Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.67
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मग्रन्थिं ततो भित्त्वा रजोगुणसमुद्भवम् । सुषुम्ना वदने शीघ्रं विद्युल्लेखेव संस्फुरेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmagranthiṃ tato bhittvā rajoguṇasamudbhavam | suṣumnā vadane śīghraṃ vidyullekheva saṃsphuret
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्म-ग्रन्थिं ततः भित्त्वाbrahma-granthiṃ tataḥ bhittvāthen having pierced the Brahman-knot
रजः-गुण-समुद्भवम्rajaḥ-guṇa-samudbhavamarisen from the guna of passion
सुषुम्ना-वदने शीघ्रंsuṣumnā-vadane śīghraṃat the mouth of sushumna, swiftly
विद्युत्-लेखा इव संस्फुरेत्vidyut-lekhā iva saṃsphuretlike a streak of lightning, it flashes forth
Translation
"Then, having pierced the Brahman-knot, arisen from the guna of passion, it swiftly flashes forth at the mouth of sushumna, like a streak of lightning".
Version
cf7aa9c65afd · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The first knot is pierced, and a simile is given: vidyut-lekha iva, "like a streak of lightning." The image of lightning is constant in these books and always means one thing: that which appears in an instant and does not last. The Kena Upanishad says of Brahman: "like a flash of lightning, like a blink of the eye" (4.4); and there too — that knowledge of Him is like this.
Worth noting is the connection to what was discussed when reading Tripuratapini (21) about the word sphurati, "flashes forth"; here stands samsphuret, of the same root. This whole family of words — flash, lightning, blink — describes an experience to which all these books testify in agreement: what comes does not stay. The Vaishnava side accepts this testimony and explains it in her own way. Momentariness is a property not of the One who appears, but of the one who sees: the vessel does not hold. And so all her work is directed not toward making the flashes more frequent, but toward making the vessel able to hold — that is, toward a change of character, not toward exercise.
It is worth adding that the knot is said to have arisen from rajo-guna, "the guna of passion," that is, from the active principle. The first thing that holds a man, then, is not darkness and not ignorance, but his own activity; and this observation, I think, is truer than many others.