History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.255

v7.c94.255

In the Yoga system (which is based on the Upaniṣads) prāṇa implies more than mere breath. It means vital energy, powers such as speech, eye, ear, manas in the body as well as in different forms in the universe. Its most perceptible manifestation in the human body is the movement of the lungs. The Y. S. inculcates on the yogic student the doctrine that by scientific control (as laid down in it) of prāṇa in the body it is possible to obtain control over the deep-seated (and ordinarily imperceptible) forces in human consciousness as well as in the external world.