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THE ANATOMY OF THE TANTRAS
hita, Ch. II, verse 6) is the underpart of the brain; that Sushumna is the spinal cord; "Ida and Pingala are the left and right sympathetic cord respectively.”
*The Uttara Gita has thus described the relations of these structures Ch. II, verses 14 and 15:
"The bony column that extends (from the coccyx] to the occiput is called the Brahmadanda [i,e.,the vertical -column]. Within this is the thin cord Sushumna, which is also called Brahmanandı by the wise. This Sushumna is midway between the Ida and Pingala.
Another Tantric work named Shat-chakra-nirupanam has thus described the position of these three Nadis: -
Outside the spinal canal, on the left is the Ida and on the right is the Pingala, while within the canal and midway between the above two there is the Sushumna, whose structure is like a rope."
Professor Cowell identifies Sushumna with the coroDal artery (vide his translation of Maitreyi Upanishad, P. 270, footnote. Published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal.]
While Pandit Rama Prasad Kashyapa M, A., P. T. S., identifies Sushumna with trachea, and Ida and Pingala with right and left bronchi (Occult Science, the Science of Breath, published at Lahore, 1884). But it is clear from the above description that these three famous Nadis are the spinal cord and the two sympathetic cords.
We shall try now to identify some of the nervous structures described in the Tantras :
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