Upanishads · Bhāvanā p15
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राणापानव्यानोदानसमाननागकूर्मकृकरदेवदत्तधनञ्जया इति दश वायवः
Transliteration (IAST)
prāṇāpānavyānodānasamānanāgakūrmakṛkaradevadattadhanañjayā iti daśa vāyavaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्राण-अपान-व्यान-उदान-समान-prāṇa-apāna-vyāna-udāna-samāna-prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, udāna, samāna
नाग-कूर्म-कृकर-देव-दत्त-धनञ्जयाःnāga-kūrma-kṛkara-deva-datta-dhanañjayāḥnāga, kūrma, kṛkara, devadatta, dhanañjaya
इति दश वायवःiti daśa vāyavaḥthus — ten winds
Translation
Prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, udāna, samāna, nāga, kūrma, kṛkara, devadatta, dhanañjaya — thus, ten winds.
Version
7b3d2e07051b · published Aug 6, 2026, 6:48:41 PM UTC
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Ten vāyu, "winds," that is, kinds of breath, are named, and this count is worked out in detail in Indian body-science. The five chief ones: prāṇa — the inhalation and what moves upward; apāna — what moves down and expels; vyāna — spread through the whole body; udāna — moving up, to the throat and head; samāna — the middle one, at digestion. The five minor ones are described by their actions and deserve mention, for the description is witty and verifiable by anyone on himself. Nāga is that by which one belches; kūrma, by which one blinks; kṛkara, by which one sneezes; devadatta, by which one yawns; dhanañjaya, what remains in the body after death and by which it swells.
This list, for all its antiquity, is conscientious observation: it lists the involuntary movements of the body, and gives each a name. Belching, blinking, sneezing, and yawning truly form a special class — they occur of themselves, and can almost not be stopped by effort. The Vaiṣṇava side builds no doctrine on these mappings, but cites them as an example of just how little a person controls his own body. The Gītā says: "nature compels everyone to act; not for an instant can anyone remain without acting" (3.5); and one who cannot, by his own will, avoid blinking hardly has the right to call himself master.