Yog Chudamani Upnishad

In order to do a better research on Khechari Mudra, I stumbled upon a gold mine. I came across ‘Yoga-Chudamani Upnishad’, which is a goldmine of knowledge.

At the beginning of Yoga—Chudamani Upnishad, there is a mention of Two Aaasans ( Sidhasan and Padmasan ( which is mentioned as Kamalasan) ),  Shat Chakra, Shodash Aadhar, Tri Lakshya, and Panch Aakash. The Shat Chakras or the Six Chakras are  -

Mooladhar Chakra (in the Tailpiece of the spine)  - Like Four Lotus Petals

Swadhishthan Chakra (Just below the navel )  - Like Six Lotus Petals

Manipur Chakra ( in the navel )  -  Like Ten Lotus Petals

Anahat Chakra ( in the heart ) – Like Twelve Lotus Petals

Vishudha Chakra ( in the throat) – Like Sixteen Lotus Petals

Agya Chakra ( in between the two eyebrows )  - Like Two Lotus Petals

Sahasrara Chakra ( In the Brahmarandhra, top of the head) – Like a thousand petals

Generally, there is a mention of seven chakras, but in Yog Churamani Upnishad, the six chakras are mentioned. Sahasrara is mentioned as Bhahmarandhra, in the middle of the divine patha.

आसिं प्रािसंरोधः प्रत्याहारश्च धारिा ।

ध्यािं समाणधरेताणि योगाङ्गाणि भिन्ति षट् ॥ २॥

एकं णसिासिं प्रोक्तं णद्वतीयं कमलासिम् ।

षट्चक्रं षोडशाधारं णत्रलक्ष्यं व्योमपञ्चकम् ॥ ३॥

स्वदेहे यो ि जािाणत तस्य णसन्तिः कथं भिेत् ।

चतुदालं स्यादाधारं स्वाणधष्ठािं च षड्दलम् ॥ ४॥

िाभौ दशदलं पद्मं हृदये द्वादशारकम् ।

 

सहस्रदलसङ्ख्ख्यातं ब्रह्मरन्ध्रे महापणथ ।

आधारं प्रथमं चक्रं स्वाणधष्ठािं णद्वतीयकम् ॥ ६॥

योणिथथािं द्वयोमाध्ये कामरपं णिगद्यते ।

कामाख्यं तु गुदथथािे पङ्कजं तु चतुदालम् ॥ ७॥

तन्मध्ये प्रोच्यते योणिः कामाख्या णसििन्तिता ।

तस्य मध्ये महाणलङ्गं पणश्चमाणभमुखं न्तथथतम् ॥ ८॥

 

Yoga Consists of six parts. Aaasan, Pranayam, Pratyahar, Dharana, Dhyaan and Samadhi.

The Prana, also known as Swa, or as I infer the AAtma, the life energy, according to this text resides in Swadhishthan chakra.

The kundalini energy, resides at a point in between the Swadhishthan and the Manipur Chakra as per this text.

Seventy Two Thousand Nadis, are spread in the entire body, from the kundalini, From amongst them Seventy two Nadis are the main Nadis, and from amongst them 10 are the principal Nadis.

१.     इडा, २. णपंगला, ३. सुषुम्ना, ४. गांधारी, ५. हन्तस्तणजह्वा, ६. पूषा, ७. यशन्तस्विी, ८. अलम्बुसा, ९. कु ह और १०. शंन्तखिी॥

Ida, Pingala, Sushumna, Gandhari, Hastajivha, Yashaswini, Alambusa, Kuhu and Shankhini.

If we draw a parallel from the Nervous System as we know there are -

• Cranial nerves: 12 pairs, emerging directly from the brain.
• Spinal nerves: 31 pairs, branching from the spinal cord to the rest of the body.
• Peripheral nerves: Hundreds of named nerves that extend into arms, legs, torso, and organs.
• Neurons: Microscopic cells that transmit signals; ~86 billion in the brain alone.

The twelve Cranial Nerves are as follows –

Olfactory	CN I	Sense of smell
Optic	CN II	Vision
Oculomotor	CN III	Eye movement, pupil constriction
Trochlear	CN IV	Eye movement (downward, inward)
Trigeminal	CN V	Facial sensation, chewing
Abducens	CN VI	Eye movement (side-to-side)
Facial	CN VII	Facial expressions, taste (front of tongue)
Vestibulocochlear	CN VIII	Hearing, balance
Glossopharyngeal	CN IX	Taste (back of tongue), swallowing
Vagus	CN X	Autonomic control of heart, lungs, digestion
Accessory	CN XI	Neck and shoulder movement
Hypoglossal	CN XII	Tongue movement

 

The structure of Spinal Nerves is as follows -

Cervical nerves → 8 pairs (C1–C8) Control neck, shoulders, arms, and diaphragm.

