Correlation of Sun and Breathing Behavior 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 (prāna-sūrya in Sanskrit) and accordingly they divided the apparent solar orbit into 21600 minutes corresponding to 21600 breaths during one diurnal rotation. Can’t 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 Aryabhat īyam. 2. What exactly is a solar transit (Sūrya-samkramam)? Look at the religious significance attached to the notion of Sūryasamkramam (solar transit into sidereal signs). Can the solar transit into a sign (rāśi) 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 rāśi-samkramam. Unless there is a physical effect and a unique moment it is irrational to observe such moments based on PaĦcāňgas which give different times.
Samkrama means a shift of path. In music the transition from one rāga 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 Sūryasamkramam? 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) English Name Indian Name
Cancer
Kataka Simha Kanya Tula
Leo
Virgo Libra
Scorpio Sagittarius Capricon Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer
Vrschika
Dhanu Makara Kumbha Meena Mesha Vrshabha Mithuna Kataka
Entry Point Longitude
90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 30 60 90
Solar Transit Time Date IST 17 July 2012 03:47 17 Aug 2012 12:02 17 Sep 2012 11:41 17 Oct 2012 23:19 16 Nov 2012 22:49 16 Dec 2012 13:17 15 Jan 2013 00:01 13 Feb 2013 13:10 15 March 2013 10:21 14 April 2013 19:11 15 May 2013 16:21 15 June 2013 23:06 17 July 2013 09:57
It is the correpondence between PrāĦasūrya and Sūrya and its impact on the KuĦdalinī śakti that led the ancient Sages to discover the Sūryasamkrama. According to Yoga precepts the purpose of Prān āyāma and Hathayoga 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. Can’t 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 –
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Time in units of prāĦa is real and experienced and those like trut i are imaginary. Six prāĦas make a Vinād i, sixty of which is one nād i. Also, we can find in Gitika 6 of Aryabhatīya - |ÉÉhÉäxÉèÊiÉEò±ÉÉÆ ¦ÉÚ& i.e., the earth rotates one minute of arc in one breath. Pauliśa siddhānta 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 sundial 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 kāl originates from kalanāt which means counting i.e. kalanāt iti kālah 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 Sūrya... Upanis adic prayer makes it clear: Viśvarūpam hariĦam jātavedasam ParāyaĦam jyotirekam tapantam Sahaśra-raśmi śatatha vartamānah PrāĦah prajānamudayatyes a Sūryah "He who takes manyfold forms and possessed of rays that carry Prana and knowing all that are born (Jātavedas), 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" Research is required to to establish the correlations between the Sun and breathing behavior that Yoga precept suggest... K. Chandra Hari chandra_hari18@yahoo.com