Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.49
॥
Devanāgarī
गुल्फदेशसमीपे च कन्दं तत्र प्रपीडयेत् । पश्चिमं तानमुदरे धारयेद्-हृदये गले
Transliteration (IAST)
gulphadeśasamīpe ca kandaṃ tatra prapīḍayet | paścimaṃ tānamudare dhārayed-hṛdaye gale
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गुल्फ-देश-समीपे चgulpha-deśa-samīpe caand near the region of the ankles
कन्दं तत्र प्रपीडयेत्kandaṃ tatra prapīḍayetshall he press that knot there
पश्चिमं तानम् उदरेpaścimaṃ tānam udarethe backward tension in the belly
धारयेत् हृदये गलेdhārayet hṛdaye galeshall he hold in the heart and throat
Translation
"And near the region of the ankles shall he press that knot there; the backward tension in the belly shall he hold in the heart and throat".
Version
08fff95a676f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A bodily description: the heels press on a certain spot, the belly is drawn in, the tension is held up to the heart and throat. The word kanda, "tuber, node," means, in this science, the place at the base of the trunk from which, by this scheme, all the channels radiate. The word is taken from plants: a tuber is that from which roots and shoots issue.
Worth noting is that this image is a plant image, not a serpent image; and in the book it stands beside the serpent image without conflicting with it. Such coexistence of different images in one scheme is normal in these treatises, and one should not demand unity of image from them. A word must also be said about pashchima-tana, "backward tension," for it has remained in common use to this day: this is the name of the well-known position in which, sitting, one stretches toward the feet.
This whole bodily section of the book, it appears, is the ancestor of what is now called by this same word the world over. Worth noting is that here it takes its proper place — among breathing techniques and as a preparation for them, not as an independent occupation. The Vaishnava side has nothing against bodily exercise and itself acknowledges that an unhealthy body hinders. Its objection concerns only the substitution: when a means good for health begins to be passed off as a path to God — and when a man who has stood an hour in a position supposes he has thereby done something spiritual.