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Chandra Bhedan Pranayam

Prāṇāyāma is a vital science for harmonizing body, mind, and soul. Many practitioners are unfamiliar with yogic terms like prāṇāyāma, mistaking yoga for mere physical exercise. A complete system includes āsanas, breathwork, and meditation for holistic health. Prāṇa is life force, inhaled through the entire body, not just the nostrils. The mind's principle is the moon, symbolizing emotion and change. Prāṇāyāma practice begins with the left nostril, associated with the iḍā nāḍī and the moon, to calm emotions, reduce anxiety, and prevent psychic blockages. This practice balances the subtle energies, supports heart health, and develops concentration. Proper technique requires a straight posture without shoulder movement. Mastery leads to deeper practices like svara yoga, aligning breath with spiritual awareness.

"Prāṇāyāma is life. When we inhale through the left nostril, why do we begin with the left? The left nostril is called the moon, balancing the moon."

"Prāṇāyāma with the left nostril. Learn first step by step. It controls our emotions. It controls our everything, the restlessness."

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

Oṁ Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī, Alak Purījī Mahādev, Devpurījī Bhagavān Kī, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānjī Bhagavān Kī. Prāṇa, prāṇāyāma, sādhana, and practice—this is a beautiful subject. Every practitioner should know how to practice and what benefits they can gain. Our dear teachers can also have more options to help students. We know a few names: āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, relaxation, mantras, concentration, meditation. For us, it is clear, but many people do not know. When I know something, it does not mean you know all. Or, what you know, I may not know. There is a saying: when your stomach is full, you think everyone’s stomach is full. You ate enough, you are satisfied, and you think the whole world is full. This is interesting for many people when something is new. How should they know? They have never seen or heard such names. For example, the Mālā practice. We call it Mālā, but many do not know. A person might think of a friend, a child, or a partner. How should they know? They have never heard of or seen a mālā. Therefore, for people from different cultures, countries, and languages, if you give instructions, you must explain exactly. When they get the mālā, they ask, "What should I do with this? Is it just a necklace?" Then come questions: how to use a mālā? How many seeds are inside? What do the 108 seeds mean? There are many rules in Indian languages and others. How should they understand? Similarly, when we say prāṇāyāma, they ask, "What is that? Are we getting something to eat?" Language is very important. For the student, an explanation from the teacher makes them feel comfortable. This is not a joke. About six months ago, I was in Debrecen, a beautiful city in Hungary. It is a very good place for cycling. Debrecen has many cars, even a Trabant, which will have high value after a few decades. Debrecen has a population of 250,000 and 30 yoga centers. Since our Prime Minister declared the International Day of Yoga, and the United Nations declared it, more centers are coming. That day, I went to a hospital visiting. The doctor is a disciple, and he had an assistant doctor. She said proudly, "I’m also practicing yoga." I asked, "Are you practicing yoga in real life?" She said, "No, I don’t know." I asked where she learns. She said, "At the university." Of course, university professors cannot make a mistake, so there is no question to ask; it would be humiliation. But I told her she is an assistant doctor and asked if she practices āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, meditation. She said, "What is prāṇāyāma?" I said, "Practicing breath practice." "Breath practice?" This is not a joke; she was a very honest, nice person. Tiāgpuri was with me; you can ask him if this question was there. Tiāgpuri, stand up and tell loudly, yes or no. So, she did not know what prāṇāyāma is. I asked, "Breath techniques?" She