hindu-cosmosfeatured in 3 works
The Channels: Iḍā, Piṅgalā, Suṣumnā (Nāḍī)
Three inner rivers of energy — and the yoga is to make the breath flow up the middle one.
The nāḍīs are the channels of the subtle body — the conduits along which the vital energy travels, said to number in the thousands. Three matter most: iḍā on the left (cooling, lunar), piṅgalā on the right (heating, solar), and suṣumnā, the central channel running up the spine. Ordinary breathing flows through the side channels; the haṭha-yogin's whole craft is to balance them so the energy enters the central suṣumnā and rises. Much of breath-control practice is aimed at exactly this.
How it traveled
- Chāndogya UpaniṣadKuru-Pañcāla region · -700explains
- Śiva-sūtraKashmir Valley · 825explains
- Haṭhayoga-pradīpikāKāśī (Varanasi) · 1450explains
Key passages(15)
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Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4,3.20↗explains
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
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Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2,1.19↗explains
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
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