Hindu Medicine c8.141

c8.141

The notion of the direct descent of two channels from the nose to the base of the spinal cord could not have sprung into existence and become a generally accepted, classical pattern, had any importance been attributed in Hindu medicine proper to the lungs as a main organ of the respiratory process. The functions of exhaling and inhaling are viewed as the two most significant activities of the enlivening motor force of the wind, which animates the whole organism. From the standpoint of Hindu tradition in general, it is an odd fact that Hindu medicine lists but five major manifestations of the all-pervading force of life-breath, while yoga lists ten altogether.⁹ These ten, moreover, were incorporated in the orthodox Brahmin doctrine of Vedānta concerning the human body.¹⁰ The yoga treatise “ Gorakṣaśataka ” describes them as follows (33-37):