Talk:Nāḍī
By Swami Harshananda
nāḍī (‘duct’)
The word nāḍī has been used in various senses. Generally it means either a duct or a nerve.
Some of the Upaniṣads (vide Chāndogya 8.6.6; Katha 6.16) speak of 101 nāḍīs proceeding from the heart out of which one (the suryanāḍī) passes through the brahmarandhra (aperture in the crown of the head). If the jīva (the soul) leaves the body through this, he passes through the arcirādimārga or devayāna (the bright
path, the path of gods) and reaches Brahmaloka, the world of Brahmā, from which there is no return.
The number of nāḍīs as per different sources varies from 3,50,000 to 72,000, out of which only fourteen are considered as principal. Some of them are: iḍā, piṅgalā, suṣumnā, gāndhārī, kuhu, śaṅkhinī and alambuṣā.
Among these, again, iḍā, piṅgalā and suṣumnā are the most important ones as per the works on tantras and Haṭhayoga.
See IDĀ, piñgalā, prānāyāma and
SUṣUMNĀ.
In Āyurveda, the word nāḍī is used in the sense of pulse. The diagnosis of a disease is done by examining the pulse. A whole science called Nāḍivijñāna has been evolved in course of time. There is a well-known work named Nādīparīksā attributed to Rāvaṇa.
Nadistuti (‘hymn in praise of the rivers [like Sindhu and Sarasvatī]’)
This sukta or hymn in praise of the well-known rivers of that time appears in the Rgveda Samhitā (10.75.1-9). There are nine ṛks or mantras.
The first mantra is in praise of all the waters of all the seven rivers.
The next three mantras are addressed to the river Sindhu along with its tributaries. These tributaries approach the Sindhu like little children their mother, or, the calves the mother-cow.
The fifth mantra is very important since it names ten prominent rivers of those times, from Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī up to Suṣomā (See NADĪ also.).
The rest of the mantras again—four
in number—are in praise of Sindhu, not
only as a nourishing river, but also as a goddess.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore