History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.252

v7.c94.252

Caland, Dumont and others who hold that the word 'prāṇa' in ancient Sanskrit literature means 'expiration', chiefly rely on Śaṅkarācārya's explanation of Chān²³⁵⁵ Up I. 3. 3 (yadvai prāniti sa prāṇo yad-apāniti sospānaḥ &c ). They hold that ‘antarākarṣati vāyum’ in Śāṅkarabhāṣya (on Chān Up I. 3 3) only mean ‘inhaling’; but that expression is capable of meaning ‘it draws the air into the inside of the body (i e. in the abdomen) and what is more important, one has to note that the interpretation put on Śaṅkara's words here by Caland, Dumont and others is directly opposed to Śaṅkarācārya's own explanations in several other passages of the Upaniṣads, such as Bṛ. Up. I. 5 3, III. 4. 1, Chān Up. III. 13. 1–6, Kaṭha 5. 3; Praśna III. 4–5 (vide note 2353). The bhāṣya on Bṛ. Up. I. 5. 3 ²³⁵⁶ remarks ‘Prāṇa is an activity of the heart which moves about in the mouth and nose and is so called because it is led forth; Apāna is a downward movement starting from the navel and is so called because it casts out urine and excreta’, On Praśna Up. III. 4 (quoted in n. 2353) the Śāṅkarabhāṣya says the same thing about Prāṇa and Apāna. Not only Śaṅkarācārya but a much earlier authority viz the Dharmasūtra of Devala (mentioned by Śaṅkara, vide p. 1352 n. 2208 above) defines the working of Prāṇa and Apāna as done by Śaṅkarācārya in his bhāṣya on Bṛ. Up. I. 5. 3.