Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.1
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राणायामक्रमं वक्ष्ये सांकृते श्रुणु सादरम् । प्राणायाम इति प्रोक्तो रेचपूरककुम्भकैः
Transliteration (IAST)
prāṇāyāmakramaṃ vakṣye sāṃkṛte śruṇu sādaram | prāṇāyāma iti prokto recapūrakakumbhakaiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्राणायाम-क्रमं वक्ष्येprāṇāyāma-kramaṃ vakṣyethe order of breath control I shall tell
सांकृते शृणु स-आदरम्sāṃkṛte śṛṇu sa-ādaramSankriti, listen respectfully
प्राणायामः इति प्रोक्तःprāṇāyāmaḥ iti proktaḥbreath control is proclaimed
रेच-पूरक-कुम्भकैःreca-pūraka-kumbhakaiḥby emptying, filling, and retention
Translation
"I shall tell the order of breath control; Sankriti, listen respectfully. Breath control is proclaimed [to consist] of emptying, filling, and retention."
Version
184f093c28d6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The sixth khanda begins — on pranayama itself; and the word deserves examining, for it is usually translated imprecisely. Prana-yama is a compound of prana ("breath, life") and yama ("control"); others read prana-ayama, where ayama means "extension, stretching." Both readings have support, and both are true in substance: breath is both controlled and extended, made long and even.
Three actions are named: rechaka ("emptying," exhale), puraka ("filling," inhale), kumbhaka ("the vessel," retention). Worth noting is the order in which they are listed: first, the exhale. This order is common in books on yoga and has a homely explanation: before filling a vessel, one empties it. To begin with the inhale, without having exhaled, is to pour into what is already full.
This rule deserves extending beyond breath, for it applies broadly. Before receiving the new, one must make room; and a person crammed with the old cannot take in the new, however much is offered him. The Vaishnava side expresses the same in the order of its own rungs, already discussed: anartha-nivritti, "the falling-away of the unneeded," stands before nishtha, "steadfastness" (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.4.15). First the superfluous diminishes, then the enduring appears; and this order is the reverse of what is usually expected.