14. The vibration of vital air gives pulsation to the heart strings, causing their cognition in the mind; in the same manner as the motion of the waters, gives rise to the waves rolling and beating on the shore.
15. The heart is said to be the afflation of the vital breath by the learned in the Vedas, and this being suppressed quiets the mind also. (The mind, says the Sruti, is moved by the vital air &c.).
16. The action of the mind being stopped, the perception of the existence of the world becomes extinct (as we have no perception of it in our sound sleep, when the mind is inactive). It is like the extinction of worldly affairs at sunset.
17. Ráma asked:—How is it possible to stop the course of the winds, perpetually circulating through the cells of the body, like the unnumbered birds flying in the air to their nests. (The passage of the nostrils is the open air, and the cells in the body are as their nests).
18. Vasishtha replied:—It is possible by study of the sástras and association with the good and wise, by habitual dispassionateness, by the practice of Yoga, and by removal of reliance in every transaction of the world.
19. Meditation of the desired object, and keeping in view that single object, and firm reliance on one particular object, are the best means of suppressing the vital breath.
20. Next, it is by suppression of breath in the acts of inspiration and respiration puraka and rechaka, in such manner as it may be unattended with pain, together with fixed meditation, it is possible to suppress the vital air (which gives longevity to the practitioner).
21. The utterance of the syllable om, and pondering upon the significations of that word, and dormancy of the perceptive senses, are means of the suppression of breath.
22. The practice of rechaka or respiring out, serves to purge out the crudities of the body, and by leaving the nostrils untouched, the vital breath is suppressed altogether.
23. The practice of puraka or breathing in, tends to fill the inside as the clouds fill the sky; and then the breathing being stopped, its vibrations are stopped also.