The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c10.26

c10.26

These passages are not very significant and it should be noted that all the uses of *prāṇa*, that of *vyāna* and those of the root *an* with the prefixes *apa-* and *sam-* are found, except one, in the Ist and the Xth Books of the *Rgveda* which are the latest. The only exception is in the IIIrd Book. Evidently, it does not follow that breath was not still well-known at the time of the composition of the most ancient hymns. The subjects of these gave no opportunity to its mention. But the references become more numerous in the Xth Book and in the *Atharvaveda* where relations between the Cosmos and the human or animal body are referred to more often, which leads to a mention of breath and the breaths; at the same time the limbs of the body are referred to more frequently and there is speculation on the whole subject.