Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.37
॥
Devanāgarī
कुम्भकं पूर्ववत्कृत्वा रेचेयेदिडयानिलम् । कण्ठोत्थितानलहरं शरीराग्निविवर्धनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
kumbhakaṃ pūrvavatkṛtvā receyediḍayānilam | kaṇṭhotthitānalaharaṃ śarīrāgnivivardhanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कुम्भकं पूर्व-वत् कृत्वाkumbhakaṃ pūrva-vat kṛtvāthe holding, as before, having performed
रेचयेत् इडया अनिलम्recayet iḍayā anilamshall he release by ida the air
कण्ठ-उत्थित-अनल-हरंkaṇṭha-utthita-anala-haraṃcarrying off the heat risen in the throat
शरीर-अग्नि-विवर्धनम्śarīra-agni-vivardhanamincreasing the bodily fire
Translation
"Having performed the holding as before, he shall release the air by ida; carrying off the heat risen in the throat, increasing the bodily fire…"
Version
8c5a9a0b32ef · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The list of bhastrika's benefits begins, and it is longer than for the others: it will take three lines. The first two benefits are bodily and have already appeared in the lists. From the next line the list will change kind and turn to something else: to the waking of power, to the removal of sin, to the piercing of knots.
This change is noticeable in the book's structure and deserves mention. Three of the four techniques receive bodily promises; the fourth receives bodily and spiritual promises at once — and is thereby set apart from the row. Reading such passages, one should keep in mind a simple consideration. Any treatise expounding a series of means usually praises the last more than the rest; and this praise speaks not so much of the means as of where the author is leading.
The Vaishnava side uses the same device openly. In her books the paths are enumerated — action, knowledge, yoga — and each is acknowledged as genuine; and then it is said that the path of devotion is higher than all of them, and the Gita ends precisely on this (18.66). The device is legitimate, and cannot be reproached; one must only remember that we are looking not at an impartial description, but at an exposition with a destination.
It is worth adding that here too the breath is released by ida, the left channel; that is, after a forceful technique the book directs one to exit through the cool channel. A practical consideration: after heat — cool down.