Interactive
VBT Dharana Map
112 techniques by upāya category — each linked to its VBT verse and Tantrāloka coordinate
The path: You don’t do all 112. Find the upāya that matches your grace level, pick 2-3 dharanas, master them. When they stop working (the technique becomes the obstacle), move to a higher upaya. — Swami Lakshmanjoo
| Upāya | Count | Approach | Tattva Range | Grace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Āṇavopāya | 40 | Breath, mantra, object, place | Earth (31) → Viśuddha (29) | Mild (manda) |
| Āṇava-Śākta | 6 | Mixed — starts with support, ends in thought | Maṇipūra (28) → Ājñā (7) | Mild-moderate |
| Śāktopāya | 50 | Purified thought, imagination, will/knowledge | Anāhata (27) → Śuddhavidyā (5) | Moderate (madhya) |
| Śākta-Śāmbhava | 15 | Knowledge-supported recognition | Ājñā (7) → Sadāśiva (3) | Moderately intense |
| Āṇava-Śāmbhava | 10 | Support-then-leap | Any → direct | Variable |
| Śāmbhavopāya | 20 | Direct recognition, no support | Śiva (1) — pure | Intense (tīvra) |
112 Dharanas by Category
Breath-Based (Āṇavopāya)
Dhāraṇā 1 verse 24
VBT 24 →Stop breath — feel the unfilled void
Trains: Prāṇa withdrawal into suṣumṇā
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 7 (Cakrodaya)
Dhāraṇā 4 verse 27
VBT 27 →Breathe in and out — watch the turn
Trains: Awareness of the pause between breaths
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (prāṇoccāra)
Dhāraṇā 7 verse 30
VBT 30 →Prāṇa as string — consciousness as pearl
Trains: One-pointedness through prāṇa
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (karaṇa)
Dhāraṇā 13 verse 36
VBT 36 →Suspend breath — feel the movement of Kuṇḍalinī
Trains: Kuṇḍalinī awakening through kumbhaka
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (SAUḤ)
Dhāraṇā 14 verse 37
VBT 37 →Watch breath go from heart to 12 fingers above
Trains: Traversal of dvādaśānta
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (ten voids)
Dhāraṇā 31 verse 54
VBT 54 →Inhale with 50 phonemes, exhale with reverse
Trains: Mātṛkā-cakra + prāṇa synchronization
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (varṇa-tattva)
Dhāraṇā 41 verse 64
VBT 64 →Breathe as mantra without words
Trains: Mantra-caitanya (living mantra)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 11 (mantrādhvan)
Dhāraṇā 56 verse 81
VBT 81 →Stop breath — hear inner sound
Trains: Anāhata (unstruck sound)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (anāhata levels)
Dhāraṇā 68 verse 93
VBT 93 →Breath awareness in daily activity
Trains: Continuous practice (sahaja)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 6 (kālopāya)
Void / Gap Awareness (Śāktopāya → Śāmbhavopāya)
Dhāraṇā 3 verse 26
VBT 26 →Rest in the gap between two perceptions
Trains: Recognition of the interval (avakāśa)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 3 (pratibimbavāda)
Dhāraṇā 16 verse 39
VBT 39 →Gap between sleep and waking
Trains: Turīya (the Fourth)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 10 (consciousness states)
Dhāraṇā 35 verse 58
VBT 58 →Gap between seeing and naming
Trains: Pre-linguistic awareness
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 11 (varṇa as pramā)
Dhāraṇā 37 verse 60
VBT 60 →Void above, void below — where is the body?
