Samana
Samāna (IAST)Meaning: "equalized"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verse 10)
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: समान
Transliteration: Samāna
Meaning: "to breath equally"
Definition:
- One of the five vital airs.
- It is the life breath which controls digestion and assimilation. It keeps equilibrium in the body. It is located in the region of the navel.
Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads (Swami Sharvananda)
Sanskrit: समान
Transliteration: Samāna
Meaning: "equal to all"
Glossary to the Record of Yoga (Sri Aurobindo)
Transliteration: Samāna
Definition: "one of the five workings of the life-force (Pañcaprāṇa) in the body, that which regulates the interchange of Prāṇa and Apāna where they meet near the navel; it “equalizes them and is the most important agent in maintaining the equilibrium of the vital forces and their functions.”
The Yoga-Sūtra of Patañjali (Chip Hartranft)
Sanskrit: समान
Transliteration: Samāna
Definition: "energy flow through the solar plexus"
The Science of Yoga (I.K. Taimni)
Definition: "one of the five kinds of Prāṇa"
Commentary: "The relation of Samāna Vāyu with the gastric fire and the digestion of food is well known. Control over Samāna will naturally enable the Yogi to increase the intensity of the gastric fire to any extent and to digest any amount of food. That the digestion of food depends upon fire may sound fantastic to people with modern ideas of medical Science. But the word fire is not used here in its ordinary sense. Agni is one of the important Tattva which manifests in innumerable ways and the ordinary fire with which we are familiar is only one of these. The function of the gastric fire which is another form of Agni Tattva is to stimulate the gastric secretions and thus make the digestion of food possible. Yogic Science does not, therefore, contradict the facts of medical Science. It merely takes a more comprehensive view of these natural processes and also includes within its scope the subtler forces and causes which are working behind them."
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Sharvananda, Swami (1920). Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads: With Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-For-Word Literal Translation, English, Rendering and Comments. Mylapore, Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math
- Hartz, Richard. Glossary to the Record of Yoga (Sri Aurobindo). Retrieved from http://wiki.auroville.org.in/wiki/Glossary_to_the_Record_of_Yoga.
- Hartranft, Chip (2003). The Yoga-Sūtra of Patañjali: Sanskrit-English Translation & Glossary. Shambhala
- Taimni, I. K. (1975). The Science of Yoga: The Yoga-Sūtras of Patañjali in Sanskrit with Transliteration in Roman, Translation in English and Commentary: Theosophical Publishing House. p. 306-307.
