Prāṇāyāma

The regulation of prāṇa, breath and vital energy. From the fourth limb of aṣṭāṅga to the techniques of retention (kumbhaka) and the vāyus.

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Śivasaṃhitā 60

  1. ŚS 3.3From the different modifications of the Prana, it receives various names; all of them cannot be stated here.
  2. ŚS 3.4Prana, apana, samana, udana, vyana, naga, kurma, Krikara, devadatta, and dhananjaya.
  3. ŚS 3.6Again, out of these ten, the first five are the leading ones; even among these, the prana and apana are the highest agents, in my opinion.
  4. ŚS 3.101Descripción del Siddhāsana. El practicante presiona con cuidado el perineo con el talón del pie y...
  5. ŚS 3.103Esta es la postura perfecta conocida como Siddhāsana, que otorga la perfección a los seres perfectos.
  6. ŚS 3.104Siddhāsana debe ser practicada siempre y con devoción suprema por aquel que cultiva el dominio del *prāṇa*.
  7. ŚS 3.105No existe en la tierra ninguna postura más secreta que esta.
  8. ŚS 3.106Descripción de Padmāsana. Colocando ambos pies sobre los muslos contrarios, con los pies vueltos hacia arriba, con esfuerzo cuidadoso.
  9. ŚS 3.107Fijando la mirada en la punta de la nariz, y la lengua presionada contra la raíz de los dientes.
  10. ŚS 3.109Esta es la postura del loto, proclamada como destructora de todas las enfermedades.
  11. ŚS 3.11Only the knowledge imparted by a Guru, through his lips, is powerful and useful; otherwise it becomes fruitless, weak and very painful.
  12. ŚS 3.112Śivasaṃhitā
  13. ŚS 3.113Esta postura, descrita como intensa, se dice que aviva el fuego del viento vital.
  14. ŚS 3.115…para quienes tienen el hábito de esta práctica, nacen todas las perfecciones.
  15. ŚS 3.117Descripción del svastikāsana. Colocando debidamente ambas plantas de los pies entre los muslos y las rodillas…
  16. ŚS 3.118Mediante este método, el yogui de buen entendimiento debe perfeccionar el viento vital.
  17. ŚS 3.19La convicción de que 'esto dará fruto' es la primera señal del éxito. La segunda es la fe; la tercera, el respeto hacia el Guru; la cuarta, el sentido de igualdad universal; la quinta, el control de los órganos de los sentidos; la sexta, la moderación en la alimentación. No existe una séptima.
  18. ŚS 3.22Then let the wise practitioner close with his right thumb the pingala (right nostril), inspire air through the ida (the left nostril); and keep the air confined – suspend his breathing – as long as he can; and afterwards let him breathe out slowly, and not forcibly, through the right nostril.
  19. ŚS 3.23Again, let him draw breath through the right nostril, and stop breathing as long as his strength permits; then let him expel the air through the left nostril, not forcibly, but slowly and gently.
  20. ŚS 3.25These kumbhakas should be practiced four times – once (1) early in the morning at sunrise, (2) then at midday, (3) the third at sun-set, and (4) the fourth at mid-night.
  21. ŚS 3.27When thus the nadas of the truth-perceiving Yogi are purified, then his defects being all destroyed, he enters the first stage in the practice of Yoga called arambha.
  22. ŚS 3.28Certain signs are perceived in the body of the Yogi whose nadas have been purified. I shall describe, in brief, all these various signs.
  23. ŚS 3.29The body of the person practicing the regulation of breath becomes harmoniously developed, emits sweet scent, and looks beautiful and lovely. In all kinds of Yoga, there are four stages of pranayama – 1: Arambha-avastha (the state of beginning); 2: Ghata-avastha (the state of co-operation of Self and Higher Self); 3: Parichaya-avastha (knowledge); 4: Nishpattiavastha (the final consummation).
  24. ŚS 3.31The following qualities are surely always found in the bodies of every Yogi – Strong appetite, good digestion, cheerfulness, handsome figure, great courage, mighty enthusiasm and full strength.
  25. ŚS 3.33The Yogi should renounce the following; 1: Acids, 2: astringents, 3: pungent substances, 4: salt, 5: mustard, and 6: bitter things; 7: much walking, 8: early bathing (before sun-rise) and 9: things roasted in oil; 10: theft, 11: killing (of animals) 12: enmity towards any person, 13: pride, 14: duplicity, and 15: crookedness; 16: fasting, 17: untruth, 18: thoughts other than those of moksha, 19: cruelty towards animals; 20: companionship of women, 21: worship of (or handling or sitting near) fire, and 22: much talking, without regard to pleasantness or unpleasantness of speech, and lastly, 23: much eating. (7) The means.
  26. ŚS 3.36When the air enters the sun, it is the proper time for the Yogi to take his food (i.e>, when the breath flows through the pingala); when the air enters the moon, he should go to sleep (i.e., when the breath flows through the left nostril or the ida).
  27. ŚS 3.37The Yoga (pranayama) should not be practiced just after the meals, nor when one is very hungry; before beginning the practice, some milk and butter should be taken.
  28. ŚS 3.38When one is well established in his practice, then he need not observe these restrictions. The practitioner should eat in small quantities at a time, though frequently; and should practice kumbhaka daily at the stated times.
  29. ŚS 3.42When the Yogi, though remaining in padmasana, can raise in the air and leave the ground, then know that he has gained vayusiddhi (success over air), which destroys the darkness of the world.
  30. ŚS 3.43But so long (as he does not gain it), let him practice observing all the rules and restrictions laid down above. From the perfection of pranayama, follows decrease of sleep, excrements and urine.
  31. ŚS 3.45When in the body of the practitioner, there is neither any ncrease of phlegm, wind, nor bile; then he may with impunity be rregular in his diet and the rest.
  32. ŚS 3.49The wise practitioner surely destroys al his karma, whether acquired in its life or in the past, through the regulation of breath.
