Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.20
॥
Devanāgarī
स एव द्विविधः प्रोक्तः सहितः केवलस्तथा । यावत्केवलसिद्धिः स्यात्तावत्सहितमभ्यसेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
sa eva dvividhaḥ proktaḥ sahitaḥ kevalastathā | yāvatkevalasiddhiḥ syāttāvatsahitamabhyaset
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः एव द्वि-विधः प्रोक्तःsaḥ eva dvi-vidhaḥ proktaḥit itself is proclaimed twofold
सहितः केवलः तथाsahitaḥ kevalaḥ tathā"with accompaniment" and "pure", thus
यावत् केवल-सिद्धिः स्यात्yāvat kevala-siddhiḥ syātuntil the attainment of the pure occurs
तावत् सहितम् अभ्यसेत्tāvat sahitam abhyasetuntil then, with accompaniment, shall he practice
Translation
"It itself is declared twofold: "with accompaniment" and "pure". Until the attainment of the pure occurs, until then shall he practice with accompaniment".
Version
57a582000a09 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Two kinds of holding are distinguished: sahita, "with accompaniment" (that is, with counted in-breath and out-breath through the nostrils), and kevala, "pure" — when the breath stops by itself, without counting and without technique. A sound rule is set: practice with the technique, until what comes without the technique arrives. This, I think, is the finest line in the whole breath section, and it is worth saying why.
Every art is built the same way. A learner of an instrument counts beats and watches the fingers; the player counts nothing and watches no fingers. The technique is a crutch: needed while skill is absent, and a hindrance once skill has come.
The danger runs both ways. Some throw away the crutch too soon and are left with nothing; others carry it their whole life and suppose the crutch itself is the point. The Vaishnava side holds the same distinction in its own practice. Repetition of the Name by count, on beads, is sahita; and the state in which the Name goes by itself and counting becomes unnecessary is what her books call bhava. And the rule there is the same: count, until it goes by itself; and no one is permitted to drop the count on the grounds that he is already above counting.