Shvasa

According to scriptures inhalation is life and exhalation is death.

Man inhales and exhales 21,000 to 24,000 times a day. The process of breathing consists of Pu’raka (inhaling), Kumbhaka (keeping the breath within), Recaka (exhaling), then again Pu’raka, Kumbhaka and Recaka.

There is a small duration of kumbhaka between Pu’raka and Recaka. The moment you breathe in, you do not inhale instantly, there is a pause when the breath is outside (Details will be dealt with in Pra’n’a’ya’ma). Your existence entirely depends upon Recaka, Kumbhaka and Pu’raka. You are doing it even when you are asleep, even when you are in a senseless condition. This is the nearest and dearest phenomenon for you, without which you cannot live. When once you have done Recaka and have not breathed in, this is temporary death for a moment. But again you have inhaled.

The moment you are unable to breathe in after breathing out, people call it death. If an adjustment of Is’t’a Mantra be made with this Pu’raka and Recaka, your Japa shall go on unknowingly and unconsciously with the respiration, and shall continue on even when you are asleep. By conscious and constant practice, you can reach this stage. When such a stage has been reached that Japa is going on without any attempt, without any endeavour, this is called Ajapa’ Ga’yattrii or Ajapa’ Japa. You have gone to sleep while doing Japa and when you get up, you find ‘Japa’ is going on. This is “Ajapa’ Japa”.

In the end, when man leaves this body, he leaves it while doing Recaka. Mantra has been so adjusted that with the last syllable his breath goes out, and his Pra’n’a merges in Maha’‑ Pra’n’a. A’tma’ will merge in Parama’tma’, his death will be the last death. To adjust this, some of the Mantras are reversed, for example `So’ham’ becomes Ham’ So. You have to adjust the breath with the Mantra in such a manner that when you breathe out for the last time, you breathe out with such an ideation of your Is’t’a Mantra that you merge in Him ‑Ham’ merging in So and Tvam’ merging in Tat.