Chapter 5
Nāḍīs
The anatomy and physiology of the gross physical body is patterned from the blueprint or template of the subtler etheric body (between the astral and physical bodies) composed of a luminous matrix of web-like lines of force in constant motion, scintillating with a bluish or white light. The etheric body acts as a receiver, assimilator and transmitter of life-energy.
The etheric body channels the flow of life-energy (prāṇa) to create and sustain the physical body through a vast network of fine subtle channels called nāḍīs (nāḍī literally means ‘flow’ or ‘motion’), astral nerve conductors of prāṇa. Any mental or emotional disturbances that a person experiences in life will create blocks to this flow of life-energy, which will be registered in the astral body, and stored in the chakras – the main energy centres of the astral body. This in turn will influence the energies of the physical body and will have an effect on the health and wellbeing of the individual.
The physical spine and the ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system alongside the spine, correspond to the astral spine (suṣumnā) with its nāḍīs of the iḍā on the left side, and piṅgalā on the right side of the central astral channel (suṣumnā).
The suṣumnā, which corresponds with the central nervous system, consists of the śirobrahman (cerebrum) contained within the cranium, the suṣumnā śirśakam (medulla oblongata), and the suṣumnā kandam (spinal cord within the vertebral canal).
The parisariya nāḍī maṇ ḍalam (the peripheral nervous system) consists of a series of nerves by which the suṣumnā is connected with the various tissues of the body. The autonomic nervous system is called iḍā, corresponding with the parasympathetic nervous system, and piṅgalā, corresponding with the sympathetic nervous system.
The source of the nāḍīs in the astral body is an egg-shaped centre of nerves called the kanda, which is located between the anus and the root of the reproductive organs, just above the mūlādhāra chakra. From this source 72,000 nāḍīs with 14 main channels according to the Darśana Upaniṣad (or 350,000, with 14 main channels, according to the Śiva Samhita) flow out to the entire subtle circuitry of the astral body. The kanda is the junction where the nāḍī that passes through the spinal column is connected to the mūlādhāra chakra at the base of the spine. Corresponding to this centre in the physical body is the cauda equina (‘horse’s tail’), a fibrous network at the base of the spinal cord, that tapers off to a fine silk-like thread.
There are two views regarding the origin of nāḍīs – one belief is that the origin lies in the kanda sthāna and the other is that it is in the solar plexus near the navel. The Jābāladarśanopaniṣad text states that the centre is nine fingerbreadths above the mūlādhāra in the navel region. But the Yogi Yājñavalkya-Saṁhitā (4: 16–17) gives its location as being nine finger-breadths, above the navel, and that it is egg-shaped, and four fingers in breadth, width and height. The Yoga śikh opaniṣad states that the navel encircled by the vilamba nāḍī (a particular prāṇic channel) as the nābhi (navel) chakra, is egg-shaped, and it is from here that the nāḍīs originate.
The solar plexus is the main storage battery of prāṇa and large amounts of prāṇa can be held there to give vitality to the physical body, through the practice of prāṇāyāma. The nāḍīs can be purified by this practice, particularly through nāḍī śodhana or anuloma viloma prāṇāyāma (alternate nostril breathing). If the nāḍīs are not purified, then the prāṇa cannot flow into the suṣumnā.
The life-energy which flows through the nāḍīs is used by the soul in its expression through the physical and astral manifestations. Without light of the in-dwelling Self or soul, the brain, mind, body organs, senses, and even prāṇa cannot function. It is the Self that sustains the body by agency of prāṇa.
Fourteen Important Nāḍīs
1. Suṣumnā – carries the kuṇ ḍalinī śākti.
2. Iḍā – carries the mental energy.
3. Piṅgalā – carries the prāṇic energy.
4. Gāndhārī – is situated by the side of iḍā nāḍī and helps to support it. Gāndhārī nāḍī stretches from below the corner of the left eye to the big toe of the left foot. Affects the excretory system.