said, "I don’t know." But your teacher doesn’t teach you anything? No, we are practicing yoga. I said, "Yes, yoga, but relaxation, prāṇāyāma, concentration, mudrās, bandhas..." No, we are doing something like aerobics. So people do not know what yoga is. They think it is body movements, and that’s all. Therefore, our Yoga in Daily Life is the system, now nearly 45 years, especially in middle Europe. Can you imagine how many millions of people practice this? Throughout all Middle Europe, numerous Yoga in Daily Life centers. They have a system; people come like going to a doctor, get a medicine or treatment, and go. They practice at home. Many teach in their offices, friend groups, and many places. Yoga and their life is taught; this is the system. In these 45 years, when I came, people thought yoga meant a fakir on iron needles, sitting or lying on an iron bed, hanging upside down, or putting legs like this, side, and they call it lotus, Padmāsana. That we do not want. We do not want to break our knees. Now, everyone knows, and it is famous—yoga guru. Before, they did not know anything. At least now they understand what a yoga guru is, and it is developing more and more. Yoga is a science of body, mind, and soul, for harmony and good health: physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. If people misunderstand, do not do too much which you do not know: āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, mantras, meditations, exercises, bandhas, mudrās, cakras, kuṇḍalinīs, self-realizations, practice—many, many. Sometimes people ask, "I want to learn yoga; can I come to the center? How long do I need to learn yoga?" We say, just come. When you begin, it is lifelong. Lifelong practice? No, but lifelong means inhalation. Lifelong, you should inhale it. Breathe comfortably. Have a comfortable life, comfortable lungs, good movements. It is your best friend in life. Prāṇāyāma is life. When we inhale through the left nostril, why do we begin with the left? The left nostril is called the moon, balancing the moon, and the right is the sun. In yoga, there are many meanings and names. You know, all here sitting, the yoga students and teachers? Some are practicing with me for 40 years, 30 years, between 20 years, 5 years, 2 years, one year. But you know how many thousand names you know? Did you not count? So much you know yogic names. Now, only a little bit is missing, and then you will know Sanskrit. Oh my God, you will talk in Sanskrit with me. I am Ātmā. Oh my God. Oh God. Oh my God. You are so perfect. You know all these names. That prāṇa is not only what we inhale and exhale through the nostrils. We are inhaling also through the whole body. Our skin is inhaling. I do not know if it is the truth or not, I heard that all the times. In France, when the kings had guests, they would invite them for a party. In front of the palace, left and right, a young lady was standing without a dress. Everything, the whole body was painted with gold in liquid form, painted nicely. Everything was gold, but they died. So, who wants to be a nice golden lady? Do not tell, golden ladies, so that no... I do not know if it was the truth or not. Do you know people like this? Did you hurt somebody? Stand up, please. People in India will think Swamiji is making jokes. Look, how many ladies would like to be golden ladies? Thank you. Prāṇāyāma—the whole body breathes. Best would be these ladies get a very nice Ayurvedic massage, abhyaṅga, with very nice good oil and perfumes, and she is standing there. That would be great. But no, painted in gold, painted, fainted. So prāṇāyāma, when we inhale, we feel the whole body is inhaling, not only through the nostrils. When you get an injection, you inhale deeply, and the body expands. You do not feel the injection, but if you exhale and have the injection, you will feel pain. This is my practical daily experience because I practice prāṇāyāma, and when I practice wrong prāṇāyāma, I put a needle in my body. Practice properly, like Maheśvarānand. So I again inhale and concentrate where the needle goes in. You can master this, everything. Prāṇa. Well, the prāṇa is connecting to the mind. Now we are going very in