  33. ŚS 3.50The great Yogi destroys by sixteen pranayamas the various virtues and vices accumulated in his past life.
  34. ŚS 3.51This pranayama destroys sin, as fire burns away a heap of cotton; it makes the Yogi free from sin; next it destroys the bonds of all his good actions. 12 The Siva Samhita – Chapter III 52. The mighty Yogi having attained, through pranayama, the eight sorts of psychic powers, and having crossed the ocean of virtue and vice, moves about freely through the three worlds. Increase of Duration.
  35. ŚS 3.52
  36. ŚS 3.54The Yogi acquires the following powers: vakya siddhi (prophecy), transporting himself everywhere at will (kamachari), clairvoyance (duradristhi), clairaudience (durashruti), subtle-sight (shushma-drishti), and the power of entering another's body (parakaypravesana), turning base metals to gold by rubbing them with his excrements and urine, and the power of becoming invisible, and lastly, moving in the air. II. The Ghata Avasta.
  37. ŚS 3.55When, by the practice of pranayama, the Yogi reaches the state of ghata (water-jar), then for him there is nothing in this circle of universe which he cannot accomplish.
  38. ŚS 3.58Whatever object the Yogi perceives, let him consider it to be the spirit. When the modes of action of various senses are known, then they can be conquered.
  39. ŚS 3.60After this, through exercise, the Yogi reaches the Parichaya-avastha. When the air leaving the sun and moon (the right and the left nostrils), remains unmoved and steady in the ether of the tube sushumna, then it is in the parichaya state.
  40. ŚS 3.65The wise Yogi, who thus continually practices concentration (dharana), never dies through hundreds of cycles of the great Brahma. 13 The Siva Samhita – Chapter III IV. The Nishpatti. 66. After this, through gradual exercise, the Yogi reaches the Nishpatti-avestha (the condition of consummation). The Yogi, having destroyed all the seeds of karma which existed from the beginning, drinks the waters of immortality.
  41. ŚS 3.67When the jivan-mukta (delivered in the present life,) tranquil Yogi has obtained, through practice, the consummation of samadhi (meditation), and when this state of consummated samadhi can be voluntarily evoked, then let the Yogi take hold of the chetana (conscious intelligence), together with the air, and with the force of (kriya-sakti) conquer the six wheels, and absorb it in the force called jnana-sakti.
  42. ŚS 3.68Now we have described the management of the air in order to remove the troubles (which await the Yogi); through this knowledge of vayu-sadhana vanish all sufferings and enjoyments in the circle of this universe.
  43. ŚS 3.69When the skilful Yogi, by placing the tongue at the root of the palate, can drink the prana vayu, then there occurs complete dissolution of all Yogas (i.e., he is no longer in need of Yoga).1
  44. ŚS 3.70When the skilful Yogi, knowing the laws of action of prana and apana, can drink the cold air through the concentration of the mouth, in the form of a crow-bill, then he becomes entitled to liberation.
  45. ŚS 3.71The wise Yogi, who daily drinks the ambrosial air, according to proper rules, destroys fatigue, burning (fever), decay and old age, and injuries.
  46. ŚS 3.73When having firmly closed the glottis by the proper yogic method, and contemplating on the goddess Kundalini, he drinks (the moon fluid of immortality), he becomes a sage or poet within six months.
  47. ŚS 3.74When he drinks the air through the crow-bill, both in the morning and in the evening twilight, contemplating that it goes to the mouth of the kundalini, consumption of the lungs (phthisis) is cured.
  48. ŚS 3.75When the wise Yogi drinks the fluid day and night through the crow-beak, his diseases are destroyed: he acquires certainly the powers of clairaudience and clairvoyance.
  49. ŚS 3.76When firmly closing the teeth (by pressing the upper on the lower jaw), and placing the tongue upwards, the wise Yogi drinks the fluid very slowly, within a short period he conquers death.
  50. ŚS 3.78If he continues this exercise for a year, he becomes a Bhairava; he obtains the powers of anima &c., and conquers all elements and the elementals.
  51. ŚS 3.79If the Yogi can remain for half a second with his tongue drawn upwards, he becomes free from disease, death, and old age.
  52. ŚS 3.81Through this exercise and Yoga, he becomes like Kamadeva, without rival. He feels neither hunger, nor thirst, nor sleep, nor swoon.
  53. ŚS 3.82Acting upon these methods the great Yogi becomes in the world perfectly independent; and freed from all obstacles, he can go everywhere.
  54. ŚS 3.91Sitting in the Padmasana posture, and knowing the action of the prana and apana, when the Yogi performs the regulation of the breath, he is emancipated. I tell you the truth. Verily, I tell you the truth. 3. The Ugrasana.
  55. ŚS 3.92Stretch out both the legs and keep them apart; firmly take hold of the head by the hands, and place them on the knees. This is called ugrasana (the stern-posture), it excites the motion of the air, destroys the dullness and uneasiness of the body, and is also called paschima-uttana (the posterior crossed posture.) That wise man who daily practices this noble posture can certainly induce the flow of the air up through the anus.
  56. ŚS 3.94This should be kept secret with the greatest care, and not be given to anybody and everybody. Through it, vayu-siddhi is easilyobtained, and it destroys a multitude of miseries. 4. The Svastikasana.
  57. ŚS 3.95Place the soles of the feet completely under the thighs, keep the body straight, and sit at ease. This is called the Svastikasana.
  58. ŚS 3.96In this way, the wise Yogi should practice the regulation of the air. No disease can attack his body, and he obtains vayu-siddhi.
  59. ŚS 3.98
  60. ŚS 3.99

Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā 52

  1. HYP 1.7The knowledge of Haṭha must be kept very secret by the yogī who desires accomplishment. It is powerful when kept secret, but loses its power when disclosed indiscriminately.
  2. HYP 1.35Śiva taught eighty-four āsanas. Of these, I will describe the four essential ones.
  3. HYP 1.36Now Svastikāsana: placing both soles of the feet between the thighs and knees, sitting with the body erect — this is known as Svastikāsana.
  4. HYP 1.38The yogī seated in Padmāsana, filling the air through the channels and retaining it, without doubt attains liberation.
  5. HYP 1.45There is no āsana like Siddhāsana, no kumbhaka like Kevala, no mudrā like Khecarī, no laya like Nāda.
  6. HYP 1.46The yogī seated in Padmāsana, who fills with air through the gates of the nāḍīs and retains it, without doubt attains liberation.
  7. HYP 1.56Thus, through postures and contractions, the yogī achieves success. When properly perfected, the body attains supreme stability and strength.
  8. HYP 1.66With prāṇāyāma practiced correctly, all diseases are destroyed. With incorrect practice, all diseases arise.
  9. HYP 1.67Hiccup, asthma, cough, headaches, ear and eye pain: these and other various diseases arise from the disturbance of prāṇa.
  10. HYP 2.1With āsana firmly established, the yogī, with self-control, eating healthy and moderate food, should practice prāṇāyāma according to the instructions of his guru.
  11. HYP 2.2When the breath moves, the mind moves. When the breath is still, the mind becomes still. The yogī attains immobility. Therefore, he should restrain the breath.
  12. HYP 2.3When the breath is unstable, the mind is unstable. When the breath is stable, the mind stabilizes, and the yogī attains immobility. Therefore, he should control the breath.
  13. HYP 2.4As long as breath remains in the body, there is life. When it departs, there is death. Therefore, one should control the breath.
  14. HYP 2.5While the nāḍīs are full of impurities, breath cannot enter the central channel. How then can the state of no-mind arise? How can there be success in the goal?
  15. HYP 2.6When the entire nāḍī system, previously full of impurities, becomes purified, then the yogī becomes capable of retaining prāṇa.
  16. HYP 2.7With prāṇāyāma practiced correctly, all diseases are destroyed. With incorrect practice, all diseases arise.
  17. HYP 2.8Just as the lion, elephant, and tiger are tamed gradually, so must prāṇa be controlled little by little; otherwise it destroys the practitioner.
  18. HYP 2.9With correct practice of prāṇāyāma, all diseases are destroyed. With incorrect practice, all diseases arise.
  19. HYP 2.10Hiccups, asthma, cough, headache, ear pain, and eye pain — these and other various diseases arise from disturbance of the wind.
  20. HYP 2.11Exhale moderately, inhale moderately, retain moderately — thus success is obtained.
  21. HYP 2.12When the breath is unsteady, the mind is unsteady. When the breath is steady, the mind becomes steady. The yogi attains stillness. Therefore, one should control the breath.
  22. HYP 2.13As long as breath remains in the body, there is life. Its departure is death. Therefore, the breath should be controlled.
  23. HYP 2.15Only when the entire nāḍī system, which is full of impurities, becomes purified does the yogi become capable of retaining prāṇa.
  24. HYP 2.16Therefore, prāṇāyāma should be practiced daily with a sattvic mind, so that the impurities in suṣumnā nāḍī may be removed.
  25. HYP 2.19One should practice supreme kumbhaka gradually following the solar order. Then one should practice prāṇāyāma beginning first with iḍā.
