Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.52
॥
Devanāgarī
अधस्तात्कुञ्चनेनाशु कण्ठसङ्कोचने कृते । मध्ये पश्चिमतानेन स्यात्प्राणो ब्रह्मनाडिगः
Transliteration (IAST)
adhastātkuñcanenāśu kaṇṭhasaṅkocane kṛte | madhye paścimatānena syātprāṇo brahmanāḍigaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अधस्तात् कुञ्चनेन आशुadhastāt kuñcanena āśufrom below, by contraction, swiftly
कण्ठ-सङ्कोचने कृतेkaṇṭha-saṅkocane kṛteby performing the throat contraction
मध्ये पश्चिम-तानेनmadhye paścima-tānenain the middle, by the backward tension
स्यात् प्राणः ब्रह्म-नाडि-गःsyāt prāṇaḥ brahma-nāḍi-gaḥthe breath goes by the Brahman-channel
Translation
"From below, by contraction swiftly, by performing the throat contraction; in the middle, by the backward tension, — the breath goes by the Brahman-channel".
Version
0c40a12b1c93 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The three locks are joined, and their combined meaning is indicated: below closed, above closed, in the middle drawn in — and the air is left with one path, the central one. This arrangement, set aside from the names, is simple mechanics: by blocking two exits and constricting the middle, the contents are directed to where they can go. This description is clear and does the book credit. It explains why the locks are done all three together, not separately: apart, they do not form that for which they were made.
This rule, incidentally, applies beyond the bodily too. Any device made of several parts works only as a whole; and a man who takes one part from it — the easiest — usually gets nothing and blames the device. The Vaishnava side applies this rule to her own and repeats it constantly. In her list of nine kinds of service (Bhagavatam 7.5.23), every kind is valid on its own; but the scheme of vaidhi-bhakti — the rules — works as a whole: hearing, repeating, remembering, serving, bowing. One who takes only repetition and abandons hearing gets what everyone gets who takes one part from a device.
It is worth adding that here too nothing is said about what the air is led through the central channel for. The second half of the chapter will say this; for now the book remains at its craft.