detail. We all know mind, that’s all. But in Sanskrit, and in yogic philosophy, in yogic science, there are indescribable explanations. The mind, man. We call man, you call mind. The principle we call devatā, the god of the mind, is the moon. Az elve, az elmének, mi úgy hívjuk devatā, a hold. Now, again, to understand this word, why do we always call it God? Or devas. Devas means also goddess. But never say semi-god. There was never any word about semi-god. God is God. A human is human. It does not matter: president, prime minister, or clerk. It is a human, but you can say the position is different. Therefore, the goddess is a goddess. Now, for us, what supports us? What saves our life? What is the basis of our life? What can be greater than God? Have you seen a god? No. But you are sitting with a god now. This tree, this oxygen, this nature is a god. Water is a god. Ah, what a stupid idea, that water is a god. Okay, then do not drink. And one day, two days, three days. Please, water. No, no, no. Water is a god, so you do not drink. Then she says, "Yes, please, God, water god, come and drink." So what saves our life? Annadevatā, the food is a god. Never throw the bread away. Never throw the eating. Only take how much you can. Better you take twice. But do not waste the food. I think it is said in the Bible also somewhere, I heard, that Jesus said, "Do not throw bread away. Throwing bread away is a sin." So, how many sins are we doing every day? Life is very complicated for humans, so is the mind. We do not visit Maṅka, Devatā, Chandra. But you can see the principle of the mind is the moon. The mind follows the moon, so the moon is always changing. Similarly, the mind is always changing. The principle of the mind, the discipline of the mind, is called Saṅkalpa-Vikalpa. What is Saṅkalpa-Vikalpa? Of course, the Hungarian language is different. There is no Saṅkalpa-Vikalpa. Also, the Italian is different. Every language is a little different. Saṅkalpa means to make your decision. Vikalpa means to again break your decision. So you decide, and you again change. What people tell, I change my mind. Mostly, common in America, they say, "I changed my mind." Okay, I changed my mind. So I tell, mind is easy to change, why do not you change the body also? How to change the body? Then how to change the mind? So it is easy for you to change like this, but it has an effect on your inner psychic. Therefore, make decisions very carefully. Saṅkalpa vikalpa. Secondly, the moon. The moon is the principle of water. That water, the coolness, Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā, "I enter into vegetation as nectar through the moonlight." On a full moon, especially, more immortality is coming. So, water. What does the water mean? What is the influence of the moonlight? Emotion. Love. The whole ocean is moving. Wildlife is restless. Many humans cannot sleep. I knew one person who, even on the full moon day, was walking on the roof. He had a very different temperament. On a full moon night, his wife was going somewhere else, to their second house, and sleeping there. He is not guilty, but it influences that light, which is so strong he has no control. So this is the moon, the emotion. Our feelings, the water, the light, the calmness, the changing. When we practice prāṇāyāma, it begins first with the left nostril. What does that mean? We control our emotions, and immediately you will feel calmness, very calm. You are relaxed, so we begin exercises with the left side. We begin with prāṇāyāma with the left side because of this nāḍī, Iḍā, that has an influence on the whole body. This is very important. You know, the tension, restlessness, psychic blockage, etc. Mostly when you have what is called a brain attack, then the body is paralyzed, the left part of the body, mostly. Why not right? It can happen also, but mostly left side. Therefore, if you practice prāṇāyāma nicely, it is called candra-bhedana, or the purification of the iḍā-nāḍī. Then, it will be very rare that you will have a brain attack. Prāṇāyāma with the left nostril. Learn first step by step. Then we can practice even the kapālbhāti or bastrika with left nāḍī. It develops concentration