Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.4
॥
Devanāgarī
पूरितं धारयेत्पश्चाच्चतुःषष्ट्या तु मात्रया । उकारमूर्तिमन्त्रापि संस्मरन्प्रणवं जपेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
pūritaṃ dhārayetpaścāccatuḥṣaṣṭyā tu mātrayā | ukāramūrtimantrāpi saṃsmaranpraṇavaṃ japet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पूरितं धारयेत् पश्चात्pūritaṃ dhārayet paścātlet him then hold the filled [breath]
चतुः-षष्ट्या तु मात्रयाcatuḥ-ṣaṣṭyā tu mātrayāby sixty-four measures, however
उ-कार-मूर्तिम् अत्र अपिu-kāra-mūrtim atra apiand here too, the form of the sound 'u'
संस्मरन् प्रणवं जपेत्saṃsmaran praṇavaṃ japetholding in mind, let him repeat the pranava
Translation
"Let him then hold the filled [breath] by sixty-four measures, holding in mind here too the form of the sound 'u', and repeating the pranava."
Version
c2e6ecd756f8 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The retention is set at four times the length of the inhale, and this is the hardest part of the technique. It is worth speaking of retention directly, for here ancient books and present-day teachers diverge, and not without reason. Kumbhaka is held, in these books, to be the very core of the practice: it is thought that during it the whole work is accomplished.
It is also the most dangerous. A long retention, without skill, causes dizziness, and with diligence beyond one's strength, worse; and every manual cautions that this must not be done without a teacher. We have already read this caution in the third line of the fifth khanda, where being sushikshitah, "well-instructed by knowers," was required; and it deserves repeating here, where the instruction has become precise and hence dangerous.
Worth noting too is the phrase u-kara-murtim, "the form of the sound 'u'." Not "the sound," but "the form of the sound": the syllable is conceived as having a shape, and is contemplated, not merely uttered. The notion that a sound has a form runs throughout Indian literature, and gave rise to a whole science of the shapes of syllables; but for us it is enough to note that even in the driest breathing exercise, the book requires holding an image before the mind.
That is, even here the mind is not left empty: it is given an object. And the difference among schools turns out to lie not in whether the mind should be occupied, but in with what.