Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.32-33

sri-bhagavan uvaca

sama asana asinah

sama-kayo yatha-sukham

hastav utsanga adhaya

sva-nasagra-kritekshanah

pranasya sodhayen margam

pura-kumbhaka-recakaih

viparyayenapi sanair

abhyasen nirjitendriyah

SYNONYMS

sri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; same -- having a level surface; asane -- on the seat; asinah -- sitting; sama-kayah -- sitting with the body straight and erect; yatha-sukham -- sitting comfortably; hastau -- the two hands; utsange -- in the lap; adhaya -- placing; sva-nasa-agra -- on the tip of one's own nose; krita -- focusing; ikshanah -- the glance; pranasya -- of the breath; sodhayet -- should purify; margam -- the pathway; pura-kumbhaka-recakaih -- by the mechanical breathing exercises, or pranayama; viparyayena -- by reversing the processes, namely recaka, kumbhaka and puraka; api -- also; sanaih -- following the process step by step; abhyaset -- one should practice pranayama; nirjita -- having controlled; indriyah -- the senses.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Sitting on a level seat that is not too high or too low, keeping the body straight and erect yet comfortable, placing the two hands on one's lap and focusing the eyes on the tip of one's nose, one should purify the pathways of breathing by practicing the mechanical exercises of puraka, kumbhaka and recaka, and then one should reverse the procedure (recaka, kumbhaka, puraka). Having fully controlled the senses, one may thus practice pranayama step by step.

PURPORT

According to this procedure, the hands are to be placed palms upward, one on top of the other. Thus, one may practice pranayama through mechanical breath control in order to achieve steadiness of the mind. As stated in the yoga-sastra, antar-lakshyo bahir-drishtih sthira-cittah susangatah: "The eyes, which generally see externally, must be turned inward, and thus the mind is steadied and fully controlled."

<<< >>>

Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari