Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.39
॥
Devanāgarī
गुणत्रयसमुद्भूतग्रन्थित्रयविभेदकम् । विशेषेणैव कर्तव्यं भस्त्राख्यं कुम्भकं त्विदम्
Transliteration (IAST)
guṇatrayasamudbhūtagranthitrayavibhedakam | viśeṣeṇaiva kartavyaṃ bhastrākhyaṃ kumbhakaṃ tvidam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गुण-त्रय-समुद्भूत-guṇa-traya-samudbhūta-arisen from the three gunas
ग्रन्थि-त्रय-विभेदकम्granthi-traya-vibhedakamrending the three knots
विशेषेण एव कर्तव्यंviśeṣeṇa eva kartavyaṃespecially indeed must be done
भस्त्रा-आख्यं कुम्भकं तु इदम्bhastrā-ākhyaṃ kumbhakaṃ tu idamthis holding called "bellows"
Translation
"Rending the three knots, arisen from the three gunas; especially must this holding, called "bellows", be done".
Version
e2179c810340 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Granthi-traya, "three knots," are named, and said to have arisen from the three gunas. These knots, in books on yoga, have names: brahma-granthi — at the base, vishnu-granthi — at the heart, rudra-granthi — between the brows. This scheme is later, but the image of the knot is ancient and goes back to the Mundaka (2.2.8), as discussed when reading Rudra-hridaya (37).
It is curious that the middle knot bears the name Vishnu and is placed in the heart — and this in a book on breath, where names are almost entirely absent. The correspondence, it seems, is this: the first knot holds a man in deeds and in the body (rajas), the second in the senses and in the heart (sattva), the third in self-conceit and in power (tamas). Other commentators chart it differently; there is no agreement here.
The Vaishnava side builds no doctrine on this scheme and treats it as labels on a diagram; but one observation from it she takes gladly. The knot at the heart is called the hardest; and this agrees with everything she says about man. It is easier to leave deeds than attachments; and one who has abandoned house and possessions usually discovers by that same evening that his heart went with him.
Separately, a word must be said about visheshena, "especially." It is exactly that praise for the last of the means spoken of a line above; and the book does not hide that of the four techniques, this one is its favorite.