  26. HYP 2.22In the inferior stage, perspiration appears; in the middle stage, there is trembling; in the superior stage, steadiness is attained; then one should firmly retain the breath.
  27. HYP 2.23One should rub the body with the water (sweat) produced by the effort. By this, firmness and lightness of the body are developed.
  28. HYP 2.26With correct practice of prāṇāyāma, all diseases are destroyed. With incorrect practice, all diseases arise.
  29. HYP 2.39Just as the lion, elephant, and tiger are tamed gradually, so too the breath should be controlled gradually; otherwise it destroys the practitioner.
  30. HYP 2.40Through correct practice of prāṇāyāma, all diseases are destroyed. Through incorrect practice, all diseases arise.
  31. HYP 2.41Hiccups, asthma, cough, pain in head, ears, and eyes — these and other various diseases arise from disturbance of prāṇa.
  32. HYP 2.42Exhale with measure, inhale with measure, retain with measure. Thus perfection is attained.
  33. HYP 2.44Sūrya Bhedana, Ujjāyī, Sītkārī, Śītalī, Bhastrikā, Bhrāmarī, Mūrcchā, and Plāvinī — these are the eight kumbhakas.
  34. HYP 2.48First perspiration appears, then trembling, in the third stage stability is reached, and then prāṇa moves through the ground (rises up).
  35. HYP 2.49With the sweat produced by effort, one should rub the body. By this, firmness and lightness arise in the body.
  36. HYP 2.50Having balanced prāṇa and apāna that flow within the nose, the yogi, without laziness, should drink the air with attention at the mouth.
  37. HYP 2.51Āsana, kumbhaka, the various practices called mudrās, and then absorption in nāda — this is the order of practice in haṭha yoga.
  38. HYP 2.55Now ujjāyī: closing the mouth, inhaling slowly through both nostrils, so that the sound is heard from the throat to the heart.
  39. HYP 2.58Now sītkārī: one should make the sound 'sīt' with the mouth and exhale only through the nose. With this practice, one becomes like a second Kāmadeva.
  40. HYP 2.61Now śītalī: inhaling the air through the tongue, practicing kumbhaka as before, the wise one should exhale slowly through both nostrils.
  41. HYP 2.63Now bhastrikā: placing both auspicious feet on the thighs, this becomes padmāsana, destroyer of all sins.
  42. HYP 2.64Having correctly assumed padmāsana, with neck and abdomen aligned, the wise one should close the mouth and exhale vigorously through the nose.
  43. HYP 2.72Until kevala kumbhaka arises spontaneously, the wise one should practice the methods; pure kumbhaka arises from haṭha.
  44. HYP 2.75When kevala kumbhaka is perfected, what is not achieved in this world? One in whose hand death rests, whose orders are not followed?
  45. HYP 2.78Without rāja yoga, the earth has no value; without rāja yoga, the night is not beautiful; without rāja yoga, even the most elaborate mudrās lack splendor.
  46. HYP 3.1Just as the supreme serpent (Śeṣa) supports the earth with its mountains and forests, so Kuṇḍalinī is the support of all yoga practices.
  47. HYP 3.5Mahāmudrā, Mahābandha, Mahāvedha, Khecarī, Uḍḍiyāna, Mūlabandha, and the bandha called Jālandhara...
  48. HYP 3.104The lord of the senses is the mind; the lord of the mind is the breath; the lord of the breath is laya (dissolution); that dissolution depends on nāda.
  49. HYP 3.14Then you exhale very slowly, never quickly;this is what the best among the sages call Mahāmudrā.
  50. HYP 4.7One should eat ghee and jaggery before the first hour of the day. When the wind enters suṣumṇā, kevala kumbhaka arises.
  51. HYP 4.21By that which the breath is controlled, the mind is also controlled. And by that which the mind is controlled, the breath is controlled.
  52. HYP 4.78This must necessarily be cultivated;without prāṇāyāma in any case.Therefore, japa and everything else must be abandoned by the supreme yogi.

