II. Sādhana Pāda · Breath (2.49–2.53)
2.49 · The Pause
With posture in place, breath control is the cutting off of the flow of in-breath and out-breath.
Word by word
- tasmin sati
- when that (posture) is in place
- śvāsa
- in-breath
- praśvāsayoḥ
- and out-breath
- gati
- movement, flow
- vicchedaḥ
- cutting off, interruption
- prāṇāyāmaḥ
- breath control; extending the life-breath
Where it fits
The fourth limb rests on the third: "with posture in place". Vyāsa reads this as "when posture is mastered" (Woods p. 193). Breath control is defined as cutting off the flow of in-breath and out-breath. 2.50 sets out its kinds and how it is refined.
Reading
With posture in place comes breath control. Patañjali defines it as the cutting off of the flow of in-breath and out-breath, and the tradition reads this as deliberate holding. This card does not teach holding: begin by noticing the pauses that already happen, and learn retention only from a qualified teacher. Prāṇāyāma can be read as prāṇa (the life-breath) and āyāma (extension). The order matters: a steady seat first, then the breath.
Vyāsa
“In-breath is the sipping in of outside air. Out-breath is the expelling of air from the belly. Breath control is the cutting off of the flow of both: the absence of both.”
Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 193.
Practice
Sit steadily and breathe naturally for twenty breaths. Notice the small natural pause after each exhale and each inhale. Don't lengthen the pauses or hold the breath; just find them.
A question to sit with
Where is the pause in your day?
Where commentators disagree
Is prāṇāyāma a pause in the breath, or the regulated practice of breathing out, in and holding?
- Vyāsa
- Breathing in is drinking in the outer air, breathing out is expelling the air within; prāṇāyāma is the cutting off of the flow of both, the absence of both. (Woods 1914, p. 193)
- Vācaspati Miśra
- Reads this as the general mark of breathing out (recaka), breathing in (pūraka) and holding (kumbhaka): in each the flow is broken, as when air taken in is held inside, or air sent out is held outside. (Woods 1914, p. 193)
- Bhoja
- The stopping of the flow, outside and inside, is produced through the threefold process of breathing out, holding and breathing in. (Tatya 1885, pp. 87–88; Mitra 1883, wisdomlib on 2.49)