Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali

Author(s): Prabhavnanda Swami, Christopher Isherwood
Publisher: Ramkrishna Math Madras

Page 48

PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS
and follow that of the bees. I will refrain from findin others and look only for the good which is in them. vow which we should all take and try to live up to.
toegd-fTETT UTEN AT STYRT 113811 34. The mind may also be calmed by expulsion and
of the breath.
The word used here by Patanjali is prana. Pran means energy—the vital energy which we draw into from the surrounding universe. Since this energy is primarily by breathing, we may translate prana as “ this particular context.
Later on, we shall learn more about the system of exercises to which Patanjali refers. It is known as pr But, without going into details, it is necessary to general observations here.
First, we must note that Patanjali sees control of th a psychophysical problem. In this he agrees wit] scientific thought. Studies of breathing have showi method of respiration affects the whole organism. can actually be induced by deep steady inhalations ai tions. Mental disturbance and despondency are acci (as Patanjali notes in aphorism 31 of this chapter) by breathing; rapid, shallow and uncontrolled.
Secondly, it must never be forgotten that prar merely a physical means to a spiritual end. Many ur people imagine that yoga is nothing but a system of exercises and complicated postures--"holding your ! standing on your head.” When they speak of "y really only mean hatha yoga, which is the correct nar system of exercises, as originally practised in ancii Hatha yoga was designed to prepare the aspirant fo experience by perfecting his body; but it has been co