69 - What is prANa?

Question प्रश्न 69.

What is prANA प्राण ;

and what is chetana चेतना?

प्राण और चेतना क्या हैं?

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On the Feb. 8th 2011, I had posted the following stanzas and the whole text :

Upadesh Sarah / उपदेश सारः

In my blog  "श्री रमण वाणी."

Reciting from there, those two stanzas 12 and 13 are as the following -

चित्तवायवश्चित्क्रियायुताः।।

शाखयोर्द्वयी शक्तिमूलका।।१२।।

लयविनाशने उभयरोधने।।

लयगतं पुनर्भवति नो मृतम्।।१३।।

The first stanza points out that one and the same power manifests in two forms, namely the prANa and the chetanA, like the two branches of the same tree.

The next stanza points out that stopping the movement could be done in two ways and this stopping again may also result in two ways.

When this is done, the movement / flow of the mind (चित्तवृत्तिः) is made silent and still either for a short or comparatively for a longer time period.

Practicing Yoga the aspirant may wish to controlling the breath in order to attain such tranquility, silence and stillness of the mind.

I was trying to find out a nearest word to convey the exact sense of the word : prANa / प्राण 

Now I can say the English word "flow" rightly conveys the sense of this word.

Translating the word "consciousness" however poses no problem at all because this word is synonymous of "perception" either through organs of senses or in a way through feelings, sentiments, mind, thoughts, intellect or of the experiences of purely physical kind like the pleasure and the pain, heat and cold, the hunger and the thirst etc. 

"consciousness" therefore is perception, and static, while "flow" is movement.

The first is what happens to us, the next is how the body, mind, feelings respond or answer to a situation.

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