Upaniṣads · Varāha 5.37
॥
Devanāgarī
मार्गे बिन्दुं समाबध्य वह्निं प्रज्वाल्य जीवने । शोषयित्वा तु सलिलं तेन कायं दृढं भवेत्
Transliteración (IAST)
mārge binduṃ samābadhya vahniṃ prajvālya jīvane | śoṣayitvā tu salilaṃ tena kāyaṃ dṛḍhaṃ bhavet
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
मार्गे बिन्दुं समाबध्यmārge binduṃ samābadhyahaving locked the point on the path
वह्निं प्रज्वाल्य जीवनेvahniṃ prajvālya jīvanehaving kindled fire in the life-breath
शोषयित्वा तु सलिलंśoṣayitvā tu salilaṃhaving dried up the moisture
तेन कायं दृढं भवेत्tena kāyaṃ dṛḍhaṃ bhavetby that the body becomes firm
Traducción
"Having locked the point on the path, having kindled fire in the life-breath, having dried up the moisture, — by that the body becomes firm."
Versión
1ca5141b90fe · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The design of the technique is described: to lock, to kindle, to dry. All three verbs are verbs of violence toward the body; and of the fact that the very name hatha means "force," discussed when reading the fourth chapter (4.39). Worth noting is that the goal is named kayam dridham, "a firm body."
That is, at this point the goal of the craft is bodily: not liberation, but firmness. This admission is candid and does the chapter credit: it does not pass off the bodily as the spiritual. Let us add what deserves saying of the relation between firmness and the goal itself, for this is its place.
If the body is needed so as to sit long and not fall ill, firmness is a means, and all is in order. But if firmness has become the object of the occupation, the means has taken the place of the goal; and it is here that the craft degenerates. The Vaishnava side holds a simple rule here, cited more than once: the body is used, not arranged.
Let us add that it speaks of bodily firmness without any contempt. Its own ascetics walked thousands of miles, slept little, and fasted; and this requires firmness no less than any exercise. The difference is that their firmness is incidental: it was gained by walking for a task, not cultivated for its own sake. And this, in my view, is the surest way to distinguish a craft that has remained a means from one that has become a goal.