WikiJournal Preprints/A review on the general features, types, techniques and outcomes of Pranayama mentioned in Yoga Upanishads

Introduction
The word Pranayama is derived from two Sanskrit root words ‘Prana’ means Vital force and the word ‘Ayama’ means to gain control. Maharshi Patanjali defines Pranayama as ‘The regulation of the movements of inhalation and exhalation’. He also states that by the practice of Pranayama, the darkness that hides the light of wisdom is destroyed and is regulated by place, time and number meaning that at various times in our Yoga Sadhana (Nagendra H R, 1998). The Yoga Upanishads defines Pranayama is expiration (Rechaka) of impure from the body, then inspiration (Puraka) of pure air, then purifying the air by holding (kumbhaka), similarly holding after complete exhalation and these four processes are said to be pranayama (Laxmikanth R & Gopinath V, 2021).

According to Maharshi Patanjali, Pranayama is the intermediate step to achieve the state of Samadhi and it is the fourth limb of the Astanga Yoga (Siddappa N & Vadiraja S H, 2022). In the Hatha Yoga texts, the concept of Pranayama was elaborated very widely as it plays a major role in the purification of nadis, awakening of kundalini and ultimate path to reach Samadhi state. Most of the Hatha Yoga texts disclosed the pranayama preparatory rules like yogic diet, place, and climate and also types of Pranayama (Chetry et al., 2022). Swatmarama clearly defined that, Pranayama should be done to remove the impurities in the nadis, so that, the vital air can pass through the sushumna and the sadhaka can attain the state of unmani avastha. It should be done with the satvika buddhi, which leads to the purification of the nadis, and chakras and the yogi can retain Prana (Swami Mukthibodananda, 1998).

Upanishads are roots to transcendental knowledge to attain the state of samadhi or liberation or moksha (Dasgupta S N, 1975). In order to gain the transcendental knowledge, the Upanishads reveals various yogic practices and various types of yoga such as, mantra yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, hatha yoga, taraka yoga, raja yoga and laya yoga (ChandraKanth P, 2021). Among the one hundred and eight Upanishads, the Upanishads which specifically deals with yoga along the theory of vedanta are named as Yoga Upanishads and they are twenty in number (Paul Deussen, 1906). Among these twenty, only thirteen Upanishads discuss the pranayama technique. In these thirteen Upanishads, Pranayama is discussed as one of the limbs of the Sadanga or Astanga and Panchadasanga Yoga (Saibaba Ch & Ramesh Babu k, 2022). The thirteen Upanishads are, Amrita-Nada, Kshurika, Tejobindu, Trishiki-Brahmana, Darsana, Dhyana-Bindu, Mandala-Brahmana, Yoga-Kundalini, Yoga-Chudamani, Yoga-Tattva, Yogashika, Sandilya and Varaha. All these Upanishads explains Pranayama as the intermediate stage to purify the nadis, so that the Prana flow through it and awaken the kundalini to reach the next stage in path of liberation (Manmath M et al., 2009; Paul Deussen, 1980).

The purpose of the study is to systematically review the general aspects such as preparatory steps, eligible qualities to do pranayama, place, time and frequency, indications and diet, types and techniques, kumbhakas, benefits and safety measures of Pranayama practices in the Yoga Upanishads.

Methods
The concept of Pranayama techniques from Yoga Upanishads was sourced to obtain the general features, procedure, types, and outcomes of Pranayama. The Yoga Upanishads which describe or mention the Pranayama were considered in this study and from those Upanishads only the Sanskrit slokas were translated into English and interpreted correctly. Though there are lot of books on the Yoga Upanishad but the translated slokas were consider to be final in order to remove the misinterpretation.

In this study, the concepts of Pranayama in the Yoga Upanishads were presented according to the concepts such as, General features such as place and posture, diet, rules to purify nadis, nadis and vayus with their termination and function, types of Pranayama, techniques and Procedures of Pranayama, Outcomes such as, Benefits, destruction of diseases, through the practice of Pranayama.

Place and Posture
The Yoga Upanishads recommends suitable place and posture for the practice of Pranayama. According to Trishiki Brahmana Upanishad, the practitioner should select the place full of things, which helpful to several stages of yoga, he should choose Swastika posture on wooden seat covered kusa grass and skin of antelope. The Darshana Upanishad recommends summit of mountain or the bank of river, under a Bael tree or in a pleasant and clean forest and then comfortable posture with his neck, head and body should erect and observe the tip of nose with closed mouth. Yoga-Chudamani and Yoga- Tattva recommends Padmasana. The Yoga-Tattva and the Sandilya prefers Matha, which was well cleansed by cowdung or lime washed, free from mosquitoes, bugs and lice, every day swept by broom, the room should emit with sweet smell, the seat, neither too high nor too low and it should be covered by deer skin or kusa grass. The Sandilya only recommends the place abundance in fruits, roots, flowers and water.