5. Hastijihvā – is a complementary nāḍī to iḍā. Gāndhārī, iḍā, and hastijihvā form the left channel. The hastijihvā nāḍī stretches from below the corner of the right eye to the big toe. Affects the excretory system.
6. Kuhū – originates from the throat and terminates at the genitals. Affects the liver, and when this nāḍī is balanced, it keeps the stomach and the blood circulation functioning well.
7. Sarasvatī – is seated on the tongue and runs parallel to the suṣumnā nāḍī. Affects the spleen, and controls the temperature of the stomach.
8. Pūṣā – extends from the left big toe to the right ear. This nāḍī, along with yaśasvinī nāḍī, forms the right channel and is complementary to piṅgalā.
9. Śaṅkhini – originates from the throat and passes between sarasvatī and gāndhārī nāḍīs on the left side of suṣumnā nāḍī, terminating in the anus. Affects the kidneys; its main functions are purification of the blood and urinary excretion.
10. Payasvinī – flows between pūṣā nāḍī and sarasvatī nāḍī. Pūṣā is complementary to piṅgalā on the right side of the suṣumnā, and to sarasvatī on the left. Directly linked to the gallbladder, it controls the level of bile in the body and affects the digestion.
11. Vāruṇī – situated between yaśasvinī and kuhū nāḍīs. Vāruṇī nāḍī assists in keeping apāna vāyu free of toxins. Together they help each other in the body’s process of excretion.
12. Alambuṣā – begins at the anus and terminates at the mouth. It affects the mind and the metabolic system. This is an important nāḍī because all feelings of the senses are conveyed to the suṣumnā through it, and are then carried to the brain. It affects the mind and the metabolic system.
13. Viśvodarī – flows between kuhū and hastijihvā nāḍīs and is located in the area of the navel. Viśvodarī nāḍī is related to the adrenal glands and the pancreas; it affects the intestines, and controls the metabolism and catabolism. Viśvodarī, working together with vāruṇī nāḍī, improves the distribution and flow of prāṇa throughout the body, especially the prāṇa rising through the suṣumnā. The yoga practices of uḍ ḍīyāna bandha and nauli kriyā energize the viśvodarī nāḍī.
14. Yaśasvinī – extends from the right big toe to the left ear. It affects the excretory system.
Three Main Nāḍīs
The Brihadāranyaka Upaniṣad, one of the oldest Upaniṣads, dating from about 800 BCE, states that the nāḍīs are as fine as a hair split into a thousand parts. Out of the network of 72,000 nāḍīs ten are regarded as important nāḍīs. These ten nāḍīs are the main channels of the distribution of life-energy and consciousness to the whole body. Of these ten nāḍīs, three – iḍā, piṅgalā and suṣumnā – are seen as specially important, because they control the complete network of the 72,000 nāḍīs.
Iḍā nāḍī, the left-hand current, transmits mental energy (citta śākti) and controls all the mental processes. Piṅgalā, the right-hand current, transits the vital life-force (prāṇa śākti) and controls all the vital and physiological processes. The central channel, suṣumnā, is for the awakening of spiritual consciousness; it transmits spiritual power (ātma śākti). Both iḍā and piṅgalā control our normal consciousness and are constantly active, even during sleep. The suṣumnā nāḍī is mainly dormant in the majority of people who are not consciously and actively engaged in spiritual development through such practices as yoga and meditation. Their consciousness is limited to the lower chakras on the worldly plane; they have not yet spiritually awakened.
The Spinal Cord
In the physical body the central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord, the cerebro-spinal centre. The spinal cord is a continuation of the brain. It extends from the top of the spinal canal to the second vertebra of the coccygeal region where it tapers off into the cauda equina.
The spinal cord continues into the brain stem before it reaches the brain. The brain stem contains important centres that regulate several vital functions for survival, including heartbeat, respiration, blood, pressure, digestion, and the reflex actions of swallowing and vomiting. The brain stem includes the mid-brain (controls visual and auditory reflexes), the pons (controls the functions of facial expression and eye movement), and the medulla oblongata (controls regulation of heart rate and breathing rate). The bulb-shaped medulla oblongata, below the pons, is a connecting medium between the brain and the spinal cord.
The spinal cord contains two types of tissue: white and grey matter. The grey matter within the centre of the cord is butterfly-shaped. It contains the cell bodies of the motor tracts, the sensory tracts, and the autonomic nerves. The outer white matter serves as a pathway for nerve tracts passing impulses to and from the spinal cord and the brain.
Suṣumnā
The suṣumnā (‘most gracious’), the major central nāḍī in the astral spine corresponding to the spinal cord in the physical body, is also called brahma nāḍī (‘Path to God’), brahma daṇ ḍa (God’s staff), divya-mārga (divine path) and meru daṇ ḍa (Mount Meru is axis mundi, the supporting pillar of the earth, running from the underworlds to the heavens). Most of the Vedic and yoga texts consider the mūlādhāra at the base of the spine to be its origin, and the brahmarandhra at the crown of the head to be where it terminates. Suṣumnā corresponds with the sacred river Sarasvatī.
The mūlādhāra chakra is located and experienced between the genital root and the anus in males, and at the cervix, or base of the uterus, in women. From the mūlādhāra chakra, the suṣumnā nāḍī ascends slightly backward and upward to the second energy centre, svādhiṣ ṭhāna chakra, located at the point in front of the coccyx where the suṣumnā nāḍī enters the spinal column. From the svādiṣ ṭhāna chakra the suṣumnā continues upwards through the spinal column, through the navel centre (maṇipūra chakra), heart centre (anāhata chakra), throat centre (viśuddha chakra), the point at the base of the brain where the spinal column ends, and passes through ājñā chakra (the psychic passage which runs from the eyebrow centre to the medulla oblongata at the back of the head). Suṣumnā terminates at sahasrāra (the Gate of Brahman) at the crown of the head.
Suṣumnā nāḍī is composed of three subtle currents of force, concentric tubes arranged one within the other. The innermost channel is citriṇī (pale like the moon), and has a sattvic (pure) nature. The second inner channel is the active and forceful vajriṇī (sunlike), and the outer channel is the suṣumnā itself. When kuṇ ḍalinī energy, the psycho-spiritual power, is awakened, it passes through the brahma nāḍī, a very fine canal inside the citriṇī nāḍī. It enters through the ‘door of Brahman’ (brahma dvāra) at mūlādhāra chakra (at the base of the spine) and blissfully ascends to sahasrāra chakra, the thousand-petalled lotus of supreme consciousness at the crown of the head. In a general sense the suṣumnā nāḍī itself can be called the brahma nāḍī.
Iḍā and Piṅgalā
The Sanskrit word iḍā means ‘comfort’. The iḍā nāḍī, also called chandra nāḍī, is the ‘comforting’ channel due to its cooling effect on the body. Iḍā is associated with feminine and lunar energy, which are also seen as possessing cooling qualities. Iḍā corresponds with the sacred river Gaṅgā (Ganges), which is nourishing and purifying. Iḍā controls all the mental processes, and is sattvic in nature.
The origins of the subtle prāṇa and the breath lie in the astral body. When there is an upward movement of prāṇa in the iḍā nāḍī this is astral inhalation. Astral exhalation is when there is a downward movement through the piṅgalā nāḍī.
In Svāra Yoga, iḍā represents the breath flowing in and out of the left nostril. During the ascending moon cycle, from the new moon to the full moon, iḍā nāḍī is dominant for nine days in the fortnight at the time of sunrise and sunset. There are some yogis who follow Svāra Yoga, who create a sattvic balance in body and mind by keeping the flow of breath in the left nostril during the day. This balances the solar energy that is received during the daylight hours.
In Sanskrit piṅgalā means ‘tawny-red’, which is derived from the word tan symbolizing the action of the Sun. The piṅgalā nāḍī, also called sūrya nāḍī, is associated with masculine and solar energy, possessing heating qualities. Piṅgalā corresponds with the sacred river Yamunā, and controls all the vital processes. Piṅgalā represents the breath flowing in and out of the right nostril. Piṅgalā is more active during the descending moon cycle, from the full moon to the new moon, and operates for nine days in the fortnight at the time of sunrise and sunset.
The Svāra Yoga practice of keeping the right nostril open at night, when solar energy is less strong, is said to maintain a balance in a healthy body. This can be achieved in sleep by lying on the left side of the body at night. Keeping the left nostril open and predominant during the day, and the right nostril open and active at night, increases vitality and longevity.
The two nāḍīs run up either side of the spine – iḍā on the left side, and piṅgalā on the right side of the suṣumnā. Iḍā and piṅgalā correspond with the sympathetic nerve ganglion on either side of the spine, while suṣumnā runs between them in a position corresponding to the spinal cord. At certain locations along the spine, these three energies converge into whirling vortices – the chakras.
Iḍā and piṅgalā emerge from mūlādhāra chakra at the coccygeal point of the base of the spine. This junction where the three nāḍīs meet is known as yukta triveni (yukta, ‘combined’; tri, ‘three’; veni, ‘streams’) the point at which three rivers converge – Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvāti – corresponding respectively with piṅgalā, iḍā, and suṣumnā nāḍīs. (In India these three rivers meet at a place called Prayag [also known as Allahabad].) From mūlādhāra, the base chakra, piṅgalā emerges from the right side of the spine in a semicircular curve, and crosses the suṣumnā at svādiṣ ṭhāna chakra (sacral plexus). It then curves up on the left side, joining the suṣumnā at maṇipūra chakra (solar plexus). Continuing in a series of curves crossing back and forth over the suṣumnā, piṅgalā goes to the right and iḍā goes to the left. Iḍā and piṅgalā continue to move in opposite directions, and cross each other at the chakras, finally meeting at the sixth chakra, ājñā chakra. This meeting point of the three streams is called mukti triveni (mukta, ‘liberated’). Iḍā and piṅgalā end in the left and right nostrils, respectively.
The spiral patterned movement is likened to the double helix of our DNA, or a pair of intertwined serpents as seen in the symbol of the caduceus of medicine. The caduceus is a winged staff, with two serpents, and is carried by the Greek god Hermes, who is said to be the messenger of the gods. Together, iḍā and piṅgalā form the two serpents or snakes of the caduceus, while suṣumnā forms the staff. The snakes intersect at the chakras, as do the nāḍīs. At the ājñā chakra, the midpoint between the eyebrows, there are two petals, one on either side, just as there are two wings at the top of the caduceus. Although the caduceus symbol was only adopted as a Western symbol for medicine about a century ago, we can see the representation of the entire system of kuṇ ḍalinī śākti.
Relationship of Iḍā and Piṅgalā with the Hemispheres of the Brain
In the physical body the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain, is made up of two halves, called hemispheres. The hemispheres are known as the left and right cerebral hemispheres. These halves are interconnected by a pathway of nerve fibres along which information continuously passes. The cerebrum is divided into four lobes paired according to the skull bones next to them: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. The grey matter of the cerebrum is located in the outer layers of the brain, known as the cortex, as well as in ‘islands’ of grey matter within the white matter.
The cortex of each hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body and contains various centres – motor centres that control the voluntary muscles, sensory centres for receiving skin sensations, visual centres that processes stimuli arriving from the eye, and hearing centres.
The specific functions of the two hemispheres of the cerebrum correlate with the activities of iḍā and piṅgalā nāḍīs. Iḍā is connected to the right hemisphere, which governs the left side of the body. Piṅgalā is connected to the left hemisphere and governs the right side of the body.
