Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.26
॥
Devanāgarī
पुनः पुनरिदं कार्यं सूर्यभेदमुदाहृतम् । मुखं संयम्य नाडिभ्यामाकृष्य पवनं शनैः
Transliteration (IAST)
punaḥ punaridaṃ kāryaṃ sūryabhedamudāhṛtam | mukhaṃ saṃyamya nāḍibhyāmākṛṣya pavanaṃ śanaiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पुनः पुनः इदं कार्यंpunaḥ punaḥ idaṃ kāryaṃagain and again this is to be done
सूर्य-भेदम् उदाहृतम्sūrya-bhedam udāhṛtam"solar rending" it is called
मुखं संयम्य नाडिभ्याम्mukhaṃ saṃyamya nāḍibhyāmhaving closed the mouth, by both channels
आकृष्य पवनं शनैःākṛṣya pavanaṃ śanaiḥhaving drawn in air slowly
Translation
"Again and again this is to be done; it is called "solar rending". Having closed the mouth, having drawn in air slowly by both channels…"
Version
a095b1dd1592 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The technique is named and closed with the usual punah punah, "again and again"; the second begins. The word bheda, "rending, piercing, distinction," stands in the name of the technique and deserves examination, because it is among those that circulate throughout this literature. It means "splitting, piercing, distinguishing"; and in different places it means different things: both the difference between things (Rudra-hridaya 42), and the piercing of a channel, as here.
Here the sense is physical: the right channel pierces a way. The image is taken from the digging of a channel: water is let along one side to wash out a passage. Worth noting too is the detail: mukham samyamya, "having closed the mouth." Breathing is commanded through the nose, not the mouth; and this rule holds in the science of the body to this day, for the nose warms, moistens, and cleans the air, while the mouth does not.
The Vaishnava side does not examine trifles of this kind, but attention to the body as such is not foreign to it. In her practice it is set down how to sit while repeating, how to hold the beads, in which hand, until what hour; and the basis for this is not mystical but simple: the body takes part in everything, and a disordered body hinders.