Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.16
॥
Devanāgarī
सूर्येण रेचयेद्वायुं सरस्वत्यास्तु चालने । कण्ठसङ्कोचनं कृत्वा वक्षसश्चोर्ध्वगो मरुत्
Transliteration (IAST)
sūryeṇa recayedvāyuṃ sarasvatyāstu cālane | kaṇṭhasaṅkocanaṃ kṛtvā vakṣasaścordhvago marut
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सूर्येण रेचयेत् वायुंsūryeṇa recayet vāyuṃby the sun shall he release the wind
सरस्वत्याः तु चालनेsarasvatyāḥ tu cālaneat the movement of Sarasvati
कण्ठ-सङ्कोचनं कृत्वाkaṇṭha-saṅkocanaṃ kṛtvāhaving performed contraction of the throat
वक्षसः च ऊर्ध्व-गः मरुत्vakṣasaḥ ca ūrdhva-gaḥ marutand from the chest the wind goes upward
Translation
"By the sun shall he release the wind, at the movement of Sarasvati; having performed contraction of the throat, the wind from the chest goes upward".
Version
b1f855ab7365 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Suryena, "by the sun," here means the right nostril: the solar channel pingala, spoken of when reading the tenth line. The entire practice of this science is built on double names: right — sun, left — moon; and so "exhale by the sun" means "exhale through the right." It is worth saying why such names were adopted at all, for at first glance they only complicate matters.
The reason, it seems, is twofold. First — memory: instructions were transmitted orally, and a verse with images is remembered better than a verse with "right" and "left." Second — concealment: oral transmission presupposes that one reading without a teacher should not understand everything.
The first reason should be treated with respect, the second with reserve. Concealment in bodily matters is reasonable (one can injure oneself), but in matters concerning God it is harmful; and the Vaishnava side holds, precisely for this reason, that its central thing — the Name — is given openly, to everyone. It is worth adding that the near-verbatim repetition of this line after the previous one is probably a variant reading that found its way into the text. This is common in manuscript collections: two recensions of one line become two lines; and there is no point smoothing this over.