According to Ayurveda, any disease, any discomfort, or
anything wrong in any part of the body, is due to an upsetting of the balance
between the three humours. In Ayurveda, they believe in the theory of the
Tridoshas—Vata, Pitta and Kapha—wind, bile and phlegm. These three are common
constituents of the human body, and if they are in a certain proportion and
balance, the body is in normal health. But if this balance, this ratio, is
disturbed due to any reason, then there comes about an abnormal condition of
the body. It may manifest in different ways with different symptoms. And each
set of symptoms is given a label and is called by the name of a particular
disease. But they say that disease is due to the imbalance of the
Tridoshas—Vata, Pitta and Kapha. And most of the approach of the Ayurvedic
physicians is to give some medication which will restore the balance between
the Tridoshas. When this balance is restored, the person is back to normal.
Whereas, in the Yogic interpretation of health and disease, they say that
disease is due to the upsetting of the balance in the distribution of Prana. If
the Prana becomes unevenly distributed, if it does not go to a particular
place, a diseased condition can manifest in that place. Or, if the Prana
accumulates too much in some place, then also a certain abnormal condition can
arise. Equal distribution of Prana all over the body, throughout the body, in a
balanced way, diffused—that is the condition desired. And this equal
distribution means the presence of as much Prana as is required in each part.
Equal distribution does not mean that Prana should be equally distributed all
over the body. No. Prana is required in different proportions, in different
degrees, in different parts of your body. And, if it is present in that natural
state, then it is called equal distribution of the Prana. Little variations do
occur in this distribution during the course of the day. When you eat food, the
Prana is more concentrated over the region of the stomach. When you do
intellectual work, the Prana is more active in the area of the brain. And
Yogasanas bring about equal distribution of the Prana throughout the body in
the desired proportion for the normal state. It is interesting to note that the
Yogic interpretation of disease and the Ayurvedic theory of disease do not
contradict each other. It is only one statement from two angles of vision, from
two approaches. When the three humours are thrown into an imbalance, the
predominance of any one of them in a particular place may draw Prana there in an
abnormal quantity or may inhibit Prana from entering that particular place.
From the Ayurvedic point of view, it is imbalance of the Tridoshas; and from
the Yogic point of view, this imbalance of the Tridoshas brings about a
disharmony in the distribution of the Prana. So, the two viewpoints are not
contradictory. They are expressions of a condition from two different angles.
Take the case of a husband and a wife with one child.
The husband has a certain income and he is able to look after the family with
that income. As years go by, a second child comes, and the mother becomes
widowed too. She now comes to live with her son and so the family grows and now
they are in great financial difficulty. They are not able to look after the
family. Now, why has this condition come about, this difficulty, this economic
problem? We may say that it is because of the growth of the family beyond its
capacity to look after itself. Or, we may say that the income is not enough,
that it is not proportioned to the expenditure. From the point of view of
monetary resources, the problem has arisen because the income is not
sufficient. From the point of view of the family, the problem has cropped up
because the members have become too many, the number of people have become too
many. It is stating the same problem from two different angles. Likewise, in
the case of health and ill health. When you are healthy, the Tridoshas are in
balance; or you may say that the Prana is equally distributed. And when you are
ill, the balance of the Tridoshas is upset; or you may say that the Prana’s
even distribution is upset. So, inner health ensues out of the practice of the
Asana. Due to the practice of the Asana for a long time, the Prana tends to
become equally distributed throughout the body, and gradually, the normal
health condition is restored to the body. This is important. And here, it is
the inner health which is more vital, more important. Asana brings about inner
health. It makes you impervious to heat and cold. Power of endurance is
increased. Will power of the mind becomes increased. These are the benefits of
the practice of Asana. And, indirectly, through the medium of the Prana, the
steadiness of the body gradually brings about a certain stability of the mind,
a certain steadiness of the mental activity, a certain harmony of the mental
activity.
