तन्त्रसार (महामाहेश्वर अभिनवगुप्त - तन्त्रालोक का प्रामाणिक सार-संग्रह सटीक)

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respective locations in it. It is to be noted here that adhvās are generally known as paths which by means of sequence lead the aspirant to the Supreme, and in the end the one in whom the right view of non-duality has rightly developed these adhvās are absorbed in I-consciousness. For this reason adhvās are not simply path but are something that is absorbed. Hence the Yogin makes an effort to realise the Supreme Reality by taking resort to prāṇa and then puts an end to the mutations caused by the impelling force of Time. Prāṇa is vibrative by nature. This vibration arises spontaneously in the location of kanda below the genitive organ. The spontaneous movement of prāṇa bestows little spiritual result in comparison to the movement which is caused by the conscious effort of the Yogin. Hence by his deliberate effort in association which jyeṣṭhāśakti the Yogin tries to move his prāṇa from the centre of the heart along the path upward so that it may reach dvādaśānta, the top of the head, and then after getting it to take a little rest there for a moment it is made to run again toward the heart. This process of ingoing and outgoing is simply known as inhaling and exhaling, but to the Yogin it means something else. In the primary stage the Yogin by his keen observant look watches each movement of prāṇa rising in the heart, proceeding upward and coming back in the heart again. He divides the whole course of prāṇa into sixteen divisions. Each of these sixteen divisions is known as tuṭi, representing a day. Similarly, the exhaling is taken to represent a night. When the Yogin becomes sufficiently proficient, he then takes each movement of prāṇa and apāna to represent a month.