Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 4.11
॥
Devanāgarī
नाभिकन्दादधः स्थानं कुण्डल्या द्व्यङ्गुलं मुने । अष्टप्रकृतिरूपा सा कुण्डली मुनिसत्तम
Transliteration (IAST)
nābhikandādadhaḥ sthānaṃ kuṇḍalyā dvyaṅgulaṃ mune | aṣṭaprakṛtirūpā sā kuṇḍalī munisattama
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नाभि-कन्दात् अधः स्थानंnābhi-kandāt adhaḥ sthānaṃbelow the navel-bulb, the place
कुण्डल्याः द्वि-अङ्गुलं मुनेkuṇḍalyāḥ dvi-aṅgulaṃ muneof kundalini, two finger-widths, O sage
अष्ट-प्रकृति-रूपा साaṣṭa-prakṛti-rūpā sāof eight-natured form, she
कुण्डली मुनि-सत्तमkuṇḍalī muni-sattamakundalini, O best of sages
Translation
"Below the navel-bulb, two finger-widths, O sage, is the place of kundalini; of eight-natured form is she, kundalini, O best of sages."
Version
a8d2ea4af22f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Kundalini, "the coiled one," appears — from kundala, "earring, ring": the power depicted coiled like a serpent at the base of the spine. This notion became central in later yoga, and it was discussed in detail when reading the Yoga-kundalini Upanishad; there is no need to repeat the examination. She is called ashta-prakriti-rupa, "having the form of the eight natures." Ashta-prakriti is the Sankhya list: the five elements, mind, intellect, and ego — eight first principles from which matter is composed.
This definition deserves noting, for it places kundalini on the material side. She is not spirit and not God, but the power of which the body is composed; and her ascent is a change in matter, not a meeting with someone. From here comes the Vaishnava side's chief objection to treating the awakening of this power as the goal, and it deserves stating.
Whatever occurs in the body occurs in matter; and matter, by the general reckoning of all these books, is not the object of the quest. The Gita says: "even the wise, having come to the end of knowledge, are drawn by their own nature; what will restraint accomplish?" — prakritim yanti bhutani nigrahah kim karishyati (3.33). This question, posed by the Gita itself, is a question about the fitness of every self-governance; and the answer to it is given two verses later: neither suppress nor indulge, but change whom one serves — and the whole chapter thereafter leads to deeds being offered to Him.
In the Yoga-kundalini we noted this very same point (2.5, 2.8), where the yogic book itself acknowledges that the union is not achieved by practice, but is given from a teacher's mouth; and this acknowledgment deserves being remembered while reading everything that follows.