Gorakṣa Śataka 14

  1. goraksha-shataka 4Āsana, control of prāṇa, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi: these are the six limbs of yoga.
  2. goraksha-shataka 38Por temor al tiempo (muerte), Brahmā, los yoguis y los munis son devotos del prāṇāyāma; por tanto, uno debe controlar el prāṇa.
  3. goraksha-shataka 41El yogui, sentado en el Padmāsana, saludando al guru Śiva, con la mirada en la punta de la nariz, solitario, debe practicar el prāṇāyāma.
  4. goraksha-shataka 42El prāṇa es el viento que reside en el cuerpo; su control es el āyāma (restricción). La medida de una sola respiración: el yogui que la conoce se vuelve como el espacio.
  5. goraksha-shataka 44Meditando en el disco lunar, semejante al océano de néctar, de resplandor blanco como el océano de leche: en el prāṇāyāma, uno se vuelve feliz.
  6. goraksha-shataka 46El yogui, meditando en el disco solar, un montón de llamas de fuego ardiente, situado en el ombligo, se vuelve feliz en el prāṇāyāma.
  7. goraksha-shataka 47Recaka (exhalación), pūraka (inhalación) y kumbhaka (retención) que tiene la naturaleza de praṇava (AUM): el prāṇāyāma es de tres tipos, con una medida de doce mātrās.
  8. goraksha-shataka 48Doce mātrās es lo inferior; el doble, lo medio; el triple, lo superior: esta es la determinación del prāṇāyāma.
  9. goraksha-shataka 49En el nivel inferior hay sudor denso, en el medio hay temblor; en el superior el yogui en Padmāsana se eleva (flota) repetidamente.
  10. goraksha-shataka 51Lentamente, lentamente debe beber el aire; lentamente, lentamente expulsarlo. No debe retener el aire en exceso, ni liberarlo rápidamente.
  11. goraksha-shataka 53Así el prāṇāyāma se convierte en destructor del combustible de los pecados; es llamado siempre por los yoguis el gran puente sobre el océano de pecados.
  12. goraksha-shataka 54El āsana destruye las enfermedades del cuerpo, el prāṇāyāma destruye los pecados, y el pratyāhāra destruye siempre las perturbaciones mentales.
  13. goraksha-shataka 67Unido con el āsana, conectado con el prāṇāyāma, unido con el pratyāhāra: así debe practicar la dhāraṇā (concentración).
  14. goraksha-shataka 82En el loto del corazón, de resplandor como el relámpago, con las variaciones de prāṇāyāma, fijando la mirada en la punta de la nariz, meditando: uno se vuelve de naturaleza de Brahman.

Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 13

  1. GS 2.70Then one should practice prāṇāyāma, as much as the knower of truth desires. Then one should practice dhāraṇā, and in dhāraṇā, the mind.
  2. GS 3.59Having sealed the great prāṇa, one should then make its movement. Then one should practice prāṇāyāma, as much as the knower of truth desires.
  3. GS 3.60Dedicated to many prāṇāyāmas, the yogi concentrated, always dedicated to the practice of the mudrās, the yogi devoted to yoga...
  4. GS 4.3Prāṇāyāma, and also meditation, and the fifth is thus declared. These five pratyāhāras are givers of perfection to yogis.
  5. GS 4.4Yoni mudrā, Śāmbhavī, and also purification of the nāḍīs, prāṇāyāma, and also meditation — this is called pratyāhāra.
  6. GS 4.5Thus pratyāhāra has been described, giver of perfection to yogis. Then one should practice prāṇāyāma, as much as the knower of truth desires.
  7. GS 5.1Gheraṇḍa said: Now I will speak of prāṇāyāma, facilitator of happiness for yogis. Through which, connected, the great yogi becomes a man liberated in life.
  8. GS 5.2Prāṇāyāma is of two types: with retention (sahita) and absolute (kevala). I will describe the sahita; the kevala is considered supreme.
  9. GS 5.5When the purification of the nāḍīs occurs, then one should practice prāṇāyāma. Without purification of the nāḍīs, the yogi will become subject to diseases.
  10. GS 5.6Prāṇāyāma is of ten types; its method is now stated: Sūryabhedana, Ujjāyī, Sītkārī, Śītalī also...
  11. GS 5.7Bhastrikā, Bhrāmarī, Mūrcchā, and Kevalī are thus declared. These ten prāṇāyāmas are givers of perfection to yogis.
  12. GS 5.25Thus the prāṇāyāmas of ten types, the path of yogis, have been described. The yogi dedicated to prāṇāyāma becomes a man liberated in life.
  13. GS 7.23Ṣaṭkarma, āsana, mudrā, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, samādhi — these are the steps (pada) of haṭha yoga.

Upaniṣads 7

  1. upanishads 11Beyond the Great is the Unmanifested; beyond the Unmanifested is the Puruṣa. Beyond the Puruṣa there is nothing — that is the limit, that is the supreme goal.
  2. upanishads 3This prāṇa is born from the Ātman. As the shadow is spread over a person, so (prāṇa) is spread over This (Ātman). It comes to this body by the action of the mind.
  3. upanishads 4As an emperor assigns officials (saying): 'Govern these villages, govern those villages', so this prāṇa places the other prāṇas in their separate locations.
  4. upanishads 6In the heart resides this Ātman. Here there are one hundred and one nāḍīs. Each of them has one hundred branches. Each branch has seventy-two thousand ramifications. In them circulates vyāna.
  5. upanishads 7Furthermore, by one (nāḍī), upward, udāna (leads): by merit, to the world of merit; by demerit, to the world of demerit; by both, to the human world.
  6. upanishads 9Controlling the prāṇa here, with disciplined movements, when the breath diminishes one should exhale through the nose. The wise one should hold the mind with vigilance, like a chariot drawn by difficult horses.
  7. upanishads 4Different from that (body) made of the essence of food, more interior, is the Self made of prāṇa. By it the former is filled. It has the form of a person. Prāṇa is its head, vyāna its right wing, apāna its left wing, space is its body, earth its tail and foundation.

Bhagavad Gītā 6

  1. BG 12.15One by whom the world is not disturbed, and who is not disturbed by the world, free from excessive joy, impatience, fear and anxiety — that one is also dear to Me.
  2. BG 2.58When one completely withdraws the senses from sense objects, as a tortoise draws in its limbs, then one's wisdom is firmly established.
  3. BG 3.4Not by abstaining from action does one attain freedom from action, nor by renunciation alone does one reach perfection.
  4. BG 4.29Others, having restrained the flow of inhalation and exhalation, dedicated to prāṇāyāma, and others of regulated food, offer the prāṇa into the prāṇa.
  5. BG 6.10The yogī should constantly concentrate on the Self, remaining in solitude, with mind and body controlled, free from desires and possessions.
  6. BG 6.13Holding the body, head and neck erect and aligned, motionless and steady, gazing at the tip of the nose, not looking in other directions.

Yoga Yājñavalkya 3

  1. yoga-yajnavalkya 46Yama, niyama, likewise āsana, also prāṇāyāma, Gārgī, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā.
  2. yoga-yajnavalkya 48The foremost āsanas are eight; three among them are the best of the best. Prāṇāyāma is declared as threefold, and pratyāhāra as fivefold.
  3. yoga-yajnavalkya 18Having performed the purification of the nāḍīs, then practice prāṇāyāma.

Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali 1

  1. Sūtra 3.46Bodily perfection consists of beauty of form, grace, strength, and diamond-like hardness.

Yoga Vāsiṣṭha 1

  1. yoga-vasistha 26By prāṇāyāma, by yoga, by dhyāna — investigate diligently

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