Trains: Dissolution of body-identification
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (ten voids)
Dhāraṇā 39 verse 62
VBT 62 →Void in the sky — void in consciousness
Trains: Śūnya-tattva realization
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 8 (bhuvanādhvan)
Dhāraṇā 50 verse 75
VBT 75 →Void of ajar door — gaze without blinking
Trains: Śāmbhavopāya through sensory stilling
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 2 (anupāya)
Dhāraṇā 67 verse 92
VBT 92 →Void of sleep with awareness
Trains: Sleep clear light (pra-bhāsvara)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 10 (suṣupti-turīya)
Dhāraṇā 82 verse 108
VBT 108 →Void without any support
Trains: Pure Śāmbhavopāya
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 13 (tīvratīvra śaktipāta)
Light and Color (Śāktopāya)
Dhāraṇā 6 verse 29
VBT 29 →Fix on a point of light in darkness
Trains: Dhāraṇā on bindu
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (bindu)
Dhāraṇā 9 verse 32
VBT 32 →See light of consciousness in all things
Trains: Recognition of prakāśa
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 11 (sarvādhāraśakti)
Dhāraṇā 33 verse 56
VBT 56 →Contemplate a lamp without the glass
Trains: Direct perception of light-essence
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 12 (divine body)
Dhāraṇā 36 verse 59
VBT 59 →Blue light of Bhairava
Trains: Ājñā-cakra activation
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 11 (kalādhvan)
Dhāraṇā 38 verse 61
VBT 61 →Light in the heart cakra
Trains: Anāhata cakra visualization
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (Trika Liṅga)
Dhāraṇā 42 verse 65
VBT 65 →Light of consciousness reflected in the world
Trains: Pratibimbavāda (doctrine of reflection)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 2 (Doctrine of Reflection)
Dhāraṇā 89 verse 115
VBT 115 →White light at the crown
Trains: Sahasrāra dissolution
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (Paramānanda)
Sound and Mantra (Āṇavopāya → Śāktopāya)
Dhāraṇā 2 verse 25
VBT 25 →Recite a mantra — feel its meaning dissolve
Trains: Madhyamā → parā
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 3 (four levels of speech)
Dhāraṇā 8 verse 31
VBT 31 →Vibrate a phoneme — feel its resonance in the nāḍīs
Trains: Mātṛkā-cakra activation
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (varṇa as pramā)
Dhāraṇā 10 verse 33
VBT 33 →Hear the unstruck sound (anāhata)
Trains: Internal sound perception
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (daśa anāhata)
Dhāraṇā 11 verse 34
VBT 34 →Listen to a musical instrument — follow the sound into silence
Trains: Laya through sound
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 4 (Twelve Kālīs)
Dhāraṇā 22 verse 45
VBT 45 →Chant the 50 phonemes as the body of the goddess
Trains: Mātṛkā as subtle body
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 11 (varṇādhvan)
Dhāraṇā 28 verse 51
VBT 51 →Bīja mantra as a seed that grows into the deity
Trains: Mantra → Iṣṭadevatā
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (SAUḤ/KHPHREṀ)
Dhāraṇā 44 verse 67
VBT 67 →Sound of the alphabet as the universe itself
Trains: Varṇa as pramā
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 11 (varṇa-samghāta)
Dhāraṇā 78 verse 103
VBT 103 →Hūṃ as the weapon that pierces duality
Trains: Vajra-jāpa (vajra repetition)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 7 (Cakrodaya)
Perception and Senses (Śāktopāya)
Dhāraṇā 5 verse 28
VBT 28 →Taste without tongue — know the taster
Trains: Recognition of the witness in sensation
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 10 (pramātṛ)
Dhāraṇā 12 verse 35
VBT 35 →See without eyes — know the seer
Trains: Witness consciousness
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 10 (seven perceivers)
Dhāraṇā 15 verse 38
VBT 38 →Touch without skin — feel the universal touch
Trains: Śakti-cakra (wheel of senses)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 12 (divine body)
Dhāraṇā 18 verse 41
VBT 41 →Smell without nose — know the knower
Trains: Discrimination of consciousness from its instruments
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 9 (tattvādhvan)
Dhāraṇā 20 verse 43
VBT 43 →All senses simultaneously active and still
Trains: Integration of pratyāhāra
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 2 (jīvanmukti)
Dhāraṇā 23 verse 46
VBT 46 →Knower and known are one
Trains: Pramāṇa-prameya aikya
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 9 (tattva-bheda)
Dhāraṇā 25 verse 48
VBT 48 →The world as a painting on consciousness
Trains: Śuddhavidyā — pure knowledge
