Answers by

PROF. HR NAGENDRA,
Vice Chancellor,
SVYASA, Bangalore, India

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Transcription

Chakras are in the Pranamaya Kosha. We know the Sushumna, Ida and Pingala. In Tantra Shastra, in Hatha Yoga they have developed this dimension of an understanding of the structure of our Pranamaya Kosha. Just like in the physical body we have got the spinal canal we have the central nervous system, we have the sympathetic and the para sympathetic nervous system. Almost in a similar way in the Pranamaya Kosha we have three Nadis – Ida, Pingala and the Sushumna or Surya, Chandra and Sushumna. Just like sympathetic nervous system here has stimulation in character. It increases the heartbeat, it increases the breathing rate, it increases the blood pressure, it increases the sugar level. Similarly when the Prana flows through the Pingala or the Surya nadi is burning in character. It brings about the sympathetic arousal. Just like parasympathetic has an output’s effect to reduce the breathing rate, heartbeat and all that similarly here also the Chandra nadi is cooling in character. As the name indicates the moon nadi, the moon nadi is very cool in character therefore it calms down the mind. So these are the two things that are happening. One is the stimulation and another is the relaxation, the Ida and the Pingala. The Prana flows for about two and a half hour in each of this Pingala dominance and next shifts over to the Ida. So that the biorhythm of the body, nine times in a day in 24 hours it goes on changing. And the corresponding effect is on the sympathetic and the para sympathetic nervous system in the physical body. And when the two things are balanced, the Ida and Pingala pro are balanced by proper Pranayama and will slow down the breath when the Sushumna starts getting opened up. The Sushumna is normally blocked in all of us and only when we are able to get to that balance and slow down the breathing then slowly the base chakra called as the Mooladharachakra opens. The Mooladharachakra is something like a valve. It is not allowing the Prana Shakti to come up only when the Prana gets transformed into the subtle form it starts moving up, the chakra opens, Mooladharachakra. And then from Mooladhara it will come and then there is another valve, the safety valve, the safety valve is for the Shtana, Swadishtanachakra. These charkas in the Pranamaya Kosha are something like squirrels which are avalailable and these are the ones that block the Prana suddenly bursting out and causing all the hazard. Therefore these are all safety measures that are put just like in a water tube that is carrying the water. The first thing is going to be the valve, to control right from this thing and then when it gets distributed you have again have valves, valves-valves-valves, in the same there are valves in the flow of this thing through Sushumna. Sushumna is a very delicate thing and the subtle Prana Shakti that is moving up has to be properly controlled, harnessed and properly set-up. Therefore there is an automatic in built mechanism within us to allow the safe growth if you do not purify yourself then it will not move up the Swadishtana, it will remain in the Swadishtana. There are people for years and years only the Mooladharachakra opened up only upto Swadishtana it comes. But only when you purify more and more, go into the higher levels of Samadhi then the Swadishtana opens. And like this one by one by one the chakras will all open until the Agnachakra, that is the highest that comes in this Kosha And when it comes here the Agnanachakra it goes to the last that is the Sahasrarachakra. Sahasrara has thousands petals. Every chakra has got different petals, number of petals are different and the petals represent the complications associated with the chakra. And these chakras when they are opened then you go to the higher Samadhi, higher bliss, higher knowledge, higher power are going to come up and therefore chakras are the safety valves we can understand in a simple way.