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What
is Pranayama
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Tasmin
sati svasaprasvasayor-gativicchedah pranayamah Regulation of
breath or the control of Prana is the stoppage of inhalation and exhalation,
which follows after securing that steadiness of posture or seat.
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This
is the definition of Pranayama in the Yoga-sutras of Patanjali.
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‘Svasa’
means inspiratory breath. ‘Prasvasa’ means expiratory breath. You can take up
the practice of Pranayama after you have gained steadiness in your Asana
(seat). If you can sit for 3 hour in one Asana, continuously at one stretch,
you have gained mastery over the Asana. If you are able to sit from half to one
hour even, you can take up the practice of Pranayama. You can hardly make any
spiritual progress without the practice of Pranayama.
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Prana
is Vyashti, when the individual is concerned. The sum total of the cosmic
energy or cosmic Prana is Hiranyagarbha who is known as the floating
‘Golden-Egg’. Hiranyagarbha is Samashti Prana. One match stick is Vyashti
(single). The whole match box is Samashti. A single mango-tree is Vyashti. The
whole mango grove is Samashti. The energy in the body is Prana. By controlling
the motion of the lungs or respiratory organs, we can control the Prana that is
vibrating inside. By control of Prana, the mind can be easily controlled,
because the mind is fastened to the Prana, like the bird to the string. Just as
the bird that is tied to a post by a string, after flying here and there, finds
its resting place in the post, so also this mind-bird after running hither and
thither, in various sensual objects, finds its resting place during deep sleep
in the Prana.
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Pranayama
(According to the Gita)
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Apane
juhvati pranam pranepanam tathapare; Pranapanagatee ruddhva pranayamaparayanah
(Gita, Ch. IV-29.). Others offer Prana (outgoing breath) in Apana
(incoming breath) and Apana in Prana, restraining the passage of Prana and
Apana, absorbed in Pranayama. Pranayama is a precious Yajna (sacrifice). Some
practise the kind of Pranayama called Puraka (filling in). Some practise the
kind of Pranayama called Rechaka (emptying). Some are engaged in the practice
of Pranayama called Kumbhaka, by impeding the outward passage of air, through
the nostrils and the mouth, and by impeding the inward passage of the air, in
the opposite direction.
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Pranayama
(According To Sri Sankaracharya)
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Pranayama
is the control of all life-forces by realising naught but Brahman in all things
as the mind, etc.
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The
negation of the Universe is the outgoing breath. The thought: ‘I am Brahman’
itself is called the incoming breath.
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The
permanence of that thought thereafter is the restrained breath. This is the
Pranayama of the wise, while the pressing of the nose is only for the
unknowing. (Aparokshanubhuti, 118-120).
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Pranayama
(According to Yogi Bhusunda)
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Bhusunda
says to Sri Vasishtha: In the cool lotus of the heart within this visible
tenement of flesh composed of the five elements, there are two Vayus, viz.,
Prana and Apana, commingled in it. For those who tread smoothly and without any
or the slightest efforts, the path of these two Vayus, will become the sun and
the moon themselves in the heart Akasa, and will rove in the Akasa and yet be
animating and carrying their fleshy-tabernacle. These Vayus will go up and down
to higher and lower states. They are of the same nature in the waking, dreaming
and dreamless sleeping state, and permeate all throughout. I am moving in the
direction of those two Vayus and have rendered nil all my Vasanas in the waking
state lit unto those of the dreamless sleeping state. Divide a filament of the
lotus-stalk into a thousand times and you will find these Vayus more subtle
than that. Hence it is difficult for me to treat about the nature of these
Vayus and their vibrations. Of these, Prana does ceaselessly vibrate in this
body, with an upward motion, both externally and internally, while Apana having
the same fluctuating tendency, vibrates both external and internal to the body
having a downward motion. It will be beneficial if the Prana exhaled to the
extent of 16 digits, is inhaled to the same extent. Only 12 digits are inhaled
ordinarily. Those who have brought to experience viz., the equalisation of
Prana in exhalation and inhalation will enjoy infinite bliss.
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Now
hear about the characteristics of Prana. The inhalation to the length of 12
digits of the Prana which has been exhaled, is called (the internal) Puraka
(inhalation). This also is called the internal (Puraka), when Apana Vayu
re-enters the body from outside without any effort. When Apana Vayu ceases to
manifest itself and Prana gets absorbed in the heart, then the time occupied in
such a state is (internal) Kumbha. Yogins are able to experience all these.
When the Prana in the Akasa of the heart manifests itself externally (to the
heart within) in diverse aspects without any affliction to the mind then it is
called (the external) Rechaka (exhalation). When the externally fluctuating
Prana enters the nose and stops there at its tip, then it is called the
external Puraka. But when it is passing from the tip of the nose it goes down
12 digits. Then also it is called the external Puraka. When Prana goes arrested
without and Apana within, then it is called the external Kumbhaka. When the
shining Apana Vayu takes an upward bent within, then it is styled the external
Rechaka. All these practices lead to Moksha. Therefore they should ever be
meditated upon. Those who have understood and practised well all the external
and internal Kumbhakas and others, will never be reborn. |
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All
the eight courses, I have given out before, are capable of yielding Moksha.
