Śivasaṃhitā 2.15

This verse completes the roll-call of the fourteen principal nāḍīs with four names rich in mythological resonance. Vāruṇī invokes Varuṇa, Vedic lord of cosmic waters and moral order; Alambuṣā is described in some texts as the most extensive of all channels; Viśvodarī means «she whose womb contains the universe»; and Yaśasvinī translates as «the glorious one» or «she who bestows renown».

Vāruṇī, from the divine name Varuṇa, governs aqueous elimination in the body according to traditional physiology. Alambuṣā may derive from ā-lamb, «to hang» or «to support», implying a connective or suspensory function. Viśvodarī fuses viśva (all, universe) with udara (belly), a striking image that echoes the Vedic Puruṣa hymn’s vision of the cosmos as a divine body.

Taken together with the channels named in the preceding verse — Kuhū, Sarasvatī, Pūṣā, and Śaṅkhinī implied by Vasu’s combined translation — these fourteen constitute the canonical list of Haṭha Yoga’s principal nāḍīs. Parallel lists in the Haṭhapradīpikā and Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā show minor variations in name and attribution, evidence of a living tradition continuously renegotiating its own cartography.