Prn ah prajnamudayatyea Srya
Correlation of Sun and Breathing Behavior
Vivarpam harin am jtavedasam
Paryan am jyotirekam tapantam
Sahara-rami atatha vartamnah
Prn ah prajnamudayatyea Srya
Can there be any link between the Sun and the breathing patterns of human
beings? Can there be a time structure for human breathing?
Answer to this question in all probability shall arise from the chronobiologists who have identified
such rhythms as circadian, circannual etc. which relate to certain bodily functions.
What else? What is the scope of a spectacular micro and macrocosmic tie up that renders
manifestation of a uni-verse the experience of being one with the Cosmos?
We have little answers forthcoming, as we have not looked upon the astronomical wisdom of the
ancients with the seriousness it deserves. Have a look at the following notions
1. Ancient Indian scriptures treat Sun as breath (prna-srya in Sanskrit) and accordingly they divided
the apparent solar orbit into 21600 minutes corresponding to 21600 breaths during one diurnal
rotation.
Cant biologists verify this count of 21600 during a diurnal rotation?
Corollary to the above count, is the fact that all our time intervals are a count of the number of
breaths. Perhaps the sexagesimal system arose out of this count of 21600 and its division into 60
parts of 24 minutes ancient units of time. Even the ancient values of the length of the tropical,
sidereal and anomalistic years reflect the count of breaths used in estimation of the same.
Considering breath as a time unit defined as 1/21600 of a day, we can write:
Anomalistic Sidereal year = 60 breaths [365.25636 + (60/21600) = 365.25914] Or
Anomalistic Sidereal year = 50 breaths [365.2563624 + (60/21600) = 365.2586772]
Sidereal Seasonal year = 300 breaths [365.2563624 - (300/21600) = 365.24247]
Anomalistic Seasonal length = 360 breaths [365.2422 + (360/21600) = 365.25885)]
The extra-long sidereal year that we find attested in Indian and Babylonian astronomy is 365.25875
days and this is very close to365.24219 +(360/21600) = 365.25885 days. Value obtained above
from the difference of 50 breaths between anomalistic and sidereal year lengths i.e. 365.25868 is
the same as the year length given in Aryabhayam.
2. What exactly is a solar transit (Srya-samkramam)?
Look at the religious significance attached to the notion of Sryasamkramam (solar transit into
sidereal signs). Can the solar transit into a sign (ri) be observed? If not how the computation can
be done of transit times?
Samkrama is a critical moment for enhancing the divine potence of deities also. Special rituals are
advised by the scriptures at every ri-samkramam. Unless there is a physical effect and a unique
moment it is irrational to observe such moments based on Pan cgas which give different times.
Samkrama means a shift of path. In music the transition from one rga to another is called
samkrama. Where in the sky can we find the sun shifting its path? Can irrational arithmetic of
dividing the sky into 12 parts in any possible manner lead to the concept of Sryasamkramam?
The ancient wisdom says that the Sun controls the breathing behavior of human beings. 12 times in
a year, there is a noticeable switch over of breaths from one nostril to the other.
3. How the time structure and Samkramam can be observed?
Times of solar transits and switching of breath across the nostrils named after sun and moon can be
derived as follows. Observation of breathing at these times can lead to the discovery of the
correlation of the human breathing and Sun.
Sidereal Sign (Rasi) Entry Point Solar Transit Time
English Name Indian Name Longitude Date IST
Sagittarius Dhanu 240 Tuesday, December 16, 2008 12:55
Capricon Makara 270 Wednesday, January 14, 2009 23:36
Aquarius Kumbha 300 Friday, February 13, 2009 12:41
Pisces Meena 330 Saturday, March 15, 2009 09:48
Aries Mesha 360 Tuesday, April 14, 2009 18:37
Taurus Vrshabha 30 Friday, May 15, 2009 15:47
Gemini Mithuna 60 Monday, June 15, 2009 22:34
Cancer Kataka 90 Thursday, July 17, 2009 09:26
Leo Simha 120 Monday, August 17, 2009 17:39
Virgo Kanya 150 Thursday, September 17, 2009 17:17
Libra Tula 180 Saturday, October 18, 2009 04:56
Scorpio Vrschika 210 Monday, November 17, 2009 04:30
Sagittarius Dhanu 240 Wednesday, December 16, 2009 19:01
Capricon Makara 270 Thursday, January 15, 2010 05:46
Aquarius Kumbha 300 Saturday, February 13, 2010 18:54
Pisces Meena 330 Monday, March 15, 2010 16:01
Aries Mesha 360 Wednesday, April 15, 2010 00:47
Taurus Vrshabha 30 Saturday, May 15, 2010 21:53
Gemini Mithuna 60 Tuesday, June 16, 2010 04:38
Cancer Kataka 90 Saturday, July 17, 2010 15:30
Leo Simha 120 Tuesday, August 17, 2010 23:44
Virgo Kanya 150 Friday, September 17, 2010 23:24
Libra Tula 180 Sunday, October 18, 2010 11:03
Scorpio Vrschika 210 Tuesday, November 17, 2010 10:37
Sagittarius Dhanu 240 Thursday, December 17, 2010 01:09
Capricon Makara 270 Saturday, January 15, 2011 11:53
Aquarius Kumbha 300 Sunday, February 14, 2011 00:59
Pisces Meena 330 Tuesday, March 15, 2011 22:05
Aries Mesha 360 Thursday, April 15, 2011 06:50
Taurus Vrshabha 30 Sunday, May 16, 2011 03:57
Gemini Mithuna 60 Wednesday, June 16, 2011 10:44
Cancer Kataka 90 Sunday, July 17, 2011 21:40
Leo Simha 120 Wednesday, August 18, 2011 05:59
Virgo Kanya 150 Saturday, September 18, 2011 05:42
Libra Tula 180 Tuesday, October 18, 2011 17:22
Scorpio Vrschika 210 Thursday, November 17, 2011 16:54
Sagittarius Dhanu 240 Friday, December 17, 2011 07:24
It is the correpondence between Prn asrya and Srya and its impact on the Kun d alin akti that led
the ancient Sages to discover the Sryasamkrama. According to Yoga precepts the purpose of
Pryma and Hat hayoga is to keep the physical body fit so that the healthy breathing can be in
correlation to the apparent cosmic sojurn of sun vis-a-vis the diurnal rotation of earth.
In the vicinity of the above moments of solar transit breaths undergo a shift of path, from one nostril
to the other and the breath current has other distinctive features at these times. All individuals can
personally experience this effect of Sun at the times given in the above table. Cant this be
statistically tested and verified over a large scale?
4. Apart from the above critical path shift, there are other interesting aspects of the solar influence
on breathing behavior. These include hourly variation and correlation of seven patterns to
weekdays. Verification of (2) above shall bring the required motivation for deeper studies.
5. 60 Base Numbers Sexagesimal System originated from Count of Breaths
We see in Suryasiddhanta .||||| +|||| | | ~| |n| | | | -|+
||| .||| ||-|||||| |||-|||+|| || (11)
Time in units of prn a is real and experienced and those like trui are imaginary. Six prn as
make a Vini, sixty of which is one ni.
Also, we can find in Gitika 6 of Aryabhat ya - .||| -|||+-|| | i.e., the earth rotates one minute
of arc in one breath. Paulia siddhnta too aired the same notion.
Breathing as the sign of life obviously may have been at the centre of attention for the ancient
occult schools and the count of breaths as such may have been the best time machine available
to them. Breath gave them the smallest possible unit of time which they could have measured
and the count could have easily led them to bigger units like 360 counts in 24 minutes or 1/60th
of a day. The fact that no other time measurement like sun-dial or water clock or flower clocks
could have been more efficient than breathing also explains the use of sexagesimal system in
astronomy where all observations had to be associated with time.
6. To conclude this brief note the origin of the sexagesimal system even today remains a mystery
for the historians of mathematics. Complicated body parts counting theory stands scientifically
and aesthetically poor in comparison to the breath number theory. It was the Yogis who
intercepted the time and the root kl originates from kalant which means counting i.e. kalant
iti kla i.e. reckoning of time by counting.
7. Through the sexagesimal system, the ancient wisdom permeates our daily life in numerable
ways. A closer look at our breathing behavior may lead us to the understanding of the graceful
correlation between the microcosm and macrocosm. We will be enabled to see ourselves in
Srya...
Upaniadic prayer given at the outset makes it clear:
"He who takes manyfold forms and possessed of rays that carry Prana and knowing all that
are born (Jtavedas), the only Jyoti (Light) of 1000 rays enveloping all directions and
manifesting as Prana in all beings - is the Sun who rises in the East"
Should we need the above ancient wisdom in European or American bottle for studies and
acceptance in our land where it originated?
K. Chandra Hari
chandra_hari18@yahoo.com
Contact: 09428007935
