Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.57
॥
Devanāgarī
विषमाशनदोषाच्च प्रयासप्राणचिन्तनात् । शीघ्रमुत्पद्यते रोगः स्तम्भयेद्यदि संयमी
Transliteration (IAST)
viṣamāśanadoṣācca prayāsaprāṇacintanāt | śīghramutpadyate rogaḥ stambhayedyadi saṃyamī
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
विषम-अशन-दोषात् चviṣama-aśana-doṣāt caand from the disorder of uneven eating
प्रयास-प्राण-चिन्तनात्prayāsa-prāṇa-cintanātfrom strain, from thinking about breath
शीघ्रम् उत्पद्यते रोगःśīghram utpadyate rogaḥquickly arises disease
स्तम्भयेत् यदि संयमीstambhayet yadi saṃyamīif the restrainer starts to block
Translation
"And from the disorder of uneven eating, from strain, from thinking about breath, disease quickly arises — if the restrainer starts to block [the breath]".
Version
a95fa4a57f6a · published Aug 7, 2026, 7:25:06 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The list of causes continues, and two in it deserve attention: prayasa, "strain, excessive exertion," and prana-chintana, "thinking about breath." The first is understandable: zeal beyond measure is harmful, as discussed when reading the fifty-fifth line. The second is remarkable. It is said that it is harmful to think about breath — and this is said in a book devoted entirely to breath.
This is to be understood, it seems, thus: it is harmful to worry about it, to count, to check, to listen for whether all is going as it should. Anyone who has ever begun watching his own breath knows it goes awry at once: what is done by itself is spoiled the moment it is looked at. This observation is subtle and true, and it applies beyond breath. Sleep, appetite, speech — everything done by itself is disturbed by self-observation; and a man watching whether he is falling asleep will not fall asleep.
The Vaishnava side applies this rule to her own and states it plainly. To watch oneself — "do I have devotion, is it growing, do I feel anything" — is the surest way to have nothing. The deed is to be done, and its fruits are not one's business to watch; and the Gita says exactly this: "you have a right to the work, never to its fruits" (2.47).