उपनिषद् · Śvetāśvatara 2.9
॥
देवनागरी
प्राणान् प्रपीड्येह स युक्तचेष्टः क्षीने प्राणे नासिकयोच्छ्वसीत ।
दुष्टाश्वयुक्तम् इव वाहम् एनं विद्वान् मनो धारयेताप्रमत्तः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
prāṇān prapīḍyeha sa yuktaceṣṭaḥ kṣīne prāṇe nāsikayocchvasīta /
duṣṭāśvayuktam iva vāham enaṃ vidvān mano dhārayetāpramattaḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
प्राणान्prāṇānthe breaths; the prāṇas
प्रपीड्यprapīḍyahaving pressed; having straitened
इहihahere; in this body
सःsaḥhe; that practitioner
युक्तचेष्टःyuktaceṣṭaḥwith movements restrained; whose actions are yoked
क्षीने प्राणेkṣīne prāṇewhen the breath has grown faint; at the thinning of the breath
नासिकयाnāsikayāthrough the nose; by the nostrils
उच्छ्वसीतucchvasītalet him breathe; let him exhale
दुष्टाश्वयुक्तम्duṣṭāśvayuktamyoked with vicious horses; with bad horses in the team
इवivaas; as though
वाहम्vāhama cart; a chariot
एनम्enamthis; this very one
विद्वान्vidvānthe knower; the one who knows
मनःmanaḥthe mind; manas
धारयेतdhārayetalet him hold; let him drive
अप्रमत्तःapramattaḥwithout lapse; vigilantly, without negligence
अनुवाद
Having pressed the breaths here and restrained his movements, let him, when the breath has grown faint, breathe through the nose; and let the knower drive his mind vigilantly, as one drives a cart yoked with vicious horses.
संस्करण
3b561a1cf3bf · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:13:46 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
After posture, the breath. The instruction is given sparely and soberly: the breath is pressed, the movements of the body quieted, and when the breath has of itself grown faint — one breathes through the nose, quietly. There are no showy retentions here and no violence to the body; what is described is a natural settling that one need only follow.
The word yukta-ceṣṭaḥ, "with movements yoked", is the same root yuj: into the harness go not only mind and breath but all bodily fidgeting. Aimless movements of the body and of thought feed one another; they are quieted together.
The second half gives an image familiar from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, where the body is the chariot, the senses are horses, the mind the reins. But here there is an addition, honest to the point of bitterness: the horses are called duṣṭāśva, "bad", vicious. The driver is not at a dressage; he is managing a team that pulls where it pleases. Anyone who has tried to sit in contemplation will recognise his own team.
Hence the last word: apramattaḥ, "without lapse", without negligence. Pramāda, "negligence", in the śāstras means that minute in which attention has let go of the reins — and that is enough for the horses to turn aside. Yoga, then, lies not in strength of arm but in unbrokenness of attention.
Note that the order here is the same as throughout the adhyāya: first the body, then the breath, then the mind. The Upaniṣad does not demand "quiet the mind" directly — it approaches from two sides, knowing that the mind is not taken by direct command.