Upaniṣads · Varāha 5.44
॥
Devanāgarī
उदानमूर्ध्वगं कृत्वा प्राणेन सह वेगतः । बन्धोऽयं सर्वनाडीनामूर्ध्वं याति निरोधकः
Transliteración (IAST)
udānamūrdhvagaṃ kṛtvā prāṇena saha vegataḥ | bandho'yaṃ sarvanāḍīnāmūrdhvaṃ yāti nirodhakaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
उदानम् ऊर्ध्व-गं कृत्वाudānam ūrdhva-gaṃ kṛtvāhaving made udana go upward
प्राणेन सह वेगतःprāṇena saha vegataḥtogether with prana, swiftly
बन्धः अयं सर्व-नाडीनाम्bandhaḥ ayaṃ sarva-nāḍīnāmthis lock of all the passages
ऊर्ध्वं याति निरोधकःūrdhvaṃ yāti nirodhakaḥgoes upward, locking
Traducción
"Having made udana go upward, together with prana, swiftly, — this lock of all the passages goes upward, locking."
Versión
eac5bd2ef67f · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Udana, the fourth of the winds, is named; and it is worth saying something of it, for these books assign it a special task. Udana means "ascending," from ud-an, "to breathe upward"; it is placed in the throat and governs speech, swallowing, and — by these books — the exit from the body at death. It is exactly udana that leads the soul out; and hence the whole teaching of how to die is tied to it.
The Vaishnava side accepts the teaching of the exit and has its own; it deserves citing, for it fits here. Its rule is stated by the Gita: anta-kale cha mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram; yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati, "one who, at the last hour, leaving the body, remembers Me, goes to My being" (8.5). Worth noting is that there the condition of the exit is memory, not a passage and not a wind.
And the next verse explains why: yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram, tam tam evaiti, "whatever state a person remembers, leaving the body, to that he goes" (8.6). This rule, by its reckoning, is a law, not a grace: one goes where one's thoughts are in the last hour. And from this comes its custom, explaining its whole practice: one must remember always, for the last hour is not scheduled; and hence the Gita adds tasmat sarveshu kaleshu mam anusmara, "therefore, at all times, remember Me" (8.7).
This is, in my view, the soberest thing said of dying: not a technique for the last hour, but a habit of a whole life.