and calmness. So prāṇāyāma is a science. It controls our emotions. It controls our everything, the restlessness. It brings concentration, and you feel good in the brain—very pleasant, and concentration develops. The left nāḍī is very important, and it is called Yamunā. Gaṅgā and Yamunā. Both nāḍīs, what kind of significance do these two nāḍīs, Gaṅgā and Yamunā, have? Gaṅgā and Yamunā, these are two meridians, flowing parallel. You can see from the satellite how the Gaṅgā and Yamunā flow parallel. Then, by the illabad, they merge into oneness. Prāṇāyāma with the left nostril. Do not do it quickly, quickly. First, relax. Sit down after āsanas and any movements, sit straight, and breathe normally, then a little deep inhale and exhale. At least five minutes. If you have no time for five minutes, do the Kriya quickly, quickly, and then sit straight. Then do the prāṇāyāma. Balance both nāḍīs. Then sit straight and breathe. Deep inhale. Do not move your shoulders. Some are doing like this because they do not know, so the teacher has to teach them. Or they are doing like this. Oh, God! That is why the teacher is there. When you practice prāṇāyāma, any kind, do not move your shoulders up and down, up and down. Except one master is teaching one technique, and he is doing like this. This is very good somewhere. This is an exercise of body building. It is not good for the heart, so gentle. Our heart is very gentle. You know, the most loyal one is our heart. Does not matter what we do, He is taking care of us. Even when we are deep sleeping, He is still working for us. Even if you dive deep under the water, the heart is still working for you. He has no rest; He does not go on holidays. Did you ever say to your heart? My dear, relax a few minutes. Do not say this, so that the heart needs gentle care. Slowly, slowly, and the best support to the heart is prāṇāyāma. What you can do best for your heart is prāṇāyāma, and prāṇāyāma is very gentle. After you have practiced for one or two years, then you can come to some quick bastrika. This is Iḍā Nāḍī, the moon Nāḍī, and this is the controlling of our mind, our emotions, and gives calmness to the body. This removes depression, removes anxiety, so this nāḍī is very important. Therefore, we always first practice with the left nostril. Always, when you practice prāṇāyāma, keep your body straight. If you do like this, bent forward, you know. Yeah, I see, because the master sees, the teacher sees how people are doing. That is not healthy for your lungs. When we sit straight, our lungs expand. The diaphragm sinks deep down, so more breath comes in, and slowly exhale. So we are inhaling nice prāṇa and exhaling all the toxins. That nāḍī is called Chandra Bhedan, and tomorrow we will do Sūrya Bhedan. Sūryabhedan is also very important, very, very important. Oh yes, that we will do tomorrow. Prāṇa is life. When one dies, we say it has no more prāṇa. Prāṇa is gone, so now it is very difficult to know whether it is soul or prāṇa. Prāṇa is gone, but the soul is inside. No, no, no. The soul is gone, but prāṇa is inside. No. So what a unity, or what kind of togetherness, have the prāṇa and the soul? That is a very important point for us to know. We will learn further, so that is why you should begin to practice prāṇāyāma first with the left nostril. Many people are doing only like this, with the thumb. Yeah, many. Oh God, what is this? Prāṇāyāma mudrā is that, with two fingers, we touch at the center of the eyebrows. Then both Iḍā and Piṅgalā are balanced, and it is a support so you do not bend forward, so it hurts you less. And our prāṇāyāma stick, whenever you come to your yoga practice, you must have your prāṇāyāma stick. Prāṇa is life, and life is prāṇa. As long as prāṇa is here, this whole vegetation is here. When there is no prāṇa, very soon these trees will die. Like when we have no prāṇa, we will die, but the tree also. Break one branch and bring it into your room. You will see how quickly the leaves go down. No prāṇa. No nourishment. That is it. Prāṇāyāma is very important, and this is how the teacher should know. If someone asks, why should you do it with the left nostril? Now the question: should we do it with the right hand or with the left hand? Good question. What if someone has no right hand? So it means he or she should not do prāṇāyāma? That does not matter which hand you use; that is okay. You can use this hand, it is okay. There are many, many things about prāṇāyāma. Prāṇāyāma helps your kidneys very much, the heart and kidneys. Yes, so prāṇāyāma. Someone who can have the name prāṇāyāma, so inhale, exhale with both nostrils. Inhale, exhale. Sunset, both nāḍīs should flow. