day and night are numbered as 1,13,180. 1 (Of the prāṇas) the first (viz.,) Prāṇa is pervading the heart; Apāna, the anus; Samāna, the navel; Uḍāna, the throat; and Vyāna, all parts of the body. Then come the colours of the five prāṇas in order. Prāṇa is said to be of the colour of a blood-red gem (or coral); Apāna which is in the middle is of the colour of Inḍragopa (an insect of white or red colour); Samāna is between the colour of pure milk and crystal (or oily and shining), between both (Prāṇa and Apāna): Uḍāna is apāṇdara (pale white); and Vyāna resembles the colour of archis (or ray of light). That man is never reborn wherever he may die, whose breath goes out of the head after piercing through this maṇdala (of the pineal gland). That man is never reborn.
Footnotes
216:1 The Upanishaḍ treating of Nāḍa (spiritual sound) which is Amṛṭa (nectar). Here Prāṇas are spoken of, as they produce Nāḍa within and without.
216:2 It is said to be the subtle, gross and other microcosmic bodies. It also means sign.
216:3 It is said to be the macrocosmic bodies of Virāt, etc. It means a word or letter.
216:4 In this classification, tārka is introduced newly. It means; the examination of the mind being attracted to objects and knowing that siḍḍhis are impediments to progress.
217:1 The vyāhṛṭis are Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, etc., and the head is Om, Āpo, etc.
217:2 Lit., car-circle which is a mystical chakra or diagram for invoking the ḍevaṭā; but some commentators make raṭha mean Om: and maṇdala, the circle of Śiva.
218:1 There are four openings in the body; three from which the astral, the lower mental and the higher mental bodies escape: the last being of ṭurya.
218:2 As measured by the width of the middle finger: Yājñavalkya says, Prāṇa is 12 digits beyond the body.
219:1 One commentator makes it thus: Taking 21,600 for each of the five Prāṇas, we get 1,08,000: for the five sub-prāṇas, 5 × 1036 is 5,180. Hence the total is 1,13,180. Another commentator makes it 21,600 alone.
Next: 27. Varāha-Upanishaḍ of Kṛshṇa-Yajurveḍa
Hinduism
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