Upaniṣads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.82
॥
Devanāgarī
शक्तिः कुण्डलिनी नाम बिसतन्तुनिभा शुभा । मूलकन्दं फणाग्रेण दृष्ट्वा कमलकन्दवत्
Transliteración (IAST)
śaktiḥ kuṇḍalinī nāma bisatantunibhā śubhā | mūlakandaṃ phaṇāgreṇa dṛṣṭvā kamalakandavat
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
शक्तिः कुण्डलिनी नामśaktiḥ kuṇḍalinī nāmathe power named Kundalini
बिस-तन्तु-निभा शुभाbisa-tantu-nibhā śubhāresembling a lotus-fiber, holy
मूल-कन्दं फणा-अग्रेणmūla-kandaṃ phaṇā-agreṇathe root-knot, with the tip of its hood
दृष्ट्वा कमल-कन्द-वत्dṛṣṭvā kamala-kanda-vathaving seen, like a lotus tuber
Traducción
"The power named Kundalini, resembling a lotus-fiber, holy, having seen the root-knot with the tip of its hood, like a lotus tuber…"
Versión
73a431ce3ff9 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
A new simile is given: the power bisa-tantu-nibha, "resembling a lotus-fiber." Bisa is the lotus stem, tantu — a thread; meant are those fine fibers that stretch out when a lotus stem is broken. Anyone who has broken one has seen these threads: they are almost invisibly thin, and yet do not tear.
This simile is constant in Indian literature and is applied to the soul. The Shvetashvatara says: "finer than the finest... the size of the tip of a hair split a hundred times, and by that many again" (5.9); and the Bhagavad-gita — that the soul is indivisible and invisible.
Worth noting is that here this same simile describes power, not the soul; and this is usual in Shakta and yogic books: what the Vaishnava side says of the soul, they say of power. This distinction should be held while reading. One thing is what is described: the finest, coiled, lying at the base and able to rise. Another is as what it is declared: a power of nature, or a living soul.
The descriptions agree almost word for word; the names diverge. And so one must dispute these books not about observations, but about to whom the observed is attributed. Separately, a word must be said about shubha, "holy." The power is called holy directly; and this, despite all the reservations about the awakened serpent (1.45), shows that the book itself does not fear it.