Upanishads · Varāha 5.38
॥
Devanāgarī
गुदयोनिसमायुक्त आकुञ्चत्येककालतः । अपानमूर्ध्वगं कृत्वा समानोन्ने नियोजयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
gudayonisamāyukta ākuñcatyekakālataḥ | apānamūrdhvagaṃ kṛtvā samānonne niyojayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गुद-योनि-समायुक्तःguda-yoni-samāyuktaḥhaving joined the anus and the perineum
आकुञ्चति एक-कालतःākuñcati eka-kālataḥhe contracts them simultaneously
अपानम् ऊर्ध्व-गं कृत्वाapānam ūrdhva-gaṃ kṛtvāhaving made apana go upward
समान-उन्ने नियोजयेत्samāna-unne niyojayetlet him join it with samana
Translation
"Having joined the anus and the perineum, he contracts them simultaneously; having made apana go upward, let him join it with samana."
Version
8b9875ab9f26 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Mula-bandha, "the root lock," is described: the contraction of the lower muscles. Its design is to turn apana, "the lower breath," which goes downward, upward, to meet the ascending one. Of the five winds and their directions, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (4.24).
Let us briefly repeat, for it is needed here: prana goes up, apana down; and the whole business of yogic locks consists in bringing them together. This design is consistent: if the two winds diverge, the body lives and ages; if they meet, movement ceases. Let us add what deserves noting in this design as a general trait of this whole craft.
Everywhere it strives for a halt: a halt of breath, a halt of seed, a halt of thought, a halt of the movement of the winds. That is, the Highest is conceived as motionlessness; and hence every technique is a technique of retention. Here the Vaishnava side sets its objection, the briefest of all it has: the living is never motionless.
Its descriptions of the Highest are descriptions of movement: there one sings, plays, walks, meets, serves. And its argument is this: if the limit is a halt, the limit is indistinguishable from death; but if the limit is fullness, there must be movement in it, for everything living moves. Hence its word for the Highest is lila, "play," not laya, "dissolution"; and the difference between these two words is, in substance, the whole difference between the two teachings.