Chapter 185

“Bharadwaja said, ‘How does bodily fire or heat, entering the body,reside there? How also does the wind, obtaining space for itself, causethe body to move and exert itself?’

“Bhrigu said, ‘I shall, O regenerate one, speak to thee of the course inwhich the wind moves, and how, O sinless one, that mighty element causesthe bodies of living creatures to move and exert themselves. Heat resideswithin the head (brain) and protects the body (from perishing). The windor breath called Prana, residing within the head and the heat that isthere, cause all kinds of exertion. That Prana is the living creature,the universal soul, the eternal Being, and the Mind, Intellect, andConsciousness of all living creatures, as also all the objects of thesenses.[557] Thus the living creature is, in every respect, caused byPrana to move about and exert. Them in consequence of the other breathcalled Samana, every one of the senses is made to act as it does. Thebreath called Apana, having recourse to the heat that is in the urethraand the abdominal intestines, moves, engaged in carrying out urine andfaeces. That single breath which operates in these three, is called Udanaby those that are conversant with science. That breath which operates,residing in all the joints of men’s bodies, is called Vyana. There isheat in the bodies of living creatures which is circulated all over thesystem by the breath Samana. Residing thus in the body, that breathoperates upon the different kinds of watery and other elementarysubstances and all bad humours. That heat, residing between Apana andPrana, in the region of the navel, operates, with the aid of those twobreaths, in digesting all food that is taken by a living creature. Thereis a duct beginning from the mouth down to the anal canal. Its extremityis called the anus. From this main duct numerous subsidiary ones branchout in the bodies of all living creatures.[558] In consequence of therush of the several breaths named above (through these ducts), thosebreaths mingle together. The heat (that dwells in Prana) is calledUshman. It is this heat that causes digestion in all creatures possessedof bodies. The breath called Prana, the bearer of a current of heat,descends (from the head) downwards to the extremity of the anal canal andthence is sent upwards once more. Coming back to its seat in the head, itonce more sends down the heat it bears. Below the navel is the region ofdigested matter. Above it is that for the food which is taken. In thenavel are all the forces of life that sustain the body. Urged by the tenkinds of breaths having Prana for their first, the ducts (alreadymentioned), branching out from the heart, convey the liquid juices thatfood yields, upwards, downwards, and in transverse directions.[559] Themain duct leading from the mouth to the anus is the path by which yogins,vanquishers of fatigue, of perfect equanimity in joy and sorrow, andpossessed of great patience, succeed in attaining to Brahma by holdingthe soul within the brain.[560] Even thus is heat panted in the breathscalled Prana and Apana and others, of all embodied creatures. That heatis always burning there like a fire placed in any (visible) vessel.’