Qualities required for pranayama
The sandilya Upanishad only reveals the qualities to be require for the Pranayama. One should possess of self-control and restraint in his observances, brahmacharya, skilled in theory and practice of yoga, truth and morality conduct, balance in emotions, obedient to the parents and guru and he should be righteousness in his conduct of duty at all the times in his life.

Rules to purify nadis
According to Trishiki-Brahmana and Sandilya Upanishads, the practitioner should mastery over Yamas, Niyamas and Asanas, and also aware on the nadis and vayus with their postion and functioning, by knowing all this knowledge, should attempt for purification of nadis. According to Darsana, one should devoid of desires, perfection in yamas and the like, practise satya all the time and well confirmed in one’s own self. The Yoga-Tattva and Sandilya mentioned that the purification of nadis should gradually practice four times (early morning, noon, evening and midnight) in a day with eighty kumbhas at a time. The Sandilya also mentioned that a lion or an elephant can be brought under control little by little similarly, the vital air can be controlled. It also warned the practitioner to perform in due care otherwise it will kill the practitioner.

Nadis and its termination

The Yoga Upanishads, which mention the nadis are Trishiki-Brahmana, Dhyana-Bindu, Yoga-Chudamani, Darsana, Varaha and Sandilya Upanishads. The first three Upanishads mention only ten important nadis and the later three mention fourteen nadis with their origin and termination. But, some of the nadis and their termination are different as per the Upanishad and in those only a few termination points are not mentioned. The nadis and their termination are given in the table-1 and the Upanishad, which doesn’t mention their termination are left empty.

Table1: The nadis and their termination Vayus and its functioning

The five Yoga Upanishads: The Trishiki-Brahmana, Dhyana-Bindu, Yoga-Chudamani, Darsana, and Sandilya Upanishads only describes the importance, circulation and functioning of the Vayus in body. These Upanishads describes the ten important vayus with their circulation and functioning, except the Varaha, which only mentions the names of ten vayus. The table-2 shows the various vayus with their circulation and functioning in the body as per the description in the particular Upanishad. The four Upanishads, which have mentioned the circulation of the vayus are similar but, their functions are slight differ in the description, which is presented in the table-2.

Table-2: The Vayus with their circulation and functioning

Process of purifying nadis (nadisodhana)

In the five Yoga Upanishads: The Trishiki-Brahmana, Darsana, Yoga-Chudamani, Yoga, and Sandilya Upanishads have described the process of nadi purification. Among these five, except the Trishik-Brahmana, the remaining four Upanishads have described same procedure. According to this four, after knowing the nadis and vayus, one should take a deep inhalation (Puraka) through the Ida nadi and perform kumbhaka and then exhale (Rechaka) through Pingala and again inhale through the Pingala and then kumbhaka and exhale through the ida and then continue the procedure as long as one can hold atleast twenty kumbhakas in each session, morning, afternoon, evening and midnight. Whereas in the Trishiki-Brahmana the purification starts with the exhalation through the Pingala nadi and then inhalation through the Ida nadi as the above procedure with the ratio of 16(Puraka):64(Kumbhaka):32(Rechaka) and it is initial matras for the beginners.

Diet for pranayama

According to the Yoga-Tattva, the sadhaka should restrain from food which is harmful, salt, mustard, hot, acid, astringent, and pungent and should consume the diet which having rich in milk and ghee, cooked wheat, green gram and rice. In the Sandilya also mentioned the diet rich in milk and ghee and most conducive should be consumed by the sadhaka and after the mastery of Pranayama, there is no need of such observances.

Description of Pranayama

According to Amrita-Nada, elongate the breath by reciting the Gayathri thrice with vyahrtis and with pranava with the inclusion of Puraka, Rechaka and kumbhaka. According to Kshurika, one should restrain the mind in his heart like a tortoise and fill his entire body through the nostrils and then block navarandhras by holding the vital air and slowly release the air raising up. In the Tejo-Bindu, Pranayama is the control of the vital functions and modifications of the mind as of the Brahman. Detachment with the external world is Rechaka. Reciting internally as “I am Brahman” is Puraka. The steadiness of this conception without agitation is Kumbhaka. According to Trishiki-Brahmana, expiration, inspiration, cessation and then expiration of air, by repeating the above four is Pranayama. According to Darsana, Pranayama is the combination of Rechaka, Puraka and Kumbhaka. One should do Puraka with left nostril by remembering the letter ‘A’ for sixteen matras and Kumbhaka by letter ‘U’ for sixty matras and then Rechaka by letter ‘M’ for thirty-two matras through the Pingala nadi and the process continue with pingala by letter ‘A’. According to Dhyana-Bindu, Pranayama is the combination of Puraka, which is Brahman, Kumbhaka, which is Vishnu and Rechaka, which is Rudra. By assuming the right posture and then Puraka, Kumbhaka and Rechaka in sequential with the ratio of 1:4:2 is said to be Pranayama as per the Mandala Brahmana, Yoga-Chudamani and Yoga-Tattva Upanishads. The Varaha also described the same procedure for Pranayama but, without any ratio. According to the Sandilya Upanishad, Pranayama is uniting of Prana and Apana and it can be done with Rechaka, Puraka and Kumbhaka with the Pranava ‘A’, ‘U’, ‘M’ letters.

