History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.285

v7.c94.285

Dr. Rele in his work ‘Mysterious Kundalini’ provides at the very beginning a diagram of the autonomic nervous system according to the Western anatomical science, showing the six cakras and identifying the positions of these six and the sahasrāracakra (lit. thousand-petalled i. e. having numberless petals). He propounded an original view that the Kundalinī is the right vagus nerve. His book is very interesting and he has explored a very large field of yogic practices. He has very thoroughly utilized his deep knowledge of Western anatomy and physiology, but he himself admits in his preface (p. 2) that the explanations of the various Yogic practices and phenomena given by him are possible suggestions only. But it may be noted that Sir John Woodroffe, who made a deep study of Yoga and of Tantra works and who wrote a foreword to Dr. Rele's work, was not prepared to accept Dr. Rele's identification of Kuṇḍalinī with the right Vagus Nerve (p. ii) and holds that Kuṇḍalinī is not a nerve or any other physical substance or mental faculty but rather the Ground Substance of both (Foreword p. iii). Similarly, Shri Kuvalayānand (in his popular handbook on prāṇāyāma part 1, p. 57 n. 3), after referring to Dr. Rele's admission about his explanations being possible suggestions only, points out that Dr. Rele had not tried a single experiment in the laboratory nor had he taken much care to consult the practical experience of the students of Yoga and he states that to him the whole book of Dr. Rele seems to be of doubtful scientific value. He goes further and asserts that Swami Vivekananda's lectures on Rājayoga suffer from the same drawbacks as the work of Dr. Rele does. Śrī Kuvalayānand shows (on pp. 121-126) the value of prāṇāyāma for physical health and the proper functioning of the lungs, the organs of digestion, the liver, pancreas and kidneys and asserts that the spiritual value of Prāṇāyāma is very great.