Śivasaṃhitā 3.7

This verse offers a precise anatomical mapping of the five principal vāyus. The heart as the seat of prāṇa reflects its life-sustaining function: inhalation and primary vitality. Apāna governs the inferior pole, the perineum and anus, presiding over elimination. Samāna, centred at the navel, regulates digestion and assimilation, while udāna occupies the throat and vyāna pervades the entire body without a fixed residence.

The word maṇḍala in nābhimaṇḍala carries more weight than a simple «region»; it denotes a sacred disc or circle, evoking the image of the digestive fire (jāṭharāgni) as a radiating wheel at the body’s centre. Udāna, at the throat, governs speech, swallowing, and — in Tantric physiology — the upward movement of consciousness at death. Vyāna is the all-pervading wind, the connective tissue of the subtle body.

This distribution has direct practical implications for prāṇāyāma. Knowing the seat of each wind allows the practitioner to direct awareness consciously to those zones during breath retention (kumbhaka), amplifying the practice’s effect. The Haṭhapradīpikā and other parallel texts confirm this same topographic scheme, establishing it as canonical within the broader Haṭha tradition.