Thoracic nerves → 12 pairs (T1–T12) Serve chest, upper back, and abdominal muscles.

Lumbar nerves → 5 pairs (L1–L5) Supply lower back, hips, and legs.

Sacral nerves → 5 pairs (S1–S5) Control pelvic organs, buttocks, and legs.

Coccygeal nerve → 1 pair (Co1) Smallest group, serving the tailbone area.

In the Yoga Churamani Text it is mentioned that the ‘Prana’, travels up and down in the body, through the Nadis.

If we translate this to the modern knowledge of the body, it would mean that the life energy travels up and down the body through the nerves.

Would that mean that the nerve disorders could be cured through Pranic healing?

I have to read more on the chakras, nadis and the technique of Pranic Healing.

Rig Veda First Mandal - Notes to myself

 नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि

नैनं दहति पावकः।
न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो
न शोषयति मारुतः॥

No weapon can cut the soul into pieces, nor can it be burned by fire,

nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.

A short sabbatical that I have taken, gave me an opportunity to do something that I was planning to do for years. I revised the Sanskrit lessons I had taken in school, taught myself Sanskrit grammar, and prepared myself to read Rig Veda, though with a Hindi translation alongside. 

I begin with the first mandal.

It begins with the worship of Agni Dev, and inviting agni to the holy yagna. Agni means fire. Without invoking Agni, Yagna is not possible so the first prayer is to the Agni. 

The second set of prayers is to Indra, Vayu and Varuna. Vayu is air, Varuna is water, or sky in some references, I think Varuna is that part of sky that brings water. 

Indra is the King of Swarg (Heaven) in the Sanatan tradition, and in Jain tradition he is the king of some higher realm, where super humans live. Swarg denotes a realm where unlike the mrityu lok, there is no misery. The existence in Swarg is that of bliss. Whether this bliss comes from the state of being or some means is unclear. 

At Yagna Indra, along with Vayu and Varuna are evoked in the second sukta. 

In the second sukta, there is a mention of Soma - which is a liquid used to perform Yagna. What constitutes this liquid, will be explored further. 

14-05-2026

Finally, after a lot of research, the mystery of the 'soma' could be solved. Soma is an element/chemical which is produced in the human body. A shloka in 'Gheranda Samhita', mentions - 

ललाटदेशे यस्य सोमः स्रवति निरन्तरम् ।

केचरीमुद्रया योगी तं पिबत्यामृतं शुभम् ॥

Meaning: “In the region of the forehead, soma flows continuously. Through khechari mudra, the yogi drinks that auspicious nectar.”

In Shiva Samhita too it is mentioned - 

बिन्दोः स्रवति यो सोमः अमृतं च निरन्तरम् ।

योगी तं पिबति नित्यं देहं धारयते चिरम् ॥

Meaning: “From the bindu flows soma, the eternal nectar. The yogi drinks it daily and sustains the body for a long time.”

In the Hatha Yoga Pradeepika, a shloka mentions - 

तत्र स्थितं दिव्यं सोमरससमुद्भवम् ।

योगी पीत्वा तदामृतं अमरत्वं प्राप्नोति ॥

Meaning: “There, the divine nectar of soma arises. By drinking that amrita, the yogi attains immortality.”

In another shloka it is mentioned - 

यत्र यत्र स्थितो योगी सर्वदा सर्वकर्मसु ।

तत्र तत्र स्थितं दिव्यं सोमरससमुद्भवम् ॥

Meaning: “Wherever the yogi abides, engaged in all actions, there remains the divine soma-nectar produced within.”

So Soma Rasa is a rasa that is produced within the body at bindu point, and this rasa flows constantly into stomach, where it gets burned by jathragni (acids). 

Yogis, by folding their tongue inside, touching the inner soft point at the end of the mouth, drink Soma, which is supposed to keep the human young and provide 'Amaratva'. Folding the tongue mudra as mentioned in the hath yoga is called as 'khechari mudra'. 

The chemical industry inside the human body is very interesting. Muh muh more to explore...................

