Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.84
॥
Devanāgarī
वायुमूर्ध्वगतं कुर्वन्कुम्भकाविष्टमानसः । वाय्वाघातवशादग्निः स्वाधिष्ठानगतो ज्वलन्
Transliteration (IAST)
vāyumūrdhvagataṃ kurvankumbhakāviṣṭamānasaḥ | vāyvāghātavaśādagniḥ svādhiṣṭhānagato jvalan
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वायुम् ऊर्ध्व-गतं कुर्वन्vāyum ūrdhva-gataṃ kurvanmaking the wind upward-going
कुम्भक-आविष्ट-मानसःkumbhaka-āviṣṭa-mānasaḥwith a mind absorbed in the holding
वायु-आघात-वशात् अग्निःvāyu-āghāta-vaśāt agniḥby the force of the wind's stroke, the fire
स्वाधिष्ठान-गतः ज्वलन्svādhiṣṭhāna-gataḥ jvalanhaving come to svadhishthana, blazing
Translation
"Making the wind upward-going, with a mind absorbed in the holding, — by the force of the wind's stroke, the fire, having come to svadhishthana, blazing…"
Version
a64cdcdaaef7 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the expression kumbhaka-avishta-manasah, "with a mind absorbed in the holding." Avishta means "entered, seized, possessed"; the same word describes possession by a spirit. That is, the mind must not merely be directed at the holding, but seized by it entirely.
Here lies the chief difficulty of all such paths, and the book does not hide it. What is required is not attention, but absorption; and absorption does not appear to order. It comes where the object is interesting, and does not come where it is indifferent.
Hence the Vaishnava side says that a path requiring absorption in an abstract object is accessible to few. One can be absorbed in holding the breath if it is the business of one's life; but a man who has another life will find his mind on the breath and at the same time on its own affairs. Absorption in a Person, though, comes by itself and without exercise, if the Person is dear; and anyone who has awaited a letter or worried about a child knows what a mind seized entirely, without any technique, is like.
It is worth adding that svadhishthana, "one's own abode," is the name of the second circle in the tantric scheme; and there is no need to examine it here, for nothing can be added beyond what was said when reading Bhavana (p13) about these schemes: this is a map of sensations.