The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
As above stated, there is no doubt that the Sushumnā is situated in the spinal column, and it has been said that it represents the central canal. It is probable that its general position is that of the central canal. But a query may be raised if it is meant that the canal alone is the Sushumnā. For the latter Nādī, according to this work, contains within it two others—namely, Vajrinī and Chitrinī. There is thus a threefold division. It has been suggested that the Sushumnā when not considered with its inner Nādīs as a collective unit, but as distinguished from them, is the white nervous matter of the spinal cord, Vajrinī the grey matter, and Chitrinī the central canal, the inner Nādī of which is known as the Brahmanādī, and, in the Shivasanghitā, Brahmarandhra.² But as against such suggestion it is to be noted that v. 2 of this work describes Chitrinī as being as fine as a spider’s thread (Lūtā-tantūpameyā), and the grey matter cannot be so described, but is a gross thing. We must therefore discard this suggestion, and hold to the opinion either that the central canal is the Sushumnā or that the latter is in the canal, and that within or part of it are two still more subtle and imperceptible channels of energy, called Vajrinī and Chitrinī. I incline to the latter view. The true nature of the Chitrinī Nādī is said in v. 3 to be pure intelligence (Shuddha-bodhasvabhāvā) as a force of Consciousness. As v. 1 says, the three form one, but considered separately they are distinct. They are threefold in the sense that Sushumnā, “who is tremulous like a woman in passion,” is as a whole composed of “Sun,” “Moon,” and “Fire,” and the three Gunas. It is noteworthy in this connection that the Kshurikā Upanishad,¹ which speaks of the Sushumnā, directs the Sādhaka “to get into the white and very subtle Nādī, and to drive Prānavāyu through it”. These three, Sushumnā, Vajrinī, and Chitrinī, and the central canal, or Brahmanādī, through which, in the Yoga here described, Kundalinī passes, are all, in any case, part of the spinal cord. And, as the Shivasanghitā and all other Yoga works say, the rest of the body is dependent on Sushumnā, as being the chiəf spinal representative of the central nervous system. There seems also to be some ground to hold that the Nādīs, Idā and Pinggalā, or “moon” and “sun,” are the left and right sympathetic cords respectively on each side of the “fiery” Sushumnā. It is to be noted that, according to one and a common notion reproduced in this work, these Nādīs, which are described as being pale and ruddy respectively (v. 1), do not lie merely on one side of the cord, but cross it alternating from one side to the other (see v. 1), thus forming with the Sushumnā and the two petals of the Ājnā Chakra the figure of the Caduceus of Mercury, which according to some represents them. Elsewhere (v. 1), however, it is said that they are shaped like bows. That is, one is united with Sushumnā and connected with the left scrotum. It goes up to a position near the left shoulder, bending as it passes the heart, crosses over to the right shoulder, and then proceeds to the right nostril. Similarly, the other Nādī connected with the right scrotum passes to the left nostril. It has been suggested to me that Idā and Pinggalā are blood-vessels representing the inferior Vena Cava and Aorta. But the works and the Yoga process itself indicate not arteries, but nerves. Idā and Pinggalā when they reach the space between the eyebrows make with the Sushumnā a plaited threefold knot called Trivenī, and proceed to the nostrils. This, it has been said, is the spot in the medulla where the sympathetic cords join together or whence they take their origin.
1 See Shiva-Sanghitā, II, 6.
2 Ch. II, v. 18.
1 Ed. Ānandāshrama Series XXIX, p. 145. Prāna does not here mean gross breath, but that which in the respiratory centres appears as such, and which appears in other forms in other functions and parts of the body.
