Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.28
॥
Devanāgarī
शीर्षोदितानलहरं गलश्लेष्महरं परम् । सर्वरोगहरं पुण्यं देहानलविवर्धनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
śīrṣoditānalaharaṃ galaśleṣmaharaṃ param | sarvarogaharaṃ puṇyaṃ dehānalavivardhanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शीर्ष-उदित-अनल-हरंśīrṣa-udita-anala-haraṃcarrying off the heat risen in the head
गल-श्लेष्म-हरं परम्gala-śleṣma-haraṃ paramcarrying off phlegm in the throat, the highest
सर्व-रोग-हरं पुण्यंsarva-roga-haraṃ puṇyaṃcarrying off all disease, holy
देह-अनल-विवर्धनम्deha-anala-vivardhanamincreasing the bodily fire
Translation
"Carrying off the heat risen in the head, carrying off phlegm in the throat, the highest, carrying off all disease, holy, increasing the bodily fire…"
Version
2829f5895dae · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A list of bodily benefits, again medical: heat in the head, phlegm in the throat, weakness of digestion. It is worth noting that all the promises in this part of the book are promises about the body, and this should be noted for what follows. When we come to the third chapter, the promises will change and become about the soul; for now the subject is craft.
The word deha-anala, "bodily fire," is the same as jathara-agni, examined when reading Bhavana (p17): the fire of digestion. It is curious that punya, "holy, meritorious," stands in the list of benefits between two bodily results. That is, the technique is called useful and meritorious at once; and this mixing is constant in such books.
The Vaishnava side does not allow this mixing and distinguishes it plainly: punya is merit, bearing fruit in its own time and place; health is health. One does not replace the other: the meritorious man may fall ill, and the healthy man may be a scoundrel. It is worth adding that even merit is spoken of, in her books, more cautiously than is commonly thought. Merit holds a man in the cycle no less than sin does, as discussed when reading Bhavana (p10); and so the promise "this deed is meritorious" is not the highest promise there is.