Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.15
॥
Devanāgarī
तुन्दे तु तानं कुर्याच्च कण्ठसङ्कोचने कृते । सरस्वत्यां चालनेन वक्षसश्चोर्ध्वगो मरुत्
Transliteration (IAST)
tunde tu tānaṃ kuryācca kaṇṭhasaṅkocane kṛte | sarasvatyāṃ cālanena vakṣasaścordhvago marut
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तुन्दे तु तानं कुर्यात् चtunde tu tānaṃ kuryāt caand in the belly shall he make tension
कण्ठ-सङ्कोचने कृतेkaṇṭha-saṅkocane kṛtehaving performed contraction of the throat
सरस्वत्यां चालनेनsarasvatyāṃ cālanenaby movement in Sarasvati
वक्षसः च ऊर्ध्व-गः मरुत्vakṣasaḥ ca ūrdhva-gaḥ marutand from the chest the wind goes upward
Translation
"And in the belly shall he make tension, having performed contraction of the throat; by movement in Sarasvati, the wind from the chest goes upward".
Version
b79a7589d51f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Two techniques are described, called in later manuals bandha, "locks": uddiyana — drawing in the belly, and jalandhara — pressing the chin to the chest. Their meaning is physical and understandable. A drawn-in belly and a pressed chin close the air's path downward and sideways, and it goes up; that is, the body is directed, the way water is directed by blocking channels.
A word must be said here with the reservation usual for such passages. These techniques act strongly on the body; contraction of the throat changes pressure, drawing in the belly moves the internal organs. And so manuals always carry a warning alongside them: not to be done by the sick, by pregnant women, after a meal.
The Vaishnava side does not object to the techniques themselves — the body is the body, and to handle it skillfully is no sin. Its objection is the same as everywhere in this book: these techniques are means of concentration, not means of salvation; and to ascribe the second meaning to them is to change the subject. It is worth adding that the word tana, "tension," is taken from weaving: so is called the stretched warp on a loom. The body under these locks truly does become like a stretched fabric: gathered below, pressed above, and between them — tension.