They should be practised both day and night. Those who are associated with
these practices smoothly and control their minds by not letting them run in
other directions, will in course of time attain Nirvana. Such practitioners
will never thirst after material pleasures. They will ever be in their uniform
practice, whether walking, standing, waking, dreaming or sleeping.
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Prana,
having flown out, will again be absorbed in the heart having run back 12
digits. Similarly will Apana be absorbed in the heart, having issued out of the
heart and running back 12 digits to it. Apana being the moon, will cool the
whole body in its passage. But Prana being the sun, will generate heat in the
system and cook or digest everything in it. Will pains arise in one who has
reached that supreme state, where the Kalas (rays) of Apana the moon, are
drowned by Prana the sun? Will rebirth arise in one who has reached that
powerful seat, when the Kalas of Prana, the sun, are devoured by Apana the
moon? These will arrest at once the seven births of those who reach that
neutral state where they find Apana Vayu consumed by Prana and vice versa.
I eulogise that Chidatma, who is in that intermediate state, where Prana and
Apana are absorbed in one another. I meditate ceaselessly upon that Chidatma,
who is in the Akasa, directly in front, at the end of my nose, where Prana and
Apana both become extinct. Thus it is through this path of Prana’s control,
that I attained the supreme and immaculate Tattva, devoid of pains.
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Control
of Breath
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The
first important step is to master the Asana of posture or to control the body.
The next exercise is Pranayama. Correct posture is indispensably requisite for
the successful practice of Pranayama. An easy comfortable posture is Asana.
That pose is the best which continues to be comfortable for the greatest length
of time. Chest, neck, and head must be in one vertical line. You should not
bend the body either forwards or laterally, i.e., either on the right or left
side. You should not sit crooked. You should not allow the body to collapse.
You must not bend the body either forwards or backwards. By regular practice
the mastery over the pose will come by itself. Fatty people will find it
difficult to practise the Padma Asana or the Lotus Pose. They can sit on the
Sukha Asana (comfortable pose) or Siddha Asana (perfected pose). You need not
wait for practicing Pranayama till you get full mastery over the Asana.
Practise Asana and side by side you can practise Pranayama also. In course of
time, you will acquire perfection in both. Pranayama can also be practised by
sitting in the chair erect.
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In
Bhagavad-Gita, the Immortal Song of Lord Krishna, you will find a beautiful
description of seat and pose: In a pure secret place by himself established in
a fixed seat of his own, neither too high nor too low, with cloth, black
antelope-skin and Kusa grass one over the other, there, making the mind
one-pointed, with thought and the functions of the senses controlled, steady on
his seat, he should practise Yoga for the purification of the Self, holding the
body, head and neck erect, firm, gazing steadily at the tip of the nose without
looking around (Ch. VI10,11, & 12).
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Pranayama
is the control of the Prana and the vital forces of the body. It is regulation
of the breath. This is the most important step. The aim of Pranayama is the
control of Prana. Pranayama begins with the regulation of the breath for having
control over the life-currents or inner vital force. In other words, Pranayama
is the perfect control of the life-currents through control of breath. Breath
is external manifestation of the gross Prana. A correct habit of breathing must
be established by the regular practice of Pranayama. In ordinary worldly
persons the breathing is irregular.
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If
you can control the Prana you can completely control all the forces of the
Universe, mental and physical. The Yogi can also control the Omnipresent
manifesting power out of which all energies take their origin, whether
concerning magnetism, electricity, gravitation, cohesion, nerve-currents, vital
forces or thought-vibrations, in fact the total forces of the Universe,
physical and mental.
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If
one controls the breath or Prana, the mind also is controlled. He who has
controlled his mind has also controlled his breath. If one is suspended, the
other is also suspended. If the mind and Prana are both controlled one gets
liberation from the round of births and deaths and attains immortality. There
is intimate connection between the mind, Prana and semen. If one controls the
seminal energy, the mind and Prana are also controlled. He who has controlled
his seminal energy has also controlled his Prana and mind.
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He
who practices Pranayama will have good appetite, cheerfulness, handsome figure,
good strength, courage, enthusiasm, a high standard of health, vigour and
vitality and good concentration of mind. Pranayama is quite suitable for the
Westerners also. A Yogi measures the span of his life not by the number of
years but by the number of his breaths. You can take in a certain amount of
energy or Prana from the atmospheric air along with each breath. Vital capacity
is the capacity shown by the largest quantity of air a man can inhale after the
deepest possible exhalation. A man takes fifteen breaths in a minute. The total
number of breaths comes to 21,600 times per day.
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