Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.43
॥
Devanāgarī
अपाने चोर्ध्वगे याते सम्प्राप्ते वह्निमण्डले । ततोऽनलशिखा दीर्घा वर्धते वायुनाऽऽहता
Transliteration (IAST)
apāne cordhvage yāte samprāpte vahnimaṇḍale | tato'nalaśikhā dīrghā vardhate vāyunā''hatā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अपाने च ऊर्ध्व-गे यातेapāne ca ūrdhva-ge yātewhen apana, going upward, has come
सम्प्राप्ते वह्नि-मण्डलेsamprāpte vahni-maṇḍalehaving reached the circle of fire
ततः अनल-शिखा दीर्घाtataḥ anala-śikhā dīrghāthen the long flame of fire
वर्धते वायुना आहताvardhate vāyunā āhatāgrows, fanned by the wind
Translation
"When apana, going upward, reaches the circle of fire, then the long flame of fire grows, fanned by the wind".
Version
3034c4f07386 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
What happens at the root lock is described: the air, driven upward, reaches the "circle of fire" — that is, the place of digestive heat — and fans it. The image is the same as in the forge (1.34): the bellows drives the air, the flame grows. Only here the body itself serves as the bellows.
This description, for all its antiquity, is a conscientious description of sensation: during breath retention and abdominal tension one truly does feel a heat rising from the belly. Worth noting, though, is how neatly all this is fitted together. Fire, wind, rising flame — the whole picture is built on one simile and holds together by it; and the simile is so convenient that it explains anything one asks of it.
Here lies the danger worth naming when reading passages of this kind. The neatness of an explanation is not proof of its truth; on the contrary, an explanation that fits everything is usually unverifiable by anything. The Vaishnava side, for this reason, prefers on questions about God not to rely on similes, however beautiful, but on utterances — that is, on what can be compared and checked.
It is worth adding that the word shikha, "flame," is the same word used for the lock of hair on a brahmin's crown (Katharudra p1). The lock is named for the flame: it sticks up, like a tongue of fire.