Upanishads · Varāha 5.41
॥
Devanāgarī
यथैवापाङ्गतः सेतुः प्रवाहस्य निरोधकः । तथा शरीरगा च्छाया ज्ञातव्या योगिभिः सदा
Transliteration (IAST)
yathaivāpāṅgataḥ setuḥ pravāhasya nirodhakaḥ | tathā śarīragā cchāyā jñātavyā yogibhiḥ sadā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथा एव अपाङ्गतः सेतुःyathā eva apāṅgataḥ setuḥas a dam, set crosswise
प्रवाहस्य निरोधकःpravāhasya nirodhakaḥstops the flow
तथा शरीर-गा छायाtathā śarīra-gā chāyāso the shadow moving along the body
ज्ञातव्या योगिभिः सदाjñātavyā yogibhiḥ sadāmust always be known by yogis
Translation
"As a dam, set crosswise, stops the flow, so the shadow moving along the body must always be known by yogis."
Version
5e411f3c0c0a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The comparison with a dam is given, and it explains the design of all the locks better than a direct description. A dam does not destroy the river: it holds it. And the held water rises — that is, goes where it would not have gone by itself.
Here is the whole design: not to cancel movement, but to change its direction by placing an obstacle. The comparison is good and understandable to anyone; and worth noting is that it explains why the locks are placed precisely below. Let us add what the Vaishnava side notes about the dam, for this image exists for it too, and is used differently.
It speaks of vega, "urges": Rupa Gosvami lists six urges that must be restrained — of speech, of mind, of anger, of the tongue, of the belly, of the genitals. That is, there too a dam, there too restraint. The difference is in what is dammed: here breath, there impulses.
And this difference matters: dammed breath rises of itself, while a dammed impulse, if given no new channel, breaks through. Hence its rule requires not restraint alone, but redirection: the same tongue restrained from tasty food is given to sing; the same hands restrained from excess are given to serve. A dam without a new channel is only a postponement of the breach.