The right hemisphere (non-dominant hemisphere), in relation to iḍā, contains centres for spatial orientation, extrasensory perception, intuition, and creative, artistic and musical abilities. The right brain moves from whole to parts, holistically. It reviews the big picture first, not the details. It is also random; its tendency is to jump from one track to another.
The left hemisphere (dominant hemisphere), in relation to piṅgalā, is concerned with logical, rational and analytical abilities. Information is processed in a linear, sequential and logical manner. It processes from part to whole. It takes parts, lines them up, and arranges them in a logical order; then derives conclusions.
Mind and prāṇa are interrelated and interdependent. When the prāṇas are disturbed the mind also becomes disturbed and, vice versa, when the mind is disturbed the prāṇas become disturbed. The practices of Hātha Yoga, Svāra Yoga and Rāja Yoga help bring a balance between the alternating activities of the iḍā and piṅgalā nāḍīs, ensuring that they operate in rhythm with the movements of the external sun and moon.
There is one particular Hātha Yoga practice called nāḍī śodhana (alternate nostril breathing) that is the best technique to calm the mind and nervous system. Nāḍī śodhana purifies the nāḍīs. The exercise also produces optimum function to both sides of the brain – optimum creativity and optimum logical and verbal activity. This creates a more balanced person, since both hemispheres of the brain are functioning properly.
Prāṇa and the Nāḍīs
Prāṇa is the life-force that links the physical with the mental, and the mental with the spiritual. The word prāṇa comes from two Sanskrit roots. Prā means ‘first’, and ṇa is the ‘smallest unit of energy’. Prāṇa is therefore the first breath, the primal or atomic beginning of the flow of energy. Out of this first unit of energy manifest all aspects and levels of the human being. It is one and the same as kuṇ ḍalinī śākti.
The nāḍīs are channels or pathways for carrying prāṇa into the chakras situated along the spinal column in the astral spine. Consciously to activate a chakra one can either direct prāṇa to the chakra or, using mental visualization, concentrate on its location and form.
Kuṇḍalinī
Kuṇ ḍalinī is the primordial energy of consciousness (caitanya śākti) that lies dormant at the base of the spine in the causal body of all beings, and in every atom of the universe. It is the spiritual potential force of the Cosmic Power. Kuṇ ḍalinī maintains the individual soul through the subtle prāṇa. The subtle prāṇa is connected with the subtle nāḍīs and chakras, and the nāḍīs are connected with the mind, which is linked to all the parts of the body. When kuṇ ḍalinī śākti is dormant or is active only in the lower three chakras, a person has only a finite experience. When kuṇ ḍalinī is aroused and ascends upward, she withdraws into herself the moving powers of creation, and unites with pure consciousness (Śiva). This is the reverse process of the evolution of the mind and the five gross elements. In reality kuṇ ḍalinī has no form, but the mind and intellect require a particular form on which to concentrate initially, so the subtle, formless kuṇ ḍalinī has symbolically taken the form of a coiled serpent or snake. In the mūlādhāra chakra there is a self-existent point, at which the suṣumnā nāḍī is attached to the kanda. The sleeping kuṇ ḍalinī serpent lies face downwards at the mouth of suṣumnā nāḍī on the head of this point. She is coiled like a serpent with three and a half coils around the svayambhu (‘self-born’) lingam. The unawakened kuṇ ḍalinī śākti remains coiled around the lingam with her tail in her mouth. The three coils represent the kuṇ ḍalinī energy within us, compressed like a spring, ready to change from potential static energy (dormant) into kinetic manifestation (awakening). The half coil represents the state of transcendence. There are also other meanings: the three coils also represent the three gunas of prakṛti – sattva, rajas and tamas (equilibrium, activity and inertia); the three states of consciousness (waking, sleeping, dreaming); and the three syllables of Aum (Oṁ ).
