Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 4.12
॥
Devanāgarī
यथावद्वायुचेष्टां च जलान्नादीनि नित्यशः । परितः कन्दपार्श्वेषु निरुध्यैव सदा स्थिता
Transliteration (IAST)
yathāvadvāyuceṣṭāṃ ca jalānnādīni nityaśaḥ | paritaḥ kandapārśveṣu nirudhyaiva sadā sthitā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथा-वत् वायु-चेष्टां चyathā-vat vāyu-ceṣṭāṃ caas it should, the movement of the wind
जल-अन्न-आदीनि नित्यशःjala-anna-ādīni nityaśaḥwater, food, and the rest, always
परितः कन्द-पार्श्वेषुparitaḥ kanda-pārśveṣuall around, at the sides of the bulb
निरुध्य एव सदा स्थिताnirudhya eva sadā sthitārestraining, she always abides
Translation
"She always abides, restraining, as it should, the movement of the wind, water, food, and the rest, all around, at the sides of the bulb."
Version
ea1c3474d8b9 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Kundalini is described as closing off: she restrains the movement of the wind, water, and food. This image deserves examination, for it determines the whole sense of the work that follows. The power spoken of is depicted not as a mover, but as a bolt: she lies across and does not let through.
Hence the whole design of the practice: not to acquire something new, but to remove an obstruction. This design is universal in Indian books and deserves being stated separately, for it is opposite to the usual notion of the spiritual path. It is usually thought that a person lacks something and must acquire it. By these same books it turns out that he already has everything, but is blocked; and the work consists in removing the blockage.
The Vaishnava side holds to this and states it in one of its central definitions. Love of God, prema, is not created either by practice or by rite; it is nitya-siddha, "eternally ready," lying in the heart of every being, and the means only remove what covers it (Chaitanya-charitamrita Madhya 22.107). The comparison used to explain this deserves citing: fire is present in wood even without flint; the flint does not bring the fire in, but draws it out.
The difference between the two teachings, however, is not here, but in what exactly is counted the obstruction. Here the obstruction is bodily, and it is removed by breath. There the obstruction is called anartha, "the unneeded" — habits, resentments, self-interest; and it is removed by hearing and by company.