hindu-cosmosfeatured in 7 works
Vital Breath and the Five Winds (Prāṇa & the Vāyus)
The life-force itself, mapped as five inner winds — master the breath and you steady the mind.
Prāṇa is the life-force — the vital breath that animates body and mind, far more than mere air in the lungs. The tradition analyzes it into five 'winds,' each with a task: the inward breath, the downward-and-outward breath, the equalizing breath at the center, the upward breath, and the breath diffused throughout the body. To understand and master prāṇa is, in yogic thought, to gain a handle on both vitality and mind, since breath and mind are held to move together.
How it traveled
- Chāndogya UpaniṣadKuru-Pañcāla region · -700explains
- Bṛhadāraṇyaka UpaniṣadMithilā (kingdom of Videha) · -700explains
- Kaṭha UpaniṣadKuru-Pañcāla region · -500explains
- Praśna UpaniṣadKuru-Pañcāla region · -450explains
- Yoga-sūtraKāśī (Varanasi) · 375applies
- TantrasāraŚrīnagara (Srinagar), Kashmir · 1000explains
- Haṭhayoga-pradīpikāKāśī (Varanasi) · 1450explains
Key passages(20)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1,5.21↗explains
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3,2.2↗explains
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
High
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi 95↗explains
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
High
High
High
High
High
High