prAnAyamA for sandhyAvandanA

August 30, 2009

Dear All,

Some queries which cameforth ask about how to do prAnAyamA during sandhyAvandana.

"When a person does a job earnestly and whole-heartedly, we say that he does it "holding his breath". As a matter of fact sandhyavandana is to be performed holding one's breath. If we do this all the evil forces will be destroyed. Nowadays all we do is to hold our nose with our fingers. The sastras do not say, "Nasikam ayamya", but say, "Pranam ayamya. " It means, instead of merely holding the nose, control the vital breath, the prana itself or the life force."

This is what s'rI chandras'ekharendrA sarasvathI swAmi said once about this topic.

prAnAyamA is done for the following benefits:

1. To improve mental concentration.

2. To train ourselves to control the 'vital' breath(prAnA).

3. To finally be able to still the mind for longer periods of time.

4. To increase me'dhA s'akthI by purposively increasing oxygenation by the proper practice of prAnAyamA(and not mere holding of one's nose as I see many people do sandhyAvandana in a hurried mode).5. To increase general brain power required for sAdhanA in not giving fatigue(one of the 8 obstacles to beset a sAdhakA).

6. Increase in varcCHas as we repeat the gayatrI during the process of sandhyAvandanA prAnAyamA.

7. Helps maintain celebacy to a great extent in both brahmachArIs and gruhasthAs.

8. Cleans and activates nAdiS.

That is why they ahve placed roughly 10 sets of prAnAyAma ritual in sandhyAvandanA.

I recently saw one Arya vaisyA sAdhakA doing sandhyAvandana and he was humble enough to ask me despite his age difference as to how to properly perform the prAnAyAma vidhi as per his varnA.

There is no varnAs'rama bhE'dhA as far as prAnAyAmA is concerned.It is the same for all.

I told him an easy and simple method which all can follow to their benefit and enhance their spiritual practice and their sandhyAvandanA.He was amazed by the simple method which I gave him and claimed immense benefits.He is a man given to analysis and deep introspection and a good sAdhakA.It is wrong to call him even by his varnA as an Arya vais'yA as he is a brAhmanA by cultivation.His day is spent in various mantra-sAdhanAs given by his Guru.

My method:

The forefinger and the middle finger should be bent and by the thumb and second finger, the nose must be touched, on either side, the right nostril should be closed and air must be taken slowly by the left nostril and then that should be closed and after a time the air slowly sent out by the right nostril.Then the same process is to be repeated with left nostril closed and then again with the right nostril closed.

The inhaling is called pUrakA

The retaining state of breath is called khumbhakA

and the exhaling state is called re'chakA.

The proportion of all these is what is utmost important.For sandhyAvandanA-prAnayAmA 3 times this cycle of pUraka-khumbhakA and re'chakA is to be done with the ratio/proportion of 1:3:2.

arghyA disples evil from the place powerfully,pleases sun-god and internal blessings accure from His ghrunI s'akthI.

pranAyAmA consolidates these gains of the mantrOpachArAs,mArjanAs,arghyA,etc to the medhA,dhI and manas-ke'ndrAs.

While doing the prAnAyamA-pUrakA--one should press the left hand thumb with the left hand index finger starting from the base of the second phallange of the thumb with OM,OM,OM.Then chant the prAnAyAma mantrA while in khumbhakA concentrating on the sahasrArA imagining a yellow glowing light of brilliant colour energizing the petals there and the brain portion there(dhI and medhas).Then release the air in re'chakA by again pressing index finger from the tip of the thumb(lefthand) and coming down, this time saying OM,OM,OM,OM,OM,OM.(1:3:2).This is just a simple method, provided your prAnAyamA mantrA takes roughly the same time as saying OM 9 times in your brain.(mAnasikA).

The whole prAnAyAmA mantrA is thus repeated thrice cumulatively.

With practice you will get it.

When I mentioned the same to one tamizh brahmin near my house, he laughed at me and said, nowhere is it mentioned like that and he just holds his nose once and and repeats under the breath the mantrA,despite me telling that even samAdhigatha-paramAcharyA of kanchI mutt whom he believed used to tell this to one and all and many have benefitted from this singular practice.He listened to me patiently and said, 'All this is good to listen but not practical".

Maybe we cannot change them all! or maybe it is really difficult to hold the breath for long like that for him.In any case, I can only sympathise or pity them from afar for being impatient with the process.

This has s'Astra-prAmAnA too in not just smruthIs but also shruthIs and even an ancient kundaliNi tAntricA text,which I had the good fortune to read.So, it is not my invention,exactly!

Some quote s'Andilya upanishad and quote a prAnAyamA given but 1:4:2 ratio and that during khumbhakA one must do thrice the prAnAyamA mantrA but that is for really advanced sAdhakAs and not for regular sandhyAvandins.

Some split the 7 vyAhrithiS while doing pUrakA,then do the gayatrI in the khumbhakA and then the rest during the re'chakA.

There might be many variations and many many methods of doing the sandhyAvandana prAnAyamA, but the method I followed(and taught thus) has been tested by me on many people with stunning/mind-blowing effect(in a positive way!) on them.

However, this method requires guidance and care.Dont over do anything and learn things bit by bit and slowly induce them into spiritual practice, till your dehA-manas(body-mind matrix) gets attuned to the practice.

"Too much of amrithA is vishA''

Maybe some are already practicing it as I mentioned it above.

Kanchi peddAyanA says:

"According to the sastras even the sick must do pranayama three times a day. This means that breath-control is not such as to cause trouble or discomfort. Indeed it could mean a cure for the illness and a prescription for long life."

You can even forget your breath but not the one who gives that in the first place!

So, whether you follow my method or not, please atleast follow the line I have typed before this line sincerely by remembering Him/Her always in your 'prAnA'.

sAham,

Shreeram Balijepalli

Hreem Rajarajeshwari Paradevatha!