Among them, the restraining of the breath is held in great esteem, such as it was practised among the Parsian by Azar Hushang, and by the kings of that people. It is stated in the Bastán namah, that Afrasíab, the son of Pashang, was strong in restraining his breath, and it was on account of this qualification that, when he had escaped from the sling of Aâbid, he kept himself concealed in the water. This history is known.[206] Among the Hindus and the Parsian Yezdanián, nothing is esteemed higher than this. I have said something of this custom in the article upon the Parsian Sipasían: in this place I shall state more of it.
This science of the breath is an imaginary one. The Yogis, the Sanyásies, the Hindus, and the Tapasís, say that, when one has the intention of mastering his breath, he most strictly abstains from intercourse with women, from eating salt and any thing bitter and sour, as well as from toil; then, tending towards this purpose, he will know that from the place of sitting to the summit of the head there are seven divisions of the body, which the Azarián call _haft khán amèkhi_, “the seven places of union,” and the Yogís, _sapta chakra_,[207] “seven circles.” The first is the region about the pubis, similar to a flower with four leaves; the Hindus call it _muládhára_.[208] In the middle of this originates a member, which the Hindus call _manthar_,[209] and the Arabians ذكر _zicker_, and this is the second region. The third is the navel, from the centre of which proceeds a fire-colored vein, entitled by the Hindus _nábhi chakra_.[210] The fourth region is that of the heart, called by the Hindus _manipuram_,[211] and that is like a flower with twelve leaves. The fifth is the windpipe, in the language of the Hindus _kant´a_.[212] The sixth comprehends the interval between the two eyebrows, in Sanskrit _bhruva_.[213] The seventh region is that of the head, which is called by the Hindus _brahmanda_.[214] It is to be known that in these regions there are many veins, among which three, as the principal, are to be distinguished: the one is on the right side, “the solar vein;” the other in the middle, “the earthen;” the third on the left side, “the lunar;” these veins are named in the language of the Hindus _áditya_, _pankila_, and _somana_;[215] in the Persian language, _mahna_, _míná_, and _máná_.[216] One of the three veins is the greatest, that, namely, which running from the middle of the back to the right of the back bone, divides beyond it into two branches, the one of which attains to the right, the other to the left of the nostrils; the breath and the wind comes from them, and the air which proceeds from these veins extends, during a man’s being awake, to twelve, during sleep to thirty-two, and during coition to sixty-four fingers: this air and breath they hold to be the foundation of life, and a great importance is attached to this subject by the learned Sipásian and Hindus. They believe the wind to be of ten kinds; but what according to them is essential to know, is the superior and inferior winds, which by the Hindus are called _Prána_ and _Apána_;[217] by the Persians, _Alayi_ and _Pásáyi_. These two winds attract each other mutually, and in pronouncing “_han_,” the breath goes out, in pronouncing “_sa_,” it goes within; and this takes place during prayers, without the aid and the motion of the tongue; when they fix upon a name, it becomes _hansa_, and they say also _hamsa_: the Hindus call it _ajapa_,[218] that is, it is pronounced without the aid of the tongue; and in Persian it has the name of _damáníbád_, or “sound of the wind.” Thus there is, above the channel of the region of the pubis, a most subtile vein; from the summit of the shank a flower, bright and similar to gold in redness, expands itself from eight roots, and after having from this origin raised its head, and taken the high direction to the top of the head, it is there closed: this the Hindus call _Kundelí_,[219] “a snake;” and the Persians _Ruhen mar_, and _Ráushibár_: and the path of the vein of the head is a middle one. When the Kundeli awakes to draw breath from a high feeling, it rises to the summit of the head; in like manner as a thread passes through the eye of a needle, it goes through the said opening to the top of the head. If thou knowest this mode well, thou understandest the modes of sitting; of these we mentioned one in the section upon the Sipasián; in this place we shall give a further account of this subject. The most approved mode of sitting is that which in the Hindu language is called _Maha ásana_,[220] and _Sáda ásana_,[221] that is “sitting as the High, the mature of age, and the accomplished,” which in Persian is termed _sánishín_.