Prana means life air or life force. It is present all over the universe both in space and in all living beings. Its continuous flow assures a proper healthy state of living beings.
Rajo guna is responsible to give rise to the subtle Prana. This Prana is the interface between the gross and subtle body. Many a times, Prana and Jiva are confused, they are both closely connected. The Jiva sees the Prana while it is floating in the Prana within the heart cavity.
RtaM pibantau sukRtasya loke guhAM praviStau parame parArdhe
chAyAtapau brahmavido vadanti paJcAgnayo ye ca tri-NAciketAH (Katha Upanisad 1.3.1 )
“O Naciketa, the expansions of Lord Visnu as the tiny living being (jiva) and the Supersoul both stay within the cave of the heart of this body. In that cavity the living being, resting on the main prana, enjoys the results of activities, and the Supersoul, acting as witness enables him to enjoy them. Those who are well-versed in knowledge of Brahman and those householders who carefully follow the Vedic regulations say that the difference between the two is like the difference between a shadow and the sun.”
bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4)
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego – all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.
śrī-uddhava uvāca
tvaṁ brahma paramaṁ sākṣād anādy-antam apāvṛtam
sarveṣām api bhāvānāṁ trāṇa-sthity-apyayodbhavaḥ (SB 11.16.1)
Śrī Uddhava said: My dear Lord, You are beginningless and endless, the Absolute Truth Himself, unlimited by anything else. You are the protector and life-giver, the destruction and creation of all things that exist.
prāṇād abhūd yasya carācarāṇāṁ prāṇaḥ saho balam ojaś ca vāyuḥ
anvāsma samrājam ivānugā vayaṁ prasīdatāṁ naḥ sa mahā-vibhūtiḥ (SB 8.5.37)
All living entities, moving and nonmoving, receive their vital force, their bodily strength and their very lives from the air. All of us follow the air for our vital force, exactly as servants follow an emperor. The vital force of air is generated from the original vital force of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. May that Supreme Lord be pleased with us.
Yoga teaches us to control the vital force by breathing practice. Many Yogis follow this to control their mind and senses to achieve the Supreme Lord.
Lets chant the Holy Name in the breath given by the controller of the breath. May we pray to serve and chant the Holy Name of the Lord with every breath we take. When the breath stops, everything stops.
Chant easily with every breath the ever sweet Holy Names of the Lord.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Nama 66 – VishnuSahasranama