Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.77
॥
Devanāgarī
आधिभौतिकदेहं तु आधिदैविकविग्रहे । देहोऽतिविमलं याति चातिवाहिकतामियात्
Transliteration (IAST)
ādhibhautikadehaṃ tu ādhidaivikavigrahe | deho'tivimalaṃ yāti cātivāhikatāmiyāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आधिभौतिक-देहं तुādhibhautika-dehaṃ tuthe body made of gross elements, indeed
आधिदैविक-विग्रहेādhidaivika-vigraheinto a divine composition
देहः अति-विमलं यातिdehaḥ ati-vimalaṃ yātithe body goes to the very pure
च अति-वाहिकताम् इयात्ca ati-vāhikatām iyātand attains "the over-carrying"
Translation
"The body made of gross elements — into a divine composition; the body goes to the very pure, and attains "the over-carrying"".
Version
419e5de5718d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Ativahika, "over-carrying" body, is named; and this word deserves explaining, for it is among those with a precise meaning in Indian books. Ativahika is from ati-vah, "to carry across, to convey": so is named the subtle body in which the soul is carried from one birth to another. It is spoken of in the Vedanta-sutra (4.2) and in books about the afterlife.
Here it is promised that the gross body will become such; that is, a man will receive, while still alive, the body in which one ordinarily passes over. This promise appears in books on yoga and is explained variously; in later compositions it is spoken of as divya-deha, "the divine body." The Vaishnava side does not share promises of this kind, and explains why. Not because the body is denied change, but because change of body is not the goal. The Gita says: "having left the body, they go to My being" (4.9); and whatever becomes of the body — subtle or luminous — it remains a body, that is, something that has a term.
It is worth adding that here too the book remains true to itself: its promises concern the body and its states. The first chapter will end in a state, not a Person; and in this lies its honesty: it promises what it speaks of, and no more.