3.39 · Over Water and Thorns

Mastering the upward breath, one is not caught by water, mud, thorns and the like, and rises at death.

Word by word

udāna-jayāt

from mastering the upward breath

jala

water

paṅka

mud

kaṇṭaka

thorns

ādiṣu

and the like

asaṅgaḥ

not sticking, not being caught

utkrāntiḥ

rising up, departure (at death)

ca

and

Where it fits

From mind to breath. Vyāsa sets out the five currents of life, from prāṇa to vyāna (p. 267). Mastering udāna, the upward current, frees the yogi from being caught by water, mud and thorns, and gives an upward departure at death. 3.40 takes samāna, the balancing current.

Reading

Vyāsa maps the five currents of the life-breath: prāṇa from nose to heart, samāna around the navel, apāna down to the soles, udāna up to the head, vyāna through the whole body. Mastering udāna, Patañjali says, the yogin is not caught by water, mud and thorns, and at death leaves upward. Many in the tradition understand this as a conscious departure at death. Patañjali states it as a power; 3.50 asks for non-attachment even to the highest of these.

Vyāsa

“Prāṇa moves through the mouth and nose … Udāna, the upward breath, so called because it leads upward, works as far as the head. … Mastery of udāna brings freedom from sticking in water, mud, thorns and the like, and, at the time of death, departure upward.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 267.

Practice

Stand for one minute and feel the lift from the soles of your feet up through the spine to the crown. Breathe naturally. Then walk slowly across a room, noticing how lightly each foot can meet the floor.

A question to sit with

What are you stuck in that you could pass over?

Where commentators disagree

What is the utkrānti, the 'rising up', that comes from mastering udāna: lightness of body, or the manner of leaving it at death?

Vyāsa

Names the five vital forces and their seats. From mastering udāna there is no sticking in water, mud or thorns, and at the time of death there is the upward departure, which the yogin gains by this mastery. (Woods 1914, p. 267)

Vācaspati Miśra

At death the yogin's upward going is by the path that begins with the flame. (Woods 1914, p. 268)

Bhoja

When udāna is mastered and the other airs are held back, the body tends upwards: the yogin is so light that, like a tuft of cotton, he rises to the surface even if sunk in water or mud, and thorns do not pierce him. (Tatya 1885, pp. 126–127; Mitra 1883, wisdomlib on 3.39)

Key ideas

siddhi (powers)