THE NADIS

THE NADIS

The word Nadi comes from the Sanskrit root nad meaning “movement.” In the Rigveda, the most ancient Hindu scripture, the word nadi is used to mean “stream.” The concept of Nadis is based on the understanding that they are channels; any channel through which anything flows is a Nadi.

The Shiva Purana (4.40.5) clearly states that Nadis are not only nerves, but all kinds of channels. This is the reason that the Sanskrit term for nerve, snayu, is not used for Nadis in the texts of ancient Indian medicine, Ayurveda. There are two types of Nadis:

1. Subtle, nonmaterial, invisible channels of subtle energy called Yoga Nadis. The subtle Nadis are again of two kinds: the channels of manas or the mind (manovahini or manovahi nadis), and the channels of chitta, the feeling self or being (chittavahi nadis).

2. Gross channels of subtle energy, visible as cords, vessels, or tubes. Included in this concept of Nadis are acupuncture meridians, nerves, muscles, and the streams of the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems, such as the arteries and veins.

Pranic energy is carried by Nadis that belong to each type, subtle and gross. The Nadis that carry pranic energy are known as pranavahi or pranavahini nadis. The gross pranavahi nadis work with the nerves of the central-, autonomic-, sympathetic-, and parasympathetic nervous systems. To some degree, these nerves, and the work and sense organs that are operated by them, are influenced by the Yoga Nadis such as Ida and Pingala, which are linked with the chakras. Thus the chakras work with Nadis of both kinds, gross and subtle, but Kundalini only works with the most subtle of the Nadis of the Sushumna. When Kundalini is awakened and prana is absorbed in Kundalini, the other Nadis stop functioning and the working of the chakras is temporarily suspended until the Kundalini becomes dormant again.

Ayurveda mentions 72, 000 different Nadis. One’s pulse is also called nadi, and medical diagnosis often commences by observing the throbbing of the nadi in the carotid artery. In the Yoga Shikhopanishad it is clearly stated that there are 101 Nadis that are connected to the Heart Center or Anahata Chakra. It continues: “The Ida Nadi is situated on the left side and the Pingala Nadi on the right side; between these two is the main Nadi, the Sushumna. Within the Sushumna is concealed the Brahma Nadi, which is pure in character like the supreme consciousness (brahman). The Brahma Nadi is the void that connects to the Brahma Randhra, a void between the twin hemispheres of the brain, located in the upper-most chakra, the Sahasrara, the Thousand-petaled Lotus. One who knows this is the knower of the Veda.”

Aspirants who are able to master the Nadis can attain the highest states of consciousness and gain the powers known as siddhis (perfections), giving them full command over the elements and gunas. The tantric treatise Shiva Samhita identifies fourteen principal Nadis. Of these, three main Nadis—Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna—are considered the most important for aspirants of Yoga and other practitioners. 

They are identified with the three main rivers of India: Ida is also known as Ganga, Pingala as Yamuna, and Sushumna as Saraswati. All three of these Nadis originate in the same region, the kanda, the fibrous material below the Muladhara Chakra around which nerves interweave. This junction of these three holy streams is called yukta triveni (yukta - combined, triveni -three streams). It takes the form of a downward-pointing bow or triangle in the center of which the Kundalini is coiled. The left side of the triangle is the Ida Nadi, the right side the Pingala Nadi, and the top the Sushumna Nadi. 

The three Nadis proceed upward from the Muladhara Chakra, with the Ida and Pingala alternating from the right to left sides of the Sushumna at each succeeding chakra, until they reach the Ajna Chakra, the point between the eyebrows, where they meet again, forming a gentle knot. The Ida and Pingala Nadis terminate in the left and right nostrils respectively and the Sushumna continues upward to the Sahasrara Chakra at the crown of the head. The meeting of these three streams in the Ajna Chakra is called mukta triveni. A yogi who has passed through the Vishuddha Chakra at the throat to the Ajna Chakra transcends the five elements and becomes freed (mukta) from the bondage of time-bound consciousness. That is why this meeting of the three Nadis is called the mukta triveni. The scriptures say: triveni yoga sah prokta, tantra snanam maha phalam, “this union is called triveni, and one who bathes in this triveni achieves great merit.”

Source : Harish Johari

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