There remains to be considered the position of the Chakras. Though this work speaks of six, there are, according to some, others. This is stated by Vishvanātha in his Shatchakra-Vivriti. Thus we have mentioned Lalanā, Manas, and Soma Chakras. The six here given are the principal ones. Indeed, a very long list exists of Chakras or Ādhāras, as some call them. In a modern Sanskrit work called “Advaitamārtanda” the author¹ gives twenty, numbering them as follows: (1) Ādhāra, (2) Kuladīpa, (3) Vajra or Yajna, (4) Svādhishthāna, (5) Raudra,
As above stated, there is no doubt that the Sushumnā is situated in the spinal column, and it has been said that it represents the central canal. It is probable that its general position is that of the central canal. But a query may be raised if it is meant that the canal alone is the Sushumnā. For the latter Nādī, according to this work, contains within it two others—namely, Vajrinī and Chitrinī. There is thus a threefold division. It has been suggested that the Sushumnā when not considered with its inner Nādīs as a collective unit, but as distinguished from them, is the white nervous matter of the spinal cord, Vajrinī the grey matter, and Chitrinī the central canal, the inner Nādī of which is known as the Brahmanādī, and, in the Shivasanghitā, Brahmarandhra.² But as against such suggestion it is to be noted that v. 2 of this work describes Chitrinī as being as fine as a spider’s thread (Lūtā-tantūpameyā), and the grey matter cannot be so described, but is a gross thing. We must therefore discard this suggestion, and hold to the opinion either that the central canal is the Sushumnā or that the latter is in the canal, and that within or part of it are two still more subtle and imperceptible channels of energy, called Vajrinī and Chitrinī. I incline to the latter view. The true nature of the Chitrinī Nādī is said in v. 3 to be pure intelligence (Shuddha-bodhasvabhāvā) as a force of Consciousness. As v. 1 says, the three form one, but considered separately they are distinct. They are threefold in the sense that Sushumnā, “who is tremulous like a woman in passion,” is as a whole composed of “Sun,” “Moon,” and “Fire,” and the three Gunas. It is noteworthy in this connection that the Kshurikā Upanishad,¹ which speaks of the Sushumnā, directs the Sādhaka “to get into the white and very subtle Nādī, and to drive Prānavāyu through it”. These three, Sushumnā, Vajrinī, and Chitrinī, and the central canal, or Brahmanādī, through which, in the Yoga here described, Kundalinī passes, are all, in any case, part of the spinal cord. And, as the Shivasanghitā and all other Yoga works say, the rest of the body is dependent on Sushumnā, as being the chiəf spinal representative of the central nervous system. There seems also to be some ground to hold that the Nādīs, Idā and Pinggalā, or “moon” and “sun,” are the left and right sympathetic cords respectively on each side of the “fiery” Sushumnā. It is to be noted that, according to one and a common notion reproduced in this work, these Nādīs, which are described as being pale and ruddy respectively (v. 1), do not lie merely on one side of the cord, but cross it alternating from one side to the other (see v. 1), thus forming with the Sushumnā and the two petals of the Ājnā Chakra the figure of the Caduceus of Mercury, which according to some represents them. Elsewhere (v. 1), however, it is said that they are shaped like bows. That is, one is united with Sushumnā and connected with the left scrotum. It goes up to a position near the left shoulder, bending as it passes the heart, crosses over to the right shoulder, and then proceeds to the right nostril. Similarly, the other Nādī connected with the right scrotum passes to the left nostril. It has been suggested to me that Idā and Pinggalā are blood-vessels representing the inferior Vena Cava and Aorta. But the works and the Yoga process itself indicate not arteries, but nerves. Idā and Pinggalā when they reach the space between the eyebrows make with the Sushumnā a plaited threefold knot called Trivenī, and proceed to the nostrils. This, it has been said, is the spot in the medulla where the sympathetic cords join together or whence they take their origin.
1 See Shiva-Sanghitā, II, 6.
2 Ch. II, v. 18.
1 Ed. Ānandāshrama Series XXIX, p. 145. Prāna does not here mean gross breath, but that which in the respiratory centres appears as such, and which appears in other forms in other functions and parts of the body.
There remains to be considered the position of the Chakras. Though this work speaks of six, there are, according to some, others. This is stated by Vishvanātha in his Shatchakra-Vivriti. Thus we have mentioned Lalanā, Manas, and Soma Chakras. The six here given are the principal ones. Indeed, a very long list exists of Chakras or Ādhāras, as some call them. In a modern Sanskrit work called “Advaitamārtanda” the author¹ gives twenty, numbering them as follows: (1) Ādhāra, (2) Kuladīpa, (3) Vajra or Yajna, (4) Svādhishthāna, (5) Raudra,
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