The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c11.18

c11.18

The *Maitrī*-, (II, 6) defines *prāṇa* as the breath which goes up (*ya ūrdhvam utkrāmati*), *apāna* as the one which goes down (*yo’yam avāṅ saṃkrāmati*), *vyāna* as the one which favours other breaths (*yena vā etā anugṛhītā*), *samāna* as the one which sends the thickest element of nourishment into the *apāna*¹ and brings the minutest in each member (*yo’yam sthaviṣṭho dhātur annasyāpāne prāpayati aniṣṭho vāṅge’ṅge samānayati*) and *udāna* as the one which disgorges and swallows the drunk and the eaten (*yo’yam pītāśitam udgirati nigarati*). These definitions denote a theory which differs in certain details from the classical theory, *vyāna* being simply given as the adjutant of the totality of other breaths and not as a principle of the movement of the body and the function of swallowing being attributed to *udāna*, whereas in the classical doctrine it has become *prāṇa*. This last difference, moreover, does not in the least indicate that classical theory had not been conceived at the time of the *Maitrī* because the *Chāndogya*, (I, 2, 9) had already taught that one ate and drank thanks to the *prāṇa* of the mouth (*mukhya*). Therefore, it shows simply the existence of a view different from one that has become classical.