उपनिषद् · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.34
॥
देवनागरी
पुनर्विरेचयेत्तद्वत्पूरयेच्च पुनः पुनः । यथैव लोहकाराणां भस्त्रा वेगेन चाल्यते
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
punarvirecayettadvatpūrayecca punaḥ punaḥ | yathaiva lohakārāṇāṃ bhastrā vegena cālyate
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
पुनः विरेचयेत् तत्-वत्punaḥ virecayet tat-vatagain shall he release, likewise
पूरयेत् च पुनः पुनःpūrayet ca punaḥ punaḥand fill, again and again
यथा एव लोह-काराणांyathā eva loha-kārāṇāṃjust as of blacksmiths
भस्त्रा वेगेन चाल्यतेbhastrā vegena cālyatethe bellows moves with force
अनुवाद
"Again shall he release likewise, and fill, again and again — just as, of blacksmiths, the bellows moves with force".
संस्करण
432a9c66e6d3 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A simile is given, from which the technique gets its name: the blacksmith's bellows. The simile is physical and exact, and it deserves unpacking, for it holds more than it seems. The bellows by itself produces nothing. It drives air, but the fire does the work; and without fire the bellows is just flapping leather. That is, in the forge the tool is the bellows, but the work is the fire's, and the smith knows what he blows for.
This, I think, is the finest thing that can be said of the whole breath section. The techniques are bellows; they fan. What is fanned, and for what, is a separate question, and the technique does not answer it.
The Vaishnava books use the same simile, only in another place. Hearing and singing are there likened to fanning: a spark of faith exists in everyone, and the point is to fan it, not to strike a new one. The Bhagavatam says that hearing "burns away all impurity in the heart, as fire burns fuel" (1.2.17–18).
Separately, a word must be said about lohakara, "blacksmith," literally "one who makes from iron." Similes in these books are constantly drawn from crafts: weaver, potter, blacksmith, herdsman; and this is a mark that they were written by people who had seen the work up close.