# The Inner Capsule Answer Key, Class Five: The Inner Capsule **1) What is the name in Sanskrit, and in Tibetan, for an ”inner capsule"?  What are some related English words?  What does an "inner capsule" normally involve, in both the Indian and Tibetan traditions?** The Sanskrit name for an inner capsule is _kumbhaka _k…MÉk_, _which literally refers to a covered ceramic jar.  The English words _cover _and _comfort _are probably related.  The Tibetan term here is _bumpa _0v1-.k_, _which also refers to the same thing. The full form of the Tibetan is _lung bumpa chen _Tz$-0v1-.-%,k_, _which means "inner winds held within the capsule."  This is the element that is involved in nearly all capsule practices: a retention of the inner winds at a specific location of the inner body.  The different kinds of capsule practice presented in our text here primarily differ in the way we breathe before and after this retention. **2) Give the English names of the eight different practices of the capsule.** The English names of the eight different practices of the capsule are: (1) Piercing the Sun (2) High Victory (3) Thrill Sound (4) Cooling Off (5) The Bellows (6) Queen of Bees (7) Fainting (8) Floating **3) If the aim of our pranayama practice can be defined as _not getting a lung disorder, _what are some easy ways to avoid this problem as we perform the practices of the inner capsule, which are normally a good way to get a _lung _imbalance?** Any kind of retention of breath or inner wind can easily trigger a _lung _or inner-wind disorder.  Rule #1 of course is to _undertake these practices only under the direct supervision of a qualified Master _who is very familiar with our practice history and personal capacity.  We must also obviously respect our capacity; failing to do so in holding a capsule is a guarantee of problems.   If we are eating well, a healthy, moderate diet with lots of protein and low in refined sugar and similar ingredients, we are more likely to hold a capsule well.  It is also extremely helpful if before we actually begin the capsule we have done some preliminary practices to loosen the inner winds: for example, reviewing our motivation to be of service to all other people. It is also very good if before the practice we spend a few moments visualizing our body as already made of light, like the free blue sky within us, and without any blood or bone or inner organs.  Experiment as well with holding the capsule as you focus on an extremely tiny point of light in the body.  Finally, a fantastic way to avoid _lung _problems while holding this kind of capsule is to imagine that the holding is being done down at the level of the navel, and not up in the chest, throat, or head. **4) Before beginning with the various capsules, Master Svatmarama speaks of two inner locks that we'll be using.  Give the Sanskrit word for "inner lock"; its root, and related English words.  Then briefly describe the inner lock known as the "Water Catcher."  Give its Sanskrit name, its roots, and related English words, as well as the corresponding Tibetan name.** The word in Sanskrit for "inner lock" is bandha bNx.  The root here is √bandh bNx! , which means to bind.  Related English words are bind, bond, and bundle. The inner lock of the Water Catcher is normally performed with an inner retention of the breath.  We are sitting very straight in a comfortable cross-legged position; the hands are relaxed on the knees, in a mudra of our choice, and we are careful as well to relax the face. We inhale deeply, trying to lengthen the spine, drawing the ribs as far as possible from the pelvis.  And then we try to bring the sternum up to the chin (rather than thinking of it as bringing the chin to the sternum).  See if you can experiment feeling the retention, as the text says, "below the throat," instead of in your head and sinuses, which can lead to a lung problem.  The glottis is not closed but relaxed, and the retention further down. The Sanskrit name for the Water Catcher is jalandhara jalNxr, which in selecting our English translation we are taking as a variant of the common word jaladhara jlxr, a word for cloud since the two parts mean "water" jl "holder" xr.  We haven't found any obvious English cognates for jala.  Words related to dhara are of course dharma (that which holds a nature of its own); tree (that which is firmly rooted); and true (from tree: solid, real). The corresponding Tibetan is chundzin &u-84n,k, with chu meaning water and dzin meaning to hold.  The idea is that the bending of the neck holds the water in the throat from descending. This word though can also be glossed as a combination of jala jal as meaning a net, and then dhara xr as to hold out.  In this case the image is of closing down the neck to create a net which retains the wind and prevents the descent of saliva and such during the lock. Jalandhara is also an ancient state of western India (said by some to be the lower Kangra Valley, not far from Dharamsala, the current seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama), and was home to a great number of high yogis, some of whom took the name Jalandhara.  And so the name of the lock may simply come from one of the yogis who taught it. The Tibetans did not translate this word but simply borrowed it: dzalendhara 4-;,-a-:k. **5) Give the English and Sanskrit names of the second kind of lock described by the Master, along with the Sanskrit root and the Tibetan.  Then state how the lock is performed.** The second kind of lock described by Master Svatmarama is the Lock of Flying Up.  In Sanskrit this is named _uddiyana _%ifœfyan_.  _This word is made up of the parts _ud, _meaning _upwards, _and the root √_di _fI_, _meaning _to fly._ Once more, Uddiyana is also an ancient place name for an area in the northwest of present-day India, and the name would be used for yogis coming from this area, and the practices that they favored.  Oddiyana is another spelling of this place.  The Tibetans call the locale either _Ugyen _?v-W,k_ _or _Ogyen _?}-W,k_; _it has become identified with an enlightened paradise, and parents often give this name to their children.  The Tibetan word is a variant pronunciation of the original Sanskrit. Again we begin learning to do this lock in a seated position, hands on knees.  We exhale all the breath, seal the throat, and create a suction in the abdomen which draws the navel towards the spine.  The muscles of the lower abdomen are contracted, reversing the normal flow of the downward-clearing wind, but we are careful to keep the facial muscles loose and calm.  This lock becomes more and more easy and powerful as we continue in our other yogic practices, such as asana, strengthening our back and abdominal muscles, and reducing fat around the waist. **6) Why does bringing the life-wind down and raising the downward-clearing wind cause us, as Master Svatmarama states, to take on the appearance of a youth of sixteen years?  Give also the Sanskrit term for this transformation.** Bringing about the yoga or joining of these two winds, the two winds which flow equally through both of the two side channels, has the effect of bringing about the joining of these channels, in the sense of bringing their winds (and, later, these channels themselves) into the central channel.  This means that our negative thoughts, and the misperceptions which cause them, are also being transformed into pure thoughts and correct perceptions of the world, as the winds upon which they ride are forced into the middle channel. These thoughts, and the karma they inspire us to do, are the root cause of the aging process.  When our thoughts improve and the inner winds flow more freely, then this process is actually reversed.  We are using the inner winds to change the thoughts to change our karma to fix our mortality. In our text, the Sanskrit term for this transformation is jara vimukta jra ivmu´.  Jara means to get old, and is the source of the word geriatric.  Vimukta means freed from, and is based on the root √much muc! , meaning to release.  From this we get the word jivanmukti, one who reaches liberation in this very life. **7) Explain the name of the capsule practice called "Piercing the Sun," also giving a description of the practice, as well as the name's Sanskrit roots and related English words.** The Sanskrit name of this practice is surya bhedana sUyR Éedn, where surya means sun and bhedana means to pierce or poke.  The word sun here of course refers to the channel of the sun, and the root is the ancient Indo-European sahwel, source of the English words sun, solar, and helium (from the Greek helios, or sun). Bhedana comes from a root √bidh ibx! , meaning to split.  Some related English words are divide and widow (a woman separated or split from her husband). To do the practice, we lock ourselves into a comfortable seated position.  We then draw the breath into the right-hand nostril, related to the channel of the sun.  We then keep a gentle and light retention, according to our capacity.  (Unless you are quite advanced in this practice, having worked on it at length with a master, it is not appropriate to hold so long that, as the text says, you feel the retained wind reach your very fingernails and tip of hair.)  And then we exhale through the moon channel, on the left. **8) Explain the name of the capsule practice known as "High Victory," giving again its description and the Sanskrit root, as well as the Tibetan.  What benefits are said to be derived from this practice?  How does this particular capsule practice differ markedly from almost all the other breathing practices described in this chapter?** The name of this practice in Sanskrit is ujjayi %¾ayI, where uj means up, or high, and jayi comes from a root √ji ij, meaning to conquer.  We see this root in the common Hindi expression jai! (followed by someone's name), meaning "May so and so be victorious, may they live long!"  The Tibetan here is pakgyal 8/#=-W;k, where pak means elevated, superior (the uj in ujjayi); and gyal means victorious (the jayi part). This practice is performed by breathing in through both channels while making a hoarse sound, sort of a "Darth Vador" breathing.  We hold a capsule, and then exhale through the moon channel (left side).   This practice is said to remove disorders of the throat, and to increase the fire in the body.  It is one breathing practice which the text specifically says we can perform not only in a stationary position, but also while moving; for example, during our asana practice.  Done properly, it feels like a deep sigh moving in tune with our poses, greatly increasing the relaxation and depth, helping us from getting tight and then fatigued. **9) List at least 6 long-term effects of an ongoing _lung _disorder, and then some of the long-term effects of the opposite: of avoiding _lung _during our pranayama practice.** Some long-term effects of a _lung _disorder are: (1) Habitual nervousness. (2) Habitual irritability, tendency to anger easily. (3) Doubts, lack of self-assurance. (4) Unfounded worries, anxiety. (5) Sexual disfunction. (6) Urinary and digestive weakness. (7) Flightiness, inability to undertake or complete tasks. (8) Inability to function in social situations, lack of responsibility or conscience. (9) Chronic pain in heart area, migrating to other areas. (10) Chronic shaking of hands etc. (11) Inability and lack of determination in spiritual practices such as mediation, yoga, pranayama. (12) In extreme cases, deep depression, or even paranoia. (13) Inability to function in relationships, friendships.  Inability to think of others. (14) Inability to hold down a job or any other sustained task. The Yoga Studies Institute Course VI: Hatha Yoga Pradipika II Pranayama: Breath and the End of Breath