Chapter 4, Verse 29
Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga — Sanskrit shloka, transliteration, word meanings, English translation, and commentary.
Original Sanskrit verse
Transliteration
Word meanings
apāne—the incoming breath; juhvati—offer; prāṇam—the outgoing breath; prāṇe—in the outgoing breath; apānam—incoming breath; tathā—also; apare—others; prāṇa—of the outgoing breath; apāna—and the incoming breath; gatī—movement; ruddhvā—blocking; prāṇa-āyāma—control of breath; parāyaṇāḥ—wholly devoted apare—others; niyata—having controlled; āhārāḥ—food intake; prāṇān—life-breaths; prāṇeṣhu—life-energy; juhvati—sacrifice; sarve—all; api—also; ete—these; yajña-vidaḥ—knowers of sacrifices; yajña-kṣhapita—being cleansed by performances of sacrifices; kalmaṣhāḥ—of impurities
English translation
Others offer as sacrifice the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming into the outgoing, restraining the flow of the outgoing and the incoming breaths, solely absorbed in the restraint of the breath.
— Swami Sivananda
Listen to Shloka 4.29
Commentary
Some Yogis practise Puraka (inhalation); some Yogis practise Rechaka (exhalation);,and some Yogis practise Kumbhaka (retention of breath). The five subPranas and the other Pranas are merged in the chief Prana (MukhyaPrana) by the practice of Pranayama. When the Prana is controlled; the mind also stops its wanderings and becomes steady the senses are also thinned out and merged in the Prana. It is through the vibration of Prana that the activities of the mind and the senses are kept up. If the Prana is controlled; the mind; the intellect and the senses cease to function.
Commentary by Swami Sivananda
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