BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:29

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:29

 

apane juhvati pranam

prane 'panam tathapare

pranapana-gati ruddhva

pranayama-parayanah

apare niyataharah

pranan pranesu juhvati

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

apane--in the air which acts downward; juhvati--offer; pranam--the air

which acts outward; prane--in the air going outward; apanam--the air

going downward; tatha--as also; apare--others; prana--of the air going

outward; apana--and the air going downward; gati--the movement;

ruddhva--checking; prana-ayama--trance induced by stopping all

breathing; parayanah--so inclined; apare--others; niyata--having

controlled; aharah--eating; pranan--the outgoing air; pranesu--in the

outgoing air; juhvati--sacrifice.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Still others, who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to

remain in trance, practice by offering the movement of the outgoing

breath into the incoming, and the incoming breath into the outgoing,

and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Others,

curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself

as a sacrifice.

 

PURPORT

 

This system of yoga for controlling the breathing process is called

pranayama, and in the beginning it is practiced in the hatha-yoga

system through different sitting postures. All of these processes are

recommended for controlling the senses and for advancement in

spiritual realization. This practice involves controlling the airs

within the body so as to reverse the directions of their passage. The

apana air goes downward, and the prana air goes up. The pranayama-yogi

practices breathing the opposite way until the currents are

neutralized into puraka. equilibrium. Offering the exhaled breath into

the inhaled breath is called recaka. When both air currents are

completely stopped, one is said to be in kumbhaka-yoga. By practice of

kumbhaka-yoga. one can increase the duration of life for perfection in

spiritual realization. The intelligent yogi is interested in attaining

perfection in one life, without waiting for the next. For by

practicing kumbhaka-yoga. the yogis increase the duration of life by

many, many years. A Krsna conscious person, however, being always

situated in the transcendental loving service of the Lord,

automatically becomes the controller of the senses. His senses, being

always engaged in the service of Krsna, have no chance of becoming

otherwise engaged. So at the end of life, he is naturally transferred

to the transcendental plane of Lord Krsna; consequently he makes no

attempt to increase his longevity. He is at once

raised to the platform of liberation, as stated in Bhagavad-gita (14.26):

 

mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa gunan samatityaitan

brahma-bhuyaya kalpate

 

"One who engages in unalloyed devotional service to the Lord transcends the

modes of material nature and is immediately elevated to the spiritual

platform." A Krsna conscious person begins from the transcendental

stage, and he is constantly in that consciousness. Therefore, there is

no falling down, and ultimately he enters into the abode of the Lord

without delay. The practice of reduced eating is automatically done

when one eats only krsna-prasadam, or food which is offered first to

the Lord. Reducing the eating process is very helpful in the matter of

sense control. And without sense control there is no possibility of

getting out of the material entanglement.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.