बिन्दोः स्रवति यो सोमः अमृतं च निरन्तरम् ।
योगी तं पिबति नित्यं देहं धारयते चिरम् ॥बिन्दोः स्रवति यो सोमः अमृतं च निरन्तरम् ।
योगी तं पिबति नित्यं देहं धारयते चिरम् ॥बिन्दोः स्रवति यो सोमः अमृतं च निरन्तरम् ।
योगी तं पिबति नित्यं देहं धारयते चिरम् ॥

बिन्दोः स्रवति यो सोमः अमृतं च निरन्तरम् ।
योगी तं पिबति नित्यं देहं धारयते चिरम् ॥

बिन्दोः स्रवति यो सोमः अमृतं च निरन्तरम् ।
योगी तं पिबति नित्यं देहं धारयते चिरम् ॥

बिन्दोः स्रवति यो सोमः अमृतं च निरन्तरम् ।
योगी तं पिबति नित्यं देहं धारयते चिरम् ॥

Happy Diwali !

 Happy, Happiest Diwali !

The joie-de-vivre was back this Diwali, and everyone loved that. Keep going ! Diwali is the time for meeting friends and family. I somehow feel that I understand friendships the best in life because I have had strong friendships. Else, apart from familial bonds, I don't understand much. 

Daak Ghar

 Indian Postal System was created by the British. For a very long time the country depended on the 'Dakiya', to bring letters. In the yesteryears, the romance of handwritten letters had been celebrated in literature and art. In today's day and age of internet, email, zoom calls and mobiles, it's hard to imagine that people once wrote letters to communicate with each other. 

I have seen posts coming to the house in my childhood, the yellow postcard, the blue inland letter, and the envelopes with colorful stamps, the birthday cards, the diwali and kshmapana cards. I have written several letters from the age of 9 or 10, to friends, cousins, my brother studying engineering away from us, even to some of my teachers, I still have some favorite letters that I received, one of them from Sir N.C.Sharma, the Principal of my school. I will always keep them. 

One of my friends had a pen friend in Cyprus. I used to enjoy communicating with her pen friend, because mostly, I would write the draft of the letters, but she paid the money for the stamps etc. There was excitement when a letter came, all of us sat together and read them. In those days, when my friend went for physics and chemistry tuitions to prepare for her pre-engineering exam, her pen friend back in Cyprus had a boyfriend who was involved in guerilla warfare fighting for the country. She sent her photographs and wanted to have one of my friend's too. I had suggested that we cut out a picture of another classmate of ours who looked like a model, from a group photograph, and send it, to create a good impression. Can't remember whether she actually did that or not. Those were the days of anonymous pen friends in faraway countries. you could never cross-verify people from facebook, instagram profiles. 

As a management student, I was always fascinated with the supply chain created by post offices across India. Every small village in India had access to the post from a nearby post office. Every nook and corner of the country covered by the postal department. This is perhaps the biggest network, which has now turned irrelevant, as we leapfrog to satellite connectivity. 

I have pondered over various uses of this huge infrastructure. How about converting every post office into a primary health center? How about converting them into computer-AV center for self-learning, done through distance digital learning? A commercial company would perhaps lap up the opportunity to convert post offices into convenience stores, local fitness centers, food joints....... the thoughts go on.

But is a postal chain irrelevant? If for some reason we have a satellite blackout, no emails, mobiles, video calls, or if one doesn't have a phone number or email ID, just an address........................... can a post be sent out for communication? 

I created an experiment. I have sent out a post to an address I know. If it gets delivered and received in time.... postal system is still relevant. If not........ I should write a detailed blog on enhancing health infrastructure through post offices.

Meanwhile....... after ages, sent a birthday card ................. by post. :) 

Happy Birthday Jesus !

 Wish you a very Happy Birthday !

This year please send Santa to make people realize ...

That happiness lies in living those small, ordinary moments of life !

That humanity is beginning to pay the price for the so-called economic growth,

That we do not need much to have a good life,

That we need peace in this world.

I am sending you good wishes by post !

We witnessed the Chandrayaan landing ......

August 23rd 2023, 8 PM

We witnessed a historical moment today. Chandrayaan 3, landed on the moon at 6.04pm. Very soon, the Pragyaan rover will roll out from Vikram lander and will start its journey on the south pole of the Moon. This journey will last for 14 days, to be precise, Half a day of the moon, and 14 days of the earth. If someone spends a day on the moon, from sunrise to another sunrise, it is 27 days on the earth and if someone spends the time from sunrise to sunset, that will be 14 days. So, Pragyaan will try and study the surface of the moon, by taking a stroll on its wheels, for half a moon day. 

