Then Kauśalya, son of Aśvalāyana, asked him: Lord, from where is this Prāṇa born? How does it enter this body? How does it establish itself by dividing itself? By what does it go out? How does it support the external? How the internal?

The third praśna begins. Kauśalya Aśvalāyana asks about the origin and functioning of Prāṇa with six specific questions:

1. Kutaḥ…jāyate — From where is it born? The origin of the vital principle.
2. Katham…āyāti — How does it enter? The process of incarnation.
3. Katham…pratiṣṭhate — How does it establish itself? The distribution in the body.
4. Kena…utkramate — By what does it go out? Death and departure.
5. Katham…bāhyam — How does it support the external? The relationship with the world.
6. Katham…adhyātmam — How the internal? The regulation of the body.

These questions are the foundation of the subtle physiology (śarīra-vidyā) of yoga. The yogī does not merely want to know Prāṇa theoretically, but to understand its practical functioning in the body and in the cosmos.

Pippalāda’s answer will cover these six questions, revealing the connection between individual Prāṇa and cosmic Prāṇa.