The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
1 In the sense of Prāna. The Sanskrit root vā=to move. See Sushruta, Vol. II, p. 2, edition by Kaviraj Kunja Lāla Bhishagratna.
2 See Introduction to third volume of “Tantrik Texts,” where these terms are explained. The Devatās of these Dhātus are Dākinī and the other Shaktis in the Chakras. See my volume on “Life”.
3 The Vāyus have other functions than those mentioned. The matter is here stated only in a general way. See Sushruta Sanghitā, cited ante. Prāna is not the physical breath, which is a gross thing, but that function of vital force which exhibits itself in respiration.
(Kula-kundalinī). Breathing is itself a Mantra, known as the Mantra which is not recited (Ajapā-mantra), for it is said without volition.¹
The divine current is Hang and Sa or the motion of Ha and Sa. This motion, which exists on all the planes of life, is for the earth plane (Bhūrloka) created and sustained by the Sun, the solar breath of which is the cause of human breath with its centrifugal and centripetal movements, the counterpart in man of the cosmic movement of the Hangsah or Shiva-shakti Tattvas, which are the soul of the Universe. The Sun is not only the centre and upholder of the solar system,² but the source of all available energy and of all physical life on earth. Accompanying the sunshine there proceeds from the orb a vast invisible radiation, the prerequisite of all vegetable and animal life. It is these invisible rays which, according to science, sustain the mystery of all physical life. The Sun as the great luminary is the body of the Solar God, a great manifestation of the inner Spiritual Sun.³
Apāna, the downward “breath” which pulls against Prāna, governs the excretory functions; Samāna kindles the bodily fire and governs the processes of digestion and assimilation; Vyāna, or diffused “breathing,” is present throughout the body, effecting division and diffusion,
1 Thus the Niruttara Tantra (Chapter IV) says:
Hangkārena vahir yāti sakārena vishet punah
Hangseti paramang mantrang jīvo japati sarvadā.
(By Hangkāra it goes out, and by Sakāra it comes in again. A Jīva always recites the Suprema Mantra Hangsa.) See also Dhyānabindu Up.
2 The Sun is said to hold the vast bulk of the total matter of the solar system, while it only carries about 2 per cent of its moment of momentum.
3 The Yoga works speak of the Moon-chit (Chichchandra). It is this spiritual moon which is shown on the cover of this book, embraced by the Serpent Kundalinī.
resisting disintegration, and holding the body together in all its parts; and Udāna, the ascending Vāyu, is the so-called “upward breathing”. Prāna is in the heart; Apāna in the anus; Samāna in the navel; Udāna in the throat; and Vyāna pervades the whole body.¹ By the words “navel” and so forth it is not meant that the Vāyu is in the navel itself but in that region of the body so designated—the abdominal region and its centre the Manipūra Chakra. The five minor Vâyus are Nāga, Kūrma, Krikara, Devadatta, and Dhananjaya, which manifest in hiccup, closing and opening the eyes, digestion,² yawning, and in that Vāyu “which leaves not even the corpse”. The functions of Prāna may be scientifically defined as follows: Appropriation (Prāna), Rejection (Apāna), Assimilation (Samāna), Distribution (Vyāna), and utterance (Udāna). The Prāna represeuts the involuntary reflex action of the organism, and the Indriyas one aspect of its voluntary activity.
In the case of the individualised Prāna, or principle which vitalises the animal organism during its earth life, it may be said, when regarded as an independent principle, to be a force more subtle than that which manifests as terrestrial matter which it vitalises. In other words, according to this theory, the Ātmā gives life to the earth organisms through the medium of terrestrial Prāna, which is one of the manifestations of that Energy which issues from and is at base the all-pervading Ātmā, as Shakti.
1 In the sense of Prāna. The Sanskrit root vā=to move. See Sushruta, Vol. II, p. 2, edition by Kaviraj Kunja Lāla Bhishagratna.
2 See Introduction to third volume of “Tantrik Texts,” where these terms are explained. The Devatās of these Dhātus are Dākinī and the other Shaktis in the Chakras. See my volume on “Life”.
3 The Vāyus have other functions than those mentioned. The matter is here stated only in a general way. See Sushruta Sanghitā, cited ante. Prāna is not the physical breath, which is a gross thing, but that function of vital force which exhibits itself in respiration.
(Kula-kundalinī). Breathing is itself a Mantra, known as the Mantra which is not recited (Ajapā-mantra), for it is said without volition.¹
The divine current is Hang and Sa or the motion of Ha and Sa. This motion, which exists on all the planes of life, is for the earth plane (Bhūrloka) created and sustained by the Sun, the solar breath of which is the cause of human breath with its centrifugal and centripetal movements, the counterpart in man of the cosmic movement of the Hangsah or Shiva-shakti Tattvas, which are the soul of the Universe. The Sun is not only the centre and upholder of the solar system,² but the source of all available energy and of all physical life on earth. Accompanying the sunshine there proceeds from the orb a vast invisible radiation, the prerequisite of all vegetable and animal life. It is these invisible rays which, according to science, sustain the mystery of all physical life. The Sun as the great luminary is the body of the Solar God, a great manifestation of the inner Spiritual Sun.³
Apāna, the downward “breath” which pulls against Prāna, governs the excretory functions; Samāna kindles the bodily fire and governs the processes of digestion and assimilation; Vyāna, or diffused “breathing,” is present throughout the body, effecting division and diffusion,
1 Thus the Niruttara Tantra (Chapter IV) says:
Hangkārena vahir yāti sakārena vishet punah
Hangseti paramang mantrang jīvo japati sarvadā.
(By Hangkāra it goes out, and by Sakāra it comes in again. A Jīva always recites the Suprema Mantra Hangsa.) See also Dhyānabindu Up.
2 The Sun is said to hold the vast bulk of the total matter of the solar system, while it only carries about 2 per cent of its moment of momentum.
3 The Yoga works speak of the Moon-chit (Chichchandra). It is this spiritual moon which is shown on the cover of this book, embraced by the Serpent Kundalinī.
resisting disintegration, and holding the body together in all its parts; and Udāna, the ascending Vāyu, is the so-called “upward breathing”. Prāna is in the heart; Apāna in the anus; Samāna in the navel; Udāna in the throat; and Vyāna pervades the whole body.¹ By the words “navel” and so forth it is not meant that the Vāyu is in the navel itself but in that region of the body so designated—the abdominal region and its centre the Manipūra Chakra. The five minor Vâyus are Nāga, Kūrma, Krikara, Devadatta, and Dhananjaya, which manifest in hiccup, closing and opening the eyes, digestion,² yawning, and in that Vāyu “which leaves not even the corpse”. The functions of Prāna may be scientifically defined as follows: Appropriation (Prāna), Rejection (Apāna), Assimilation (Samāna), Distribution (Vyāna), and utterance (Udāna). The Prāna represeuts the involuntary reflex action of the organism, and the Indriyas one aspect of its voluntary activity.
In the case of the individualised Prāna, or principle which vitalises the animal organism during its earth life, it may be said, when regarded as an independent principle, to be a force more subtle than that which manifests as terrestrial matter which it vitalises. In other words, according to this theory, the Ātmā gives life to the earth organisms through the medium of terrestrial Prāna, which is one of the manifestations of that Energy which issues from and is at base the all-pervading Ātmā, as Shakti.
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