Then we come to the fourth Anga of Raja Yoga, namely,
Pranayama. Pranayama is a way of controlling the Sukshma Prana within to which
you have no direct access. Prana is a subtle invisible force. It is the
life-force that pervades the body. It is the factor that connects the body and
the mind, because it is connected on one side with the body and on the other
side with the mind. It is the connecting link between the body and the mind.
The body and the mind have no direct connection. They are connected through
Prana only and this Prana is different from the breathing you have in your
physical body. Prana is not Svasa. The respiratory breath that moves within
your nostrils is not Prana. It is called Svasa Vayu. Svasa-Prasvasa, inhalation
and exhalation, is of air. But then, why is the regulation of the inner breath
and the outer breath of the nostrils given the name of Pranayama, when they do
not constitute Prana, when they constitute only Svasa Vayu? The process of
regulation of breath is given the name Pranayama, because this is the way to
ultimately gain control over the subtle life-force that is present within as
Prana.
How Pranayama Controls Prana
Having no direct access to Prana, the ancient Rishis
evolved this method, because the outer manifestation of the inner Prana is
present in the human system in the form of breath. Breath is the outcome of the
movement of Prana. Breath is the outcome of the most vital and important
movement of Prana. It is the Prana that moves the lungs and makes the lungs
expand and contract, expand and contract, expand and contract, from the moment
you are born until the moment you give up your body in death. It is Prana, the
great life-principle, which keeps on this movement. It is that which pumps the
heart. It does various other functions as well, pervading the whole body and
being present in different ways. In performing different functions, the same
Prana assumes distinct names—Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana, Samana. Besides these,
there are five Upa-Pranas or subsidiary Pranas also. In this way, this
life-principle is working all the time; and whether you are awake or asleep,
whether you are conscious or unconscious, automatically this Prana keeps up all
the indispensable essential life-movements within you. If these life-movements
are not kept going, life will not last. You will not be able to live; the body
will not be kept alive. So, the Prana functions involuntarily. You do not exert
to make the lungs move. It is not you who are keeping up the pumping motion of
the heart. It is not you who are keeping up the bellow-like contracting and expanding
movement of the lungs. You are not even aware of the movement of the lungs, not
even conscious of it. It is only when something happens to you that you are
aware; otherwise, you are not even conscious of it. It is this Prana, this
great manifestation of Divinity, this great manifestation of the Cosmic Energy,
that keeps going all these essential, vital movements in your body. The
expansion and contraction of the lungs manifests in the body as the ingoing and
outcoming breath. And the ingoing and outcoming breath is the symptom of the
movement of the Prana, which keeps the lungs in a constant state of
indispensable vital activity. So, this breath in the nostrils is due to the
movement of the subtle Prana within your body, just as the movement of the second-hand,
the minute-hand and the hour-hand are due to the hidden or undiscerned inner
movement of the hairspring within the mechanism of the timepiece or the watch.
It is because there is the constant unbroken movement of the hairspring inside
that on the surface of the visible dial, the hour-hand and the minute-hand are
able to move round and do their work. Now, if you want to bring about a slowing
down or a cessation of the movement of the hairspring within the timepiece, you
have no means of doing it, because you have no access to it. It is somewhere
inside covered over by the structure of the watch or the timepiece. You cannot
get at it. The only way of trying to get at it is through its outer symptom or
outer manifestation. So, if you place your finger on the second-hand of the
timepiece moving round in one little corner of the dial and stop it, if you
arrest the second hand, gradually the movement of the hairspring also becomes
arrested. Similarly, if you stop the minute-hand of the timepiece, then also,
the movement of the minute-hand being the ultimate result and outcome of the
movement of the inner hairspring, the movement of the hairspring gradually
slows down and then comes to a stop. It is in this reverse fashion, this remote
and indirect fashion, that the regulation and stoppage of the outer breath of
the nostrils achieves the ultimate result of controlling and even bringing to a
stop certain aspects of the movement of the subtle Prana, because the Prana is
connected with the outer breath. The outer breath is connected with the subtle
Prana as the latter’s ultimate outer effect. Thus, Pranayama takes you within.
