Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

while discussing here very briefly some fundamental facts in this connection. This will
clear the ground for understanding the inner significance of the five Sutras in which
Patanjali has dealt with the subject.
Many people who have not studied the subject or studied it very superficially
have the notion that Pranayama is merely a regulation of breathing. How it is possible
by merely regulating breathing which is a normal physiological process in the body, to
bring about the extraordinary results attributed to Pranayama does not occur to them.
The nature of Pranayama is indicated by the two words which constitute the com-
pound word, namely Prana and Ayama (restraint). It is the regulation of Prana. But
what is Prana? It is not the breath but the vital force which keeps up the activities of
the physical body. This vital force is not something vague and mysterious which medi-
cal science believes exists within the body maintaining its equilibrium and guarding it
against disease and death. It is a real, highly specialized kind of composite energy with
a material basis which is entirely different from the other kinds of energies working in
the body. The vehicle of this Prana is not the dense physical body with which physi-
ologists are familiar but the Pranamaya Kosa, a somewhat subtler vehicle interpene-
trating the dense physical body and working in conjunction with it. In this subtler ve-
hicle which is practically a counterpart of the dense physical body run currents of
Prana, flowing along well-marked channels into every organ and part of the body and
vitalizing them in different ways. For, Prana though it is a general vitalizing force, has
also specific functions to perform in different organs and parts of the body and is then
called by different names which are well known. It is the control of this Prana which
is aimed at in Pranayama and not breathing which is only one of the many manifesta-
tions of its action in the physical body.
But though Prana is different from breath as the electric current is different
from the movement of the blades in an electric fan, still, there is a close connection
between the two, a connection which enables us to manipulate the currents of Prana by
manipulating breathing. This close connection between breathing and Prana is, no
doubt, responsible for the confusion between the two but it is necessary for the student
to keep this distinction clearly in his mind.
The methods adopted in controlling and manipulating Prana by regulation of
the breath are a closely guarded secret which can be obtained only from a competent
teacher. Those who take up these practices after merely reading books are sure to ruin
their health and even risk insanity or death. So, no one should dabble in Pranayama