Upanishads · Varāha 5.10
॥
Devanāgarī
मृदुमध्यममन्त्रेषु क्रमान्मन्त्रं लयं हठम् । लयमन्त्रहठा योगा योगो ह्यष्टाङ्गसंयुतः
Transliteration (IAST)
mṛdumadhyamamantreṣu kramānmantraṃ layaṃ haṭham | layamantrahaṭhā yogā yogo hyaṣṭāṅgasaṃyutaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मृदु-मध्यम-मन्त्रेषुmṛdu-madhyama-mantreṣufor the mild, the middling, [and the strong]
क्रमात् मन्त्रं लयं हठम्kramāt mantraṃ layaṃ haṭhamin order — mantra, laya, hatha
लय-मन्त्र-हठाः योगाःlaya-mantra-haṭhāḥ yogāḥlaya, mantra, and hatha are yogas
योगः हि अष्ट-अङ्ग-संयुतःyogaḥ hi aṣṭa-aṅga-saṃyutaḥyoga, however, is joined with eight limbs
Translation
"For the mild, the middling [and the strong], in order — mantra, laya, hatha; laya, mantra, and hatha are yogas; yoga, however, is joined with eight limbs."
Version
1084305e7d5a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three kinds of yoga are named, and deserve distinguishing, for this division is fundamental in later books. Mantra-yoga — work with the word: repetition. Laya-yoga — work with dissolution: the inner resonance, spoken of at the end of this chapter.
Hatha-yoga — work with body and breath. Worth noting is the criterion by which they are distributed: mridu, madhyama, and (implied) adhimatra — "mild, middling, strong." That is, the kind of occupation is assigned by a person's strength, not by taste and not by the merit of the teaching.
This rule is sensible, and is found in Vaishnava practice too, though expressed differently: it distinguishes adhikara, "right, fitness," and does not give everyone everything. Let us add, however, where it diverges from this division. Here mantra is given to the weakest: repetition of the Name is assigned to those fit for neither body nor dissolution.
Its own reckoning is the reverse, and its ground is Bhagavatam 12.3.51: kaler dosha-nidhe rajann asti hy eko mahan gunah; kirtanad eva krishnasya mukta-sangah param vrajet. Translation: "in Kali, the storehouse of vices, O king, there is one great virtue: by chanting Krishna alone a person is freed and goes to the highest." That is, repetition of the Name is placed not as the lowest means for the weak, but as the chief means for all; and the weakness of the age is named the cause not of a loss, but of an advantage.