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 9 (Śuddhavidyā)
Dhāraṇā 32 verse 55
VBT 55 →Breath and senses merge into one flow
Trains: Samāna-vāyu integration
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 6 (samāna)
Energy and Kuṇḍalinī (Āṇavopāya)
Dhāraṇā 17 verse 40
VBT 40 →Kuṇḍalinī as a serpent — feel its movement
Trains: Kuṇḍalinī awareness
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (six blisses)
Dhāraṇā 21 verse 44
VBT 44 →Energy rising from mūlādhāra to brahmarandhra
Trains: Cakra ascent
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (ten voids)
Dhāraṇā 24 verse 47
VBT 47 →Prāṇa and apāna united in the belly
Trains: Samāna-prāṇa at navel
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 6 (samāna-vāyu)
Dhāraṇā 26 verse 49
VBT 49 →The five prāṇas as one
Trains: Prāṇa aikya
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 6 (five prāṇas)
Dhāraṇā 27 verse 50
VBT 50 →Heat at the navel — nectar at the crown
Trains: Tummo / SAUḤ practice
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 5 (SAUḤ)
Dhāraṇā 29 verse 52
VBT 52 →Kuṇḍalinī as the supreme power (Parā-śakti)
Trains: Cicchakti recognition
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 3 (three Kuṇḍalinīs)
Dhāraṇā 30 verse 53
VBT 53 →The inner fire burns the dualities
Trains: SAUḤ / KHPHREṀ absorption
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 4 (Twelve Kālīs)
Sexual Yoga (Kaula — controversial)
Dhāraṇā 106 verse —
VBT — →Union with consort as Śiva-Śakti
Trains: Nondual union
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 29 (dūtī, melaka)
Direct Recognition — Śāmbhavopāya
Dhāraṇā 3 verse 26
VBT 26 →Silence between thoughts
Trains: Recognition of the gap
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 2 (anupāya)
Dhāraṇā 36 verse 59
VBT 59 →Suddenly turn to the 'I' that is aware
Trains: Ātma-vyāpti
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 13 (pratibhā)
Dhāraṇā 40 verse 63
VBT 63 →Rest in awareness without any object
Trains: Nirvikalpa samādhi
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 1 (Śāmbhavopāya)
Dhāraṇā 50 verse 75
VBT 75 →Let go of all supports suddenly
Trains: Lion's leap
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 1 (vv. 171-196)
Dhāraṇā 55 verse 80
VBT 80 →Intense impulse of will — the 'I' alone
Trains: Icchā-śakti direct
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 13 (tīvratīvra)
Dhāraṇā 59 verse 84
VBT 84 →Recognize that consciousness is already free
Trains: Jīvanmukti recognition
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 2 (jīvanmukti)
Dhāraṇā 66 verse 91
VBT 91 →Awareness without any content
Trains: Parā-vāc abiding
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 3 (parā-vāc)
Dhāraṇā 71 verse 96
VBT 96 →Bhairava's state — neither inside nor outside
Trains: Mahābhairava
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 4 (12th Kālī)
Dhāraṇā 76 verse 101
VBT 101 →Intense longing — break through
Trains: Bhakti as upāya
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 13 (śaktipāta)
Dhāraṇā 82 verse 108
VBT 108 →Pure recognition without any technique
Trains: Anupāya exactly
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 2 (anupāya)
Dhāraṇā 85 verse 111
VBT 111 →Who is the doubter? — see the answer
Trains: Self-inquiry (ātma-vicāra)
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 13 (viveka)
Dhāraṇā 88 verse 113-114
VBT 113-114 →Awareness of awareness itself
Trains: Vimarśa abiding
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 2 (prakāśa-vimarśa)
Dhāraṇā 90 verse 116
VBT 116 →Stop — no support — no thought
Trains: Śāmbhavopāya
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 1 (Śāmbhavopāya)
Dhāraṇā 92 verse 118
VBT 118 →The knower dissolves into knowing
Trains: Pramātri → pramāṇa līna
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 10 (turiya)
Dhāraṇā 95 verse 121
VBT 121 →Merge in the gap between two states
Trains: Turīyātīta
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 10 (beyond Fourth)
Dhāraṇā 101 verse 127
VBT 127 →Bhairava's roar — Haṃsa (I am That)
Trains: Haṃsa-vidyā
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 11 (haṃsoccāra)
Dhāraṇā 105 verse 131
VBT 131 →Sudden drop of all effort
Trains: Sahaja samādhi
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 6 (kālopāya)
Dhāraṇā 107 verse 133
VBT 133 →The sun of consciousness — no object, only light
Trains: Prakāśa mātra
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 2 (prakāśa)
Dhāraṇā 108 verse 134
VBT 134 →The state of Bhairava in daily life
Trains: Sahaja jīvanmukti
Tāṇtraloka: Āhnika 14 (jñānena paripūrṇatā)