Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 152

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-4 Jñāna Vibhāga Yogaḥ

apāne juhvati prāṇaṃ prāṇe’pānaṃ tathā’pare | prāṇāpāna-gatī ruddhvā prāṇāyāma parāyaṇāḥ || 29 || 29. Some sacrifice exhalation into inhalation. Similarly others sacrifice the inspiration into expiration. Some others, holding their breath sacrifice both the inspiration and expiration. Commentary Other Karma Yogins are devoted to the practice of breath control (prāṇāyāma) which has three actions — Pūraka (inspiration) is that [sacrifice] in which the inward breath is sacrificed into the outward breath. Recaka (expiration) is that in which the outward breath is sacrificed in the inward breath. Kumbhaka (retention of breath) is the sacrifice when the flow of both inward and outward breaths is stopped.