---
type: Concept
title: "Prāṇa"
description: "The life-force operating in five differentiated forms throughout the body and cosmos — not breath, not energy."
tags:
  - sadhana
  - cosmology
  - Yoga
  - non-translatable
darshana:
  - Pātañjala Yoga
  - Vedānta
not:
  - term: "Breath"
    why: "Reduces prāṇa to one physical function; it also governs digestion, circulation, speech, thought, and the process of death."
    instead: "Keep Prāṇa untranslated; gloss as the five-fold vital force."
  - term: "Energy"
    why: "Western energy is a measurable material quantity; prāṇa is subtler, the bridge between consciousness and matter."
  - term: "Life force (vague)"
    why: "A loose gloss; prāṇa is precise, operating in five differentiated forms (pañca-prāṇa)."
  - term: "Chi/Qi (similar but distinct tradition)"
    why: "A related concept from a different lineage with its own framework; resemblance is not identity."
related:
  - /concepts/mantra.md
  - /concepts/yoga.md
  - /concepts/chakra.md
  - /concepts/prakriti.md
timestamp: "2026-06-18"
okf_version: "0.2"
---

# Prāṇa

**Not:** Breath, Energy, Life force (vague), Chi/Qi (similar but from a distinct tradition)

## What It Actually Means

Prāṇa is the vital force that animates all living beings — operating in five differentiated forms (*pañca-prāṇa*): *prāṇa* (respiration/inward breath), *apāna* (excretion/downward breath), *vyāna* (circulation throughout the body), *udāna* (speech, upward movement, and the force that separates the subtle body at death), and *samāna* (digestion and assimilation).

Disease is "a deficiency of prāṇa in the affected part of the body." Prāṇa is present in food and air — both eating and breathing bring prāṇa into the body. Natural environments (ocean, mountains, rivers) have more prāṇa available, which is why they rejuvenate. Prāṇa is also obtained from loving relationships.

[Mantra](/concepts/mantra.md) energizes prāṇa. *Prāṇāyāma* (the fourth limb of [Yoga](/concepts/yoga.md)) is the science of regulating prāṇa — not merely "breathing exercises."

## Prāṇa and the Three-Tier Framework

Prāṇa should be understood at the *Adhyātmika* (microcosmic/self) level — distinct from *Adhibhautika* Vāyu (physical air, the gross element). This distinction is critical:

- **Adhibhautika Vāyu** — physical air, the gross element you breathe
- **Adhyātmika Prāṇa** — the subtle life-force that operates at the level of the *Jīva* and specifically **connects Ātmā with the Jīva complex** (the subtle and gross bodies)

Prāṇāyāma (the 4th limb of [Yoga](/concepts/yoga.md)) works at the Adhyātmika level — not the physical breath level. This is why "breathing exercises" misses the point entirely: the goal is to regulate the subtle Prāṇa that the breath carries, not merely to manipulate air volume.

## Why "Breath" or "Energy" Fails

**"Breath"** reduces prāṇa to a single physical function. Prāṇa operates in digestion, circulation, speech, thought, and the process of death — none of which are "breathing."

**"Energy"** in Western physics is a measurable, material quantity. Prāṇa is subtler than physical energy — it is the bridge between consciousness ([Ātman](/concepts/atman.md)) and matter ([Prakṛti](/concepts/prakriti.md)), the animating principle that makes inert matter appear alive.

## Audience Metaphor

Prāṇa is like bandwidth in a network — it flows through different channels (the five forms), powers different applications (breathing, digestion, movement, speech, thought), and the system crashes when it's insufficient. [Yoga](/concepts/yoga.md) practice is upgrading your bandwidth.

## Citations

1. [Praśna Upaniṣad](/references/prashna-upanishad.md) (dedicated entirely to Prāṇa)
2. Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā
3. Rajiv Malhotra, *Sanskrit Non-Translatables* (2020)
