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TEXT 29 apane juhvati pranam
SYNONYMS  apane--air
which acts downward; juhvati--offers; pranam--air which acts
outward; prane--in the air going outward; apanam--air going
downward; tatha--as also; apare--others; prana--air
going outward; apana--air going downward; gati--movement;
ruddhva--checking; prana-ayama--trance induced by stopping
all breathing; parayanah--so inclined; apare--others; niyata--controlled;
aharah--eating; pranan--outgoing air; pranesu--in
the outgoing air; juhvati--sacrifices.
TRANSLATION And there
are even others who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to
remain in trance, and they practice stopping the movement of the outgoing
breath into the incoming, and incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus
at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Some of them, curtailing
the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself, as a sacrifice.
PURPORT This system
of yoga for controlling the breathing process is called pranayama,
and in the beginning it is practiced in the hatha-yoga system through
different sitting postures. All of these processes are recommended for
controlling the senses and for advancement in spiritual realization. This
practice involves controlling the air within the body to enable simultaneous
passage in opposite directions. The apana air goes downward, and
the prana air goes up. The pranayama-yogi practices breathing
the opposite way until the currents are neutralized into puraka,
equilibrium. Similarly, when the exhaled breathing is offered to the inhaled
breathing, it is called recaka. When both air currents are completely
stopped, it is called kumbhaka-yoga. By practice of kumbhaka-yoga,
the yogis increase the duration of life by many, many years. A Krsna
conscious person, however, being always situated in the transcendental
loving service of the Lord, automatically becomes the controller of the
senses. His senses, being always engaged in the service of Krsna, have
no chance of becoming otherwise engaged. So at the end of life, he is naturally
transferred to the transcendental plane of Lord Krsna; consequently he
makes no attempt to increase his longevity. He is at once raised to the
platform of liberation. A Krsna conscious person begins from the transcendental
stage, and he is constantly in that consciousness. Therefore, there is
no falling down, and ultimately he enters into the abode of the Lord without
delay. The practice of reduced eating is automatically done when one eats
only krsna-prasadam, or food which is offered first to the Lord.
Reducing the eating process is very helpful in the matter of sense control.
And without sense control there is no possibility of getting out of the
material entanglement.
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