Shloka 14

Mahāyoga: Detachment from ‘I/Mine’, Aṣṭāṅga Practice, Oṁkāra and Aham-Brahmāsmi Contemplation

Devanagari script

प्रत्येकं त्रिविधः सो ऽपि पूरकुम्भकरेचकैः / लघुर्यो दशमात्रस्तु द्विगुणः स तु मध्यमः

Transliteration

pratyekaṃ trividhaḥ so 'pi pūrakumbhakarecakaiḥ / laghuryo daśamātrastu dviguṇaḥ sa tu madhyamaḥ

Translation

အသက်ရှုလေ့ကျင့်မှုတစ်ခုချင်းစီသည်လည်း ပူရက (pūraka) — ရှုသွင်းခြင်း၊ ကုမ္ဘက (kumbhaka) — ထိန်းထားခြင်း၊ နှင့် ရေचक (recaka) — ရှုထုတ်ခြင်း ဟူ၍ သုံးမျိုးရှိသည်။ ‘ပေါ့ပါး’ သည် မာထရာ ၁၀ ခန့်ဖြစ်ပြီး၊ ထိုအချိန်၏ နှစ်ဆကို ‘အလယ်အလတ်’ ဟု ခေါ်သည်။

Word by Word

• प्रत्येकम्: each, separately
• प्रत्येकम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रत्येकम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; वितरणार्थ (each/separately)

• त्रिविधः: threefold
• त्रिविधः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रिविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; त्रि + विध (threefold)

• सः: it/he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• अपि: also
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अपि-कार (also/even)

• पूरक: inhalation
• पूरक: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन (समाहार-द्वन्द्वे समुच्चय); (पूरकादीनां करणत्वम्)

• कुम्भक: retention
• कुम्भक: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुम्भक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन (समाहार-द्वन्द्वे)

• रेचकैः: exhalations
• रेचकैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रेचक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन

• लघुः: light/short (type)
• लघुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लघु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; (प्राणायामस्य भेदः)

• यः: which
• यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative pronoun)

• दशमात्रः: of ten counts/measures
• दशमात्रः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दश + मात्रा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; दश-मात्र (of ten measures)

• तु: indeed/but
• तु: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विरोध/विशेषार्थ (but/indeed)

• द्विगुणः: double
• द्विगुणः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्विगुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; द्वि + गुण (double)

• सः: that (one)
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• तु: then/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विशेषार्थ

• मध्यमः: medium (type)
• मध्यमः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मध्यम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; (प्राणायामस्य भेदः)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (teaching Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Prāṇāyāma is threefold—pūraka, kumbhaka, recaka—with graded durations: light (10 mātrās) and medium (double).

Vedantic Theme: Regulation of prāṇa steadies manas; supports pratyāhāra and dhyāna, preparing for inner realization.

Application: Practice breath regulation progressively and safely, using measured counts; increase duration gradually rather than forcefully.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.226: prāṇāyāma definitions and gradations (laghu/madhyama/uttama).

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu
• Garuda

FAQs

What is the importance of puraka, kumbhaka, and recaka in the Garuda Purana?

This verse defines pranayama as a three-part discipline—inhale, retain, exhale—showing that breath regulation is treated as a structured spiritual practice, not merely a physical exercise.

How does this verse classify pranayama by duration?

It states that a ‘light’ (laghu) measure is ten mātrās, and a ‘medium’ (madhyama) measure is double that, indicating graded practice based on time-units.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Practice breathwork with clear timing: begin with short, steady counts (laghu), and only after stability increase duration gradually (toward madhyama), keeping the three phases balanced.