Book Title: Pran and Pranayam
Author(s): Niranjananand Saraswati Swami
Publisher: Yoga Publication Trust

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Page 353
________________ Pusha - one of the seven minor nadis, flowing from the left big toe to the right ear Raja yoga - the royal yoga; yoga of awakening the psychic awareness and faculties through meditation Rajas - second of the three gunas or qualities of nature; dynamism, activity, passion, oscillation Rajasic - pertaining to rajas Rajo guna - quality of rajas Ram - bija mantra of manipura chakra Rechaka - exhalation Rig Veda - oldest of the four Vedas (vedic texts and the most ancient sacred book of the Hindus Rishi - inspired poet, ascetic, realized sage; one who contemplates on the self Rudra - the third god in the cosmic trinity, the Destroyer; the destructive aspect of Shiva personifying the forces of disin tegration of the cosmos Rudra granthi - lit. 'knot of Rudra'; psychic knot in the vishuddhi and ajna chakras symbolizing attachment to siddhis or higher mental attributes Sadhaka - one who practises sadhana; spiritual aspirant Sadhana - spiritual practice or discipline performed regularly for the attainment of inner experience and self-realization Sagarbha - impregnated; pranayama practised with mantra (pranayama impregnated with the power of mantra) Sahasrara - abode of superconsciousness; highest psychic/pranic centre which symbolizes the threshold between the psychic and spiritual realms, located at the crown of the head, associated with the pituitary gland Sahita - combined with something Sahita kumbhaka - pranayama in which inhalation, retention and exhalation can be practised with or without bija mantra, according to the Gheranda Samhita Samadhi - culmination of meditation; state of unity with the object of meditation and the universal consciousness; final stage of Patanjali's ashtanga yoga Samana - sideways moving prana situated between the navel and the diaphragm, which is the pranic force of manipura Samskara - mental impression stored in the subtle body as an archetype 348

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