; and that for whose sake they are done is not done by will, but happens, once the preparation is complete. Herein lies the point where yoga and bhakti come closest together. In both, the decisive thing is not produced by effort: there the breath enters by itself, here the Lord manifests Himself of His own accord — and this was spoken of when reading Tripuratapini (62), where the Goddess manifests Herself not from a diagram, but from the words "I have come to Thee for refuge."
The difference between them lies in what is awaited. There one awaits a state, here — a Person; and so in the first case the preparation is work on oneself, and in the second — the preparation of a place: sweeping the chamber, as spoken of when reading Tripuratapini (20). It is worth adding that the word mukha, "mouth," literally means "mouth"; and this whole charting of channels speaks in the language of the body — mouth, belly, knot — not the language of abstractions. This is precisely what makes it convenient for describing sensations.