Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.72
॥
Devanāgarī
तथैव रभसा शुक्लं चन्द्ररूपं हि तप्यते । ऊर्ध्वं प्रवहति क्षुब्धा तदैवं भ्रमतेतराम्
Transliteration (IAST)
tathaiva rabhasā śuklaṃ candrarūpaṃ hi tapyate | ūrdhvaṃ pravahati kṣubdhā tadaivaṃ bhramatetarām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तथा एव रभसा शुक्लंtathā eva rabhasā śuklaṃso too, swiftly, the white
चन्द्र-रूपं हि तप्यतेcandra-rūpaṃ hi tapyatehaving the form of the moon, indeed, is heated
ऊर्ध्वं प्रवहति क्षुब्धाūrdhvaṃ pravahati kṣubdhāupward it flows, agitated
तत् एवं भ्रमते इतराम्tat evaṃ bhramate itarāmand so it whirls greatly
Translation
"So too, swiftly, the white, having the form of the moon, is heated; it flows upward, agitated, and whirls greatly".
Version
09d60e1ec1fe · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The description continues, and in it the word kshubdha, "agitated, roiled," deserves note. It is from kshubh, "to be shaken, thrown into turmoil"; from it too comes sankshobhana, "convulsion," the name given, in Tripuratapini (54), to the third circle of the diagram. Worth noting is the connection between these descriptions: there and here alike, near the approach to the middle, there is a shaking. There, the turmoil was named the circle nearer the center than temptation; here, the power, rising, is called agitated and whirling.
This testimony is concordant, and it is, I think, among the most reliable in this literature. People who walked different paths report the same thing: the closer, the more disquieting; and to expect that approach will be accompanied by ever-growing calm is to prepare for disappointment. The Vaishnava side says the same thing in her own words. States of approach are described in her as bhava, and there is no calm in these descriptions: there are tears, trembling, sleeplessness, loss of composure. Calm, in her books, stands earlier, at the stage of shanta; and further on begins agitation, which is stronger the closer one is.
It is worth adding that the word bhramate, "whirls," is of the same root as bhranti, "delusion," named the seventh hindrance (1.60). Whirling and delusion are one in the language; and so in descriptions of approach it is so hard to tell the one from the other — and yet distinguish them one must.