Types of Pranayamas (Kumbhakas)

Yoga Kundalini, Yoga Shika and Sandilya Upanishads describes two types of Kumbhaka, Sahitha and Kevala kumbhaka. Sahitha includes Rechaka, Puraka, and Kumbhaka and Kevala is devoid of the three. One should practice Sahita till he attains Kevala. Again, these kumbhakas are of four types, Suryabheda, Ujjayi, Sitali and Bhastrika. Whereas Sandilya excludes Bhastrika and includes Sitkara Pranayama. The table-3 explains the procedure and benefits of various kumbhakas according to the respective Upanishads.

Table-3: Types of Pranayamas with the procedures and benefits

Role of Bandhas

The Dhyana-Bindu, Yoga-Kundalini , Yoga-Chudamani, Yoga-Tattva , Yoga-Shika , Varaha and Sandilya Upanishads only explains the three kinds of Bandhas, Mula-Bandha, Jalandhara-Bandha and Uddiyana-Bandha. According to these Upanishads, after mastery over kumbhakas, should practice bandhas to devoid the impurities. The Mula-Bandha is performed by pressing the anus with heel, inhale as the Apana moves upward and generates a flame, which helpful to awaken kundalini and prana will reaches Brahma-nadi. The Uddiyana-Bandha should be performed after kumbhaka and before rechaka. It raises the prana up into the sushumna nadi. The Jalandhara-Bandha should be performed at the end of Puraka and it constrict the throat without allowing the vital air out, by this the prana will enter the Brahma-nadi. The Varaha Upanishad describes the Chatuspada- Bandha to raise and flow the prana   through Sushumna.

Indications during the practice of Pranayama

During the practice of Nadisodhana and Pranayama, the sadhaka experiences various outcomes (on the basis of effective practice) with the physical and mental signs. According to the Trishiki-Brahmana Upanishad, the yogi, who combat his vital air will overcome the senses, temperate in food, little sleep, attains longevity and having unnatural death. According to the Darsana, Yoga-Tattva and Shandilya Upanishads, the body becomes lightness, raises the jatharagni, slimness of body and manifestation of Nada. According to the Trishiki-Brahmana, Darsana, Yoga-Chudamani, Yoga-Tattva and Sandilya Upanishads, at the first stage of Pranayama, the sadhaka experiences perspiration, at the second stage, trembling of the body and at the third, the body raises up. These are the indications, which aware in the perfection of Nadisodhana and Pranayama.

Destruction of diseases

According to the Trishiki-Brahmana, the yogin, who conquest the vital air will free from all diseases and rid of fatigue. By hold the vital at the various limbs, there will be destruction of the disease of that particular limb. As per the Darsana, by conquest of vital air can be free from piles and anal fistula, the malfunction of chitta can be cleared. According to the Yoga-Chudamani, all the diseases can be cured by mastery over Pranayama. It also warned that, if there is ill- regulation of the vital leads to the generation of diseases such as, hiccups, asthma, hard breathing and diseases of head, ears, and eyes.

Benefits of Pranayama

The Amrit-Nada says, the impurities of mountain ore and misdeeds caused by the organs of the senses can be burnt by holding the breath. According to the Trishiki-Brahmana, at the inferior stage of Pranayama, ailments and sin will destroy, at the middle stage, ailments, sin and incurable diseases will destroy and at the superior, evacuates small faeces and urine, body becomes light, ever alert on the senses, quick intellect and clear vision. According the Darsana, will rid of sins, and attain the highest knowledge, becomes adept and derive happiness. All the sins can be destroyed through the practice of Pranayama, as per the Yoga-Chudamani. The Sandilya says, the eyes become free from dirt, all kinds of diseases and bindu becomes control.

Conclusion
Thus, among the twenty Yoga Upanishads, only thirteen Upanishads mentioned the Pranayama and again from these thirteen Upanishads, only six Upanishad: the Trishiki-Brahmana, the Darsana, the Yoga-Chudamani, the Yoga -Tattva, the Varaha and the Sandilya Upanishads broadly elaborates the general features such as place and posture, qualities required for Pranayama and rules to purify nadis, nadis and its termination, vayus and its function, types of Pranayama, Bandhas and outcomes of Pranayama. The rest of the seven among the thirteen Upanishads, describes only the definition of Pranayama. The Yoga-Shika and the Yoga-Kundalini describes the Pranayama, though these Upanishads didn’t mention any limbs or angas. But the remaining eleven Upanishads, among the thirteen Upanishads describes the Pranayama as one of the limbs Sadanga, Astanga and Panchadasanga yoga.

Acknowledgements
We sincerely acknowledge Prof. K. Ramesh Babu, Dept. of Yoga & Consciousness, Andhra University for the valuable suggestions and encouragement for this work.

Competing interests
There are no competing interests

Ethics statement
No, this is Exploratory research