Pranayamam (Breath Control) - Suri Nagamma Letters

A devotee told me that he could not hear properly the questions you asked Bhagavan when you came here two days back and the replies Bhagavan gave. He therefore requested me to write out the whole conversation and show it to him. Accordingly I wrote it down.

At 4 p.m. on the 28th of last month you sat near Bhagavan when you had a discussion as follows:

You: “In Gayatri it is stated ‘Dhiyo yonah prachodayat’. What is its meaning?”

Bhagavan: “Dhi means buddhi (intellect); yah-that, lustre; nah-our; dhiyah-the intellect; prachodayat-teaches. That is the meaning, is it not? It is by the Intellect that the indriyas (senses) are induced to all action.”

You: “For sadhana (practice) is pranayama necessary?”

Bhagavan: “Yes, yes. Before starting any work you begin with pranayama, don’t you? One says, ‘Achamya, pranayamya’.

That means you begin with achamana,* then gather the pranas (vital airs), and proceed with sankalpa (i.e., the purpose of the worship) and recite the time, date, place, etc. You must first do pranayama and then only do the Gayatri Japa. It is the same thing for every Japa. You must first do pranayama. But then you should not stop there. If you keep the vital breath under control and then do japa continuously for a long time, you will realise what japa really is.”

You: “Some say there is not much use in practising pranayama.”

Bhagavan: “That is so. For immature minds, it is stated that they should control the breath to meditate or to do japa, but for mature minds, meditation is the main thing. If one inhales and retains the breath and thereby tries to control the mind, one gets choked and upset on that account.”

You: “That means it will be like ‘Jala Pakshivat’ (a bird in a net).”

Bhagavan: “Yes, that is so. But for an immature person, the mind cannot be controlled unless he practises breath control. That is why it is said that it (control of breath) should be practised until you get control of the mind; even after that you should not stop it. For mature persons the control of breath comes of its own accord. That is because what mainly is, is the act of breath. It goes on of its own accord. The mind remains concentrated whether you do japa or meditate. When that happens, the breath becomes controlled automatically. All the sadhanas are for the concentration of the mind.”

You: “When one meditates, the whole body appears overheated. Why so? And is it good?”

* Achamana means taking three sips of water before religious ceremonies from the palm of the hand.

Bhagavan: “Yes. Would it not be so? When the mind gets concentrated, the act of breathing stops involuntarily. When that happens, the body does feel overheated. What of that? In due course one gets accustomed to it.”

Your wife, who was there at the time, took up the thread of the conversation and asked, “Are japa and dhyana the same thing?...”

Bhagavan said, “Yes. As you go on doing japa continuously for a long time, you will know what japa really is. That is called dhyana. When vritti (movement or action of mind) becomes audible (sabda) it is called japa: when there is vritti alone, it is called dhyana and knowing of the Thing is called jnana.”