Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.14
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रस्वेदजनको यस्तु प्राणायामेषु सोऽधमः । कंपनं मध्यमं विद्यादुत्थानं चोत्तमं विदुः
Transliteration (IAST)
prasvedajanako yastu prāṇāyāmeṣu so'dhamaḥ | kaṃpanaṃ madhyamaṃ vidyādutthānaṃ cottamaṃ viduḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रस्वेद-जनकः यः तुprasveda-janakaḥ yaḥ tuwhich produces sweat, however
प्राणायामेषु सः अधमःprāṇāyāmeṣu saḥ adhamaḥthat is the lowest among breath controls
कंपनं मध्यमं विद्यात्kaṃpanaṃ madhyamaṃ vidyātlet him know trembling as the middle
उत्थानं च उत्तमं विदुःutthānaṃ ca uttamaṃ viduḥand rising they know as the highest
Translation
"Which produces sweat, that is the lowest among breath controls; let him know trembling as the middle, and rising they know as the highest."
Version
f88787845fee · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three grades are named by their signs: sweat, trembling, rising. The last — utthana, "rising" — is understood, by commentators, as the sensation of the body being lifted, though some take it literally, as levitation. Let us speak of this soberly. The sensation of lightness and being lifted during a long retention is a well-known thing and has a simple explanation; no rising above the ground actually occurs, and anyone who has been present at such practices will confirm this.
The Vaishnava side is wholly indifferent to bodily phenomena of this kind, and it is worth saying why. The reason is not distrust, but incommensurability with the subject. If the goal named is a relation to a Person, then the sign of success should be something in the relation, not in the body; and a person raised an elbow's height above the ground has not become an elbow's height closer to the one he loves.
Its own signs, discussed when reading the fifth khanda, are different: a diminishing of the pull toward everything else, tears, a trembling voice, an inability to continue speaking (Bhagavatam 11.14.24). It is curious that trembling is named both here and there. But its origin is named differently: here — from breath retention, there — from the one being spoken of; and they cannot be told apart from outside, though they can be from within.
Hence the caution worth drawing: bodily phenomena are incidental, and whenever they become the object of attention, the work stalls.