Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.66
॥
Devanāgarī
तेनाग्निना च सन्तप्ता पवनेनैव चालिता । प्रसार्य स्वशरीरं तु सुषुम्ना वदनान्तरे
Transliteration (IAST)
tenāgninā ca santaptā pavanenaiva cālitā | prasārya svaśarīraṃ tu suṣumnā vadanāntare
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तेन अग्निना च सन्तप्ताtena agninā ca santaptāheated by that fire, and
पवनेन एव चालिताpavanena eva cālitāset in motion by the wind
प्रसार्य स्व-शरीरं तुprasārya sva-śarīraṃ tuhaving straightened its own body
सुषुम्ना-वदन-अन्तरेsuṣumnā-vadana-antarewithin the mouth of sushumna
Translation
"Heated by that fire, and set in motion by the wind, having straightened its own body, — within the mouth of sushumna…"
Version
0f62f459f46a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The power's movement is described, and described in words about the body: heated, set in motion, straightened its body. Worth noting is the expression sva-shariram, "its own body," said of it. The power, then, is said to have a body; and this is usual in books of this kind: powers are described as beings.
This manner deserves understanding, and should not be hastily condemned. Describing the impersonal in personal terms is a device from which no one is free: we too say a disease "retreated," the frost "is tightening," luck "turned away." Language is so built that of what acts, it speaks as of the living.
A warning follows from this, though. From the fact that a power is spoken of as a person, it does not follow that it is a person; and conversely, from the fact that God is spoken of as a person, one cannot conclude that this too is a figure of speech. These two cases must be distinguished not by manner but by substance: does that of which we speak answer. Frost does not answer a request; disease does not show mercy; a power raised by technique acts the same in the righteous and in the villain — and so it is a power, not a person.
The Vaishnava side holds this distinction firmly and stands on it. That which responds differently, depending on who has turned to it and how, is a person; and the whole experience of turning to God consists in the fact that the answer is not uniform.