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Very good. So, the Svārī Yoga. Do you know the Svārī Yoga? It is very important. Svara yoga, after learning prāṇāyāma and practicing prāṇāyāma, then a Jīvanmukta yogī practices Svara yoga. Svara Yoga will give you immense spirituality and make you like a Trikāl Darśī. It is so far that Svara Yogīs have life in their hands. One knows when the time has come to go. Those who practice for yoga will bring the Yamunā, the Iḍā Piṅgalā together and take the prāṇa into the Suṣumnā. That Suṣumnā Nāḍī has the path to the Sahasrāra Cakra. So prāṇa and apāna, from there, go to the Sahasrāra Cakra. One feels a little like spasms in the navel—only a little pain, unpleasant, have that yogī, but then it goes to the Brahmaloka. It is very, very important, very rare yogīs have this. Many bhaktas of Mahāprabhujī, he taught them Svara Yoga. Many left very consciously, and they were very aware. I told you stories from some of them. We will come to know the Svara Yoga also. It is a little bit complicated. With which svara you should drink water, with which svara you should not drink water, on which day you should get up with this svara or that svara—this is completely different. Yes, it is a one-week program. Then comes the pūrṇimā. A famous idea: what time you should eat, what time you should drink. In the beginning, it is a little bit easier to adjust. Then it automatically comes. That we will also learn. For today, that is enough. Wish you all the best, and so this prayer, which was in the last: Śrī Guru Ātmā Paramātmā Oṁ Ātmā Puruṣottama Sakal Jag ke Yantra Jāmī Carācar Kī Ātmā Prabhu Caraj Nabh Rūpa Vyāpo Satyayāpo Vimala-Cetanā Ātmā Prabhu Vimala-Cetanā Dhuṇadyānāyāge Yagam Jāge Nīgama-Se Nitya-Yātmā Sirbhu-Nibhaṅga-Se Nitya-Yātmā Śrī Guru Ātmā Param Ātmā Mātmā Puruṣottama Sakal jag ke yantra jāmi charāchar kī ātmā, prabhu charāchar kī ātmā par se parvaan, āge pratīt ho, adhyātma nirādhar ho, ādhar ho, aisā ho, avichal yātmā. Śrī guru ātmā, paramātmā, mātmā, puruṣottamā, sakal jag ke antaryāmī, charāchar kī ātmā, prabhu charāchar kī ātmā. Alakadevā yajava-sevā brahma-bevā ātmā prabhu-brahma sunna-seho pār-prabhujī sākṣī-sudhayātmā prabhu-sākṣī-sudhātmā kiri guru ātmā param ho mātmā puruṣottam sakal jag ke antarajāmī charā charakīy ātmā prabhu charā charakīy ātmā śakadevaya-java-seva brahma-beva-ātmā. Sunna seho para prabhojī, sākṣī śuddha ātmā darśana so’ham, muni-mohana sukha rūpa sehaja dhyātma prabhu sukha guru dīpa ho, praṇāma sayar āp hī paramātmā, prabhu āp hī śrī guru ātmā parma. Mahatma Puruṣottama, sakal yag ke antarajāmī, charācharā kī ātmā prabhu, charācharā kī ātmā surat kar, guru dhyān darśī, bhavad-duḥkṣetarī ātmā prabhu, bhavad-duḥkṣetarī ātmā, Śivānanda Bhūlayārthī Gurudeva, Nirguṇa Amātmā. Gurudeva, nirguṇa, ātmā, Śrī Guru, Ātmā, Paramātmā, Oṁ, Ātmā, Puruṣottama, sakala jaga ke yantra jāmī, cāra-cara kī ātmā, Prabho, cāra-cara kī ātmā, Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī jaya, surata kara Guru dhyāna darśī. So those who, with concentration, will meditate on the Gurudeva, bhavad-dukha-setari ātmā, then from this saṃsāra’s duḥkhas of the saṃskāras, the jīva will liberate itself. Otherwise, this jīva will suffer in this world. The Mahāprabhujī disciple Śivānandjī has made this prayer, and he is singing this prayer: "Guru Dev Nirguṇ Mahātmā." Guru Dev is the Nirguṇa, formless. What a beautiful prayer. In the morning, you should sing this prayer. Tomorrow will be the other prayer. This is also a very beautiful one, so we should know all these meanings of these prayers. Oṁ Oṁ...

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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