Chandrama, or moon was created some 4.5 billion years ago when the earth collided with another planet, and a big mass started revolving around the earth, and thus the 'chandamama', was born. Tiny humans living on the earth, looked at the moon, and created several stories, until 1969. After 1969, when Mr Armstrong had already landed on the moon, all the poetic references to a beautiful moon were negated. Moon wasn't as beautiful as it seemed from the earth. 

If someone lived at moon, would they see an earth rising, in the same way as we see a moon rising? No, the moon always keeps the same side facing the earth. The period of rotation of moon is the same as the revolution. So when the moon spins, every degree it turns around the earth, it turns a degree around itself, so the same side faces us. In the outer space, there are many big and small balls rotating and revolving, the moon and the sun, amongst them. Well, the sun is a ball of gas, but moon is solid. 

So Pragyaan will study  the thermal conductivity and temperature through chaSTE;  seismicity around the landing site with ILSA; Plasma density and its variations through LP, and lunar laser ranging studies from a NASA instrument. Navigation on moon will be made possible by a software prepared by a Noida based startup, Omnipresent robot technologies. More details about what new they find on moon will be made available in the coming days. 

August 24th 2023, 9.30 AM

I slept yesterday night and woke up today to the news that Pragyaan has started taking a walk on the moon. In the Indian astrology, the moon is supposed to affect the 'mann'. Thus, moon is responsible for the mood swings, mental health ailments, personality disorders, etc. Suicides, statistically estimated, happen the most on a new moon day. Moon also signifies intelligence and creativity. In my experience, I have found this 'moon' and 'man' connection to be true. An afflicted moon causes some of those problems mentioned above. Looking at the sky, at night, I have often wondered - 'Is this silver ball responsible for my good humor?' I was born at the eve of 'dev-deepawali'. Moon is supposed to emanate its life supporting energies the best on the day, in the entire year. But astrology is probabilistic, not deterministic. Human potential is indefinite.

Science is definite. And thus we will learn new things from Pragyaan, in the coming days. There is a definite gratitude that I want to express towards the ISRO scientists. They work on government salaries, some of them, the finest brains in the country. Many of them sacrifice international careers to contribute to the country. The cost of Indian space mission is far lesser than the similar missions of other countries and the prime reason for that is - the scientists at ISRO are paid much lesser than their counterparts in the rest of the world. They are motivated by idealism - service for the country, and a love for pure sciences, their discipline. ISRO, also functions on merit. There is no reservation policy for ISRO recruitments. 

Idealism exists in today's world. ISRO is an example. Indian astrological tradition also says that a bright shining full Moon provides Idealism to humans. Ideal, isn't it?

Congratulations to all Indians for Chandrayaan 3!

'Goodbuy' 2022 !

 December is a month of reflections. 2022 was an unusual year, which forced us to reflect many times during the year, and will force us to reflect for many years to come; about the futility of wars, the irrelevance of some of the things we chase, the utility of the structures created for the modern world to function - political, economic, social and organizational, the essentials that make life beautiful and happy, the chaos - both internal and external, the life itself - transient, infinite, squared, fluid........

What happened in 2022 will shape the way we live in future. I see both the possibilities; of a life that could be the most beautiful that a human can create OR of a prolonged misery arising out of destruction that a human does. 

2022 also made the world realize, for one more time, the simplistic, cliched maxim -  there is enough for everyone's need, but not enough for anyone's greed. All the economic and political philosophies driven by greed, lead to destruction. One of my students, who works for a big multinational medical equipment supplier, met me recently, who came to Jaipur to establish a neuro-surgical facility, told me - 'I am paid to be greedy.' The discussion was about rising healthcare technology costs, reducing shelf lives of the equipment, and a large amount of taxpayers money or social cost booked in it. What he could easily do for fifteen lacs, he is trained to ask thirty lacs for it, so he explained. 

'Ma'am, you are on the other side. You look at health as a means to make life beautiful, businesses don't.' Unfortunately, the discussion can't end here, as it did in our case. For this leads to a complete destruction - 2020 to 2022, we have had an illustration. 

2022, also brought home the fact that I have lived for about half a century. I want to be hopelessly-hopeful for the next quarter. For I believe that the generations after me, the young people, look at the world with a new perspective, be it a candor about the organizational learnings they have, or a clarity about life and the world around them. 

When they are forced to reflect, they will think the right things! Looking forward 2023 !