Bhagavad Gita sings:

“As some offer their exhalation to inhalation, others offer their inhaled breath to the exhaled breath, while yet others practise serenity of breath by regulating their incoming and outgoing breath.”

Meditators on the Self sacrifice prān (vital air) to apān, and similarly apān to prān. Going even further, other yogis restrain all the life-winds and take refuge in the regulation of breath (prānāyām). What Shri Krishna calls prān–apān, Mahatma Buddha has named ānāpān. This is also what he described as śwās–prashwās (inhaling and exhaling).

Pran is the breath that is inhaled, whereas apan is the breath that moves out. Sages have discovered through experience that, along with the breath, we also absorb desires from the surrounding environment and, likewise, transmit waves of our inner thoughts—both pure and impure—with our exhalations.

The non-assimilation of any desire from an external source is the offering of prān as oblation, whereas the suppression of all inner desires is the sacrifice of apān—so that neither internal desires arise nor grief generated by thoughts of the external world. When both prān and apān are properly balanced, the breath becomes regulated. This is prānāyām, the serenity of breath. It is the state in which the mind becomes supreme, for the restraint of breath is inseparable from the restraint of the mind.

Every accomplished sage has taken up this subject, and it is mentioned in the Vedas. (Rig, 1.164.45 and Atharv, 9.10.27).

This is what revered Gurudev also says. According to him, the one and only name of God is recited at four levels: Baikhari, Madhyama, Pashyanti, and Para.

Baikhari is the level at which the name is manifest and audible. It is pronounced in such a way that both we ourselves and those around us can hear it.

Madhyama is the recitation of the name in a soft, murmured tone—audible only to the worshiper, but not even to the person sitting beside him. This articulation arises within the throat, gradually generating an unbroken stream of inner harmony.

When worship becomes even more refined, the seeker reaches a stage where he develops the capacity to visualize the name. At this point, the name is no longer recited, for it has become an integral part of the life-breath itself. The mind stands as a mere onlooker, simply observing what the breath expresses.

When does it come in? And when does it go out? And what does it express?

Sages of realization tell us that the breath articulates nothing except the Name. At this stage, the worshiper no longer recites the Name; he simply listens to the subtle melody of the Name arising from his breath. He merely observes his breath, and this is why this stage of breath-awareness is called Pashyanti.

At the stage of Pashyanti, the mind is positioned as a witness—an onlooker. But even this witnessing is no longer required when the discipline becomes still more refined.

When the chosen Name is firmly imprinted upon memory, its melody is heard spontaneously. There is no longer any need for recitation, for the Name resounds in the mind by itself. The worshiper does not recite it anymore, nor does he compel the mind to listen, and yet the recitation continues on its own. This is the stage of Ajapa—the un-recited.

It would, however, be a mistake to assume that this stage can be reached without first beginning the process of recitation. If recitation has never been initiated, Ajapa cannot arise. Ajapa is that form of recitation which does not leave us even when we ourselves do not recite it. When the memory of the Name is firmly established in the mind, the recitation begins to flow through it like a perennial stream.

This spontaneous recitation is called Ajapa, and it is the recitation that arises through transcendental articulation (Paravāaṇī). It leads the seeker to God, who is the essence beyond nature. After this stage, there is no further variation in speech, for once the vision of God is granted, speech is dissolved in Him. This is why it is called Para.”

In the verse quoted above, Shri Krishna instructs Arjun only to observe his breath; however, later He Himself emphasizes the importance of intoning OM.

Gautam Buddha too has elaborated on inhalation and exhalation in Ānāpān Sati. After all, what does the Yogeshwar truly intend to convey?

In truth, beginning with Baikhari, then progressing to Madhyama, and going even further to the stage of Pashyanti, one gradually attains mastery over the breath. At this level, recitation becomes integrated with the breath itself. And what remains to be recited when the worshiper now only has to observe his breath?

“This is why Shri Krishna speaks only of pran–apan rather than instructing Arjun to ‘recite the Name.’ There is no need to tell him this. If He were to say it explicitly, the worshiper might go astray and begin to wander in the dark alleys of the lower stages.

Mahatma Buddha, my noble and God-like teacher, and all those who have walked this path affirm the same truth. Baikhari and Madhyama are the portals through which we enter the realm of recitation. Pashyanti is the stage that grants access to the inner Name. In Para, the Name begins to flow in an unbroken, continuous stream, and from this point onward, the internal and spontaneous intoning of the Name never forsakes the worshiper.

The mind is linked with the breath. Victory over the mind is achieved when the gaze is fixed upon the breath, when the Name is woven into the breath, and when no desire from the external world can enter the worshiper. This is the state in which the final fruit of yagya manifests.

Sri Krishna adds further :

“Yet others who subsist on strictly regulated breath and offer their breath to breath, and life to life, are all knowers of yagya, and the sins of all who have known yagya are destroyed.”

Those who partake of regulated food offer their breath to breath—life to life—as an oblation. My noble teacher, the revered Gurudev, used to say that a yogi’s food, posture, and sleep should be steady and balanced. Regulation of food and sensory pleasure is essential.

Many yogis who observe such discipline merge breath into breath, focusing on the inhalation and paying no attention to the exhalation. With each incoming breath, they hear the sound of OM. Thus, those whose sins have been destroyed through yagya are the true men of knowledge.

Sri Krishna says:

“O the best of Kuru, the yogi who have tasted the nectar flowing from yagya attain to the eternal supreme God, but how can the next life of mankind bereft of yagya be happy when even their life in this world is miserable?”

What does yagya generate—what is the fruit that arises from it? It is nectar, the very substance of immortality. The direct experience of this nectar is wisdom itself. Whoever partakes of it becomes one with the eternal God.

Thus, yagya is that sacred process which, upon its completion, unites the worshiper with God. According to Shri Krishna, how can the next world bring happiness to those who are bereft of yagya, when even a mortal human birth remains beyond their reach?

It is their inevitable lot to be born in lower forms, with nothing better available to them. Thus, the observance of yagya is a necessity.

By practicing yagya under the guidance of an enlightened sage, the mind and senses become completely restrained. As I personally feel, there is no other option and no alternative path.

[Revered Adgadanandji Gurudev]

Key guidance by most revered Gurudev
to be learnt by heart
while traversing upon
the
“Path of Self Realization”

Humble Wishes!!!