Upanishads · Varāha 5.22
॥
Devanāgarī
तत्रैव नाडीचक्रं तु द्वादशारं प्रतिष्ठितम् । शरीरं ध्रियते येन वर्तते तत्र कुण्डली
Transliteration (IAST)
tatraiva nāḍīcakraṃ tu dvādaśāraṃ pratiṣṭhitam | śarīraṃ dhriyate yena vartate tatra kuṇḍalī
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्र एव नाडी-चक्रं तुtatra eva nāḍī-cakraṃ tuthere indeed the circle of passages
द्वादश-अरं प्रतिष्ठितम्dvādaśa-araṃ pratiṣṭhitamis established, with twelve spokes
शरीरं ध्रियते येनśarīraṃ dhriyate yenaby which the body is held
वर्तते तत्र कुण्डलीvartate tatra kuṇḍalīthere kundalini dwells
Translation
"There indeed is established the circle of passages, with twelve spokes, by which the body is held; there kundalini dwells."
Version
4bc0a7616f64 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image of a wheel with twelve spokes is introduced, and worth noting is that here the number of passages is twelve, whereas other books name fourteen, and count seventy-two thousand in all. Such discrepancy is common in such descriptions and is itself instructive: were the visible being described, the count would be one. Worth noting too is the word kundali, "coiled," from kundala, "earring, ring."
The image is a serpent coiled in rings, sleeping at the base. Of kundalini, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (6.42) and the Ganapati (6.2); let us briefly repeat the main point. The teaching of it is a teaching of a dormant power, raised by techniques; and the Vaishnava side does not deny it, but assigns it its place.
Its remark is this: this power belongs to matter, not to the soul; and its raising gives a change of state, not a change of relation. Its second remark matters more, and deserves repeating. Here the power is raised by effort from below; in its teaching, everything essential descends from above and is called kripa, "grace."
The difference of direction is, in my view, the briefest statement of the difference between the two paths: one raises what is one's own, the other receives what is given. And from this too flows a difference in danger: what is raised by one's own power may rise the wrong way, while what is granted comes according to the measure of the giver.