Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.85
॥
Devanāgarī
ज्वलनाघातपवनाघातोरून्निद्रितोऽहिराट् । ब्रह्मग्रन्थिं ततो भित्त्वा विष्णुग्रन्थिं भिनत्त्यतः
Transliteration (IAST)
jvalanāghātapavanāghātorūnnidrito'hirāṭ | brahmagranthiṃ tato bhittvā viṣṇugranthiṃ bhinattyataḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ज्वलन-आघात-पवन-आघाताjvalana-āghāta-pavana-āghātāfrom the stroke of fire and the stroke of wind
उत्-उन्निद्रितः अहि-राट्ut-unnidritaḥ ahi-rāṭawakened, the king of serpents
ब्रह्म-ग्रन्थिं ततः भित्त्वाbrahma-granthiṃ tataḥ bhittvāhaving then pierced the Brahman-knot
विष्णु-ग्रन्थिं भिनत्ति अतःviṣṇu-granthiṃ bhinatti ataḥpierces the knot of Vishnu, hence
Translation
"From the stroke of fire and the stroke of wind, awakened, the king of serpents, having then pierced the Brahman-knot, pierces the knot of Vishnu hence".
Version
ceeec61c9a3f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The power is named ahi-rat, "king of serpents"; and this word, worth noting, is masculine, whereas everywhere before it was feminine — kundalini, shakti. This change, within a single verse, shows how mobile these names are and how little can be built on them. Where something fearsome is needed, a king of serpents appears; where something tender, a coiled maiden.
Worth noting too is the word aghata, "stroke," repeated twice: the stroke of fire, the stroke of wind. The awakening is described by blows, as in the forty-fifth line, where the serpent was woken with a stick. This whole method, looking at its verbs, is a method of violence upon oneself: to strike, to drive, to lock, to squeeze, to pierce. And it must be granted that it does not hide this.
The Vaishnava side answers this not with condemnation, but with a difference of verbs. In her books, describing the same limit, different words stand: to hear, to call, to remember, to serve, to wait, to bow. Not one word of violence, and not one word that could not apply to dealings between people.
Language here testifies to the substance of the matter. A teaching whose chief verbs are "strike" and "pierce" works with a mechanism; a teaching whose chief verbs are "call" and "wait" works with a person. A mechanism is broken open; a person is asked.