Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.41
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रथमो मूलबन्धस्तु द्वितीयोड्डीयणाभिधः । जालन्धरस्तृतीयस्तु तेषां लक्षणमुच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
prathamo mūlabandhastu dvitīyoḍḍīyaṇābhidhaḥ | jālandharastṛtīyastu teṣāṃ lakṣaṇamucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रथमः मूल-बन्धः तुprathamaḥ mūla-bandhaḥ tuthe first is the root lock
द्वितीयः उड्डीयण-अभिधःdvitīyaḥ uḍḍīyaṇa-abhidhaḥthe second is called "the flying-up one"
जालन्धरः तृतीयः तुjālandharaḥ tṛtīyaḥ tuthe third is "the net-holder"
तेषां लक्षणम् उच्यतेteṣāṃ lakṣaṇam ucyatetheir marks are set forth
Translation
"The first is the root lock, the second called "the flying-up one", the third "the net-holder"; their marks are set forth".
Version
332901d52c1a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The three locks are named, and their names deserve examination, for they are physical. Mula-bandha, "root lock": mula — root, base; a contraction at the base of the trunk. Uddiyana, "the flying-up one": from ud-di, "to fly up"; the next line will itself explain why it is so named — because the breath flies up through the central channel.
Jalandhara, "net-holder": jala — net, dhara — holder. Meant is the network of channels in the neck, which is pressed by the chin. Worth noting is that all three names describe an action, not a place: closes, raises, holds. This is the mark of good terminology: a name naming an action is remembered and understood, while a name naming a place must be learned by rote.
Herein lies a general rule worth mentioning. In the Indian sciences the names of things are almost always names from action: granthi — "that which binds"; argala — "that which bolts shut"; kumbhaka — "that which makes a pot." This kind of language is convenient for oral transmission, for the name itself contains half the explanation.
The Vaishnava side builds on this same property of the language, as discussed when reading Rudra-hridaya (31): the names of the Lord in her practice are almost all names from a deed — the carrier-off, the drawer-in, the slayer of such-and-such.