Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.64
॥
Devanāgarī
आकुञ्चनेन तं प्राहुर्मूलबन्धोऽयमुच्यते । अपानश्चोर्ध्वगो भूत्वा वह्निना सह गच्छति
Transliteration (IAST)
ākuñcanena taṃ prāhurmūlabandho'yamucyate | apānaścordhvago bhūtvā vahninā saha gacchati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आकुञ्चनेन तं प्राहुःākuñcanena taṃ prāhuḥby contraction that is called
मूल-बन्धः अयम् उच्यतेmūla-bandhaḥ ayam ucyatethis is called the root lock
अपानः च ऊर्ध्व-गः भूत्वाapānaḥ ca ūrdhva-gaḥ bhūtvāand apana, having become upward-going
वह्निना सह गच्छतिvahninā saha gacchatigoes together with the fire
Translation
"That is called by contraction, — this is called the root lock; and apana, having become upward-going, goes together with the fire".
Version
c3c90bd162c4 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The repetition continues, and the book again describes what it described twenty lines earlier. This trait must be discussed plainly, for it puzzles the reader. Collections of this sort were assembled over centuries: verses circulated orally, gathered into bundles, and the bundles were combined; and a compiler, joining two bundles, usually did not discard a repetition, for he did not consider himself entitled to. Hence in these books the same thing is set forth two and three times, sometimes with variant readings.
This trait, for all its inconvenience, has a good side too: it has preserved different versions. Where a later editor would have smoothed things over, the ancient compiler left both — and so we see how the same thing was spoken of in different places and different times. The Vaishnava side holds the same rule toward texts, and for the same reason. Variant readings in her editions are cited, not removed; and commentators usually note: "in other manuscripts it reads thus."
This rule, I think, deserves respect beyond the world of books too. It means: the transmitter is not the owner of what was transmitted. He is entitled to explain, but not to improve; and every time a transmitter begins to improve, he is transmitting himself, not what he received.