Kuṇ ḍalinī comes from the Sanskrit word kuṇ ḍal, which means ‘coiled’. But a more correct meaning of kuṇ ḍalinī is derived from the word kuṇ ḍa, which means ‘pit’or ‘cavity’. Kuṇ ḍa refers to the concave cavity in which the brain, resembling a coiled, sleeping serpent, nestles. Prāṇic energy and consciousness (caitanya śākti) are the two forms of kuṇ ḍalinī. Prāṇic energy is the cause of action, and caitanya śākti gives rise to knowledge and wisdom. When kuṇ ḍalinī is activated these two energies are activated in all the brain centres.
Kuṇḍalinī Awakening
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The kuṇḍalinī, in its latent form is coiled like a serpent. One who causes that Śākti to move [from the mūlādhāra upwards] will attain liberation.
Hāṭha Yoga Pradīpikā, 3: 108
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In Tantra Yoga kuṇ ḍalinī is an aspect of Śākti, the divine female energy and consort of Śiva. The one Consciousness is polarized into static (Śiva) and dynamic (Śākti) aspects for the purpose of manifestation. The object of Kuṇḍalinī Yoga is to awaken the latent coiled-up cosmic energy (Śākti) in the spine and unite it with Pure Consciousness (Śiva). The consummation of the blissful union between Śākti and Śiva in the sahasrāra chakra is the union of the individual self (jīva) with the supreme Self, or Divine Consciousness. The duality becomes one.
If the positive and negative forces of the iḍā and piṅgalā nāḍīs are completely balanced, an awakening can occur which activates the latent kuṇ ḍalinī to rise from its dormant state. There are degrees of awakening – sometimes there may only be a mild awakening in which kuṇ ḍalinī rises as far as svādhiṣ ṭhāna chakra and then drops back to mūlādhāra, the root support. That is why it is important to purify and balance the nāḍīs through the Hāṭha Yoga practice of prāṇāyāma. The chakras also need to be purified and in balance.
When activated, the kuṇ ḍalinī energy, which was lying dormant and static in the mūlādhāra chakra, becomes kinetic and dynamic. It travels up the psychic pathway in the suṣumnā nāḍī, the central axis, criss-crossed in a helix by the iḍā and piṅgalā. As the kuṇ ḍalinī climbs up on its spiritual ascent towards the sahasrāra chakra, the seat of consciousness at the crown of the head, it activates all the chakras in the subtle body in succession. They are stimulated into intense activity by the force of the kuṇ ḍalinī as it travels upwards. Layer after layer of the mind becomes fully opened, causing the yogi to experience visions, powers, knowledge and bliss. But for the vast majority of people, whose minds operate only in the lower levels of consciousness, the suṣumnā is generally closed at the base of the spine.
Kuṇ ḍalinī can also be awakened in an individual chakra. For instance, if kuṇ ḍalinī is awakened in the second chakra (svādhiṣ ṭhāna) it ascends directly to sahasrāra chakra. Similarly, if kuṇ ḍalinī is awakened in the third chakra (maṇipūra) it ascends straight to sahasrāra chakra.
After having made its ascent through the six centres of consciousness to the awakening at sahasrāra, the kuṇ ḍalinī descends back down through the chakras to its root support at the mūlādhāra chakra. The luminous ascent through the chakras is a reabsorption (laya) of all the cosmic powers into kuṇ ḍalinī, culminating in a freedom that transcends the phenomenal world in which consciousness is bound and conditioned by space, time and causation. As kuṇ ḍalinī makes the return journey or descent to her root support at the base of the spine, she revivifies and illumines what she had previously absorbed.
The latent force of kuṇ ḍalinī may be activated through various means such as: birth, mantra (a method used in Bhakti Yoga), austerity (tapasyā), meditation, prāṇāyāma, Kriyā Yoga, Rāja Yoga, śāktipāt (the transmission of spiritual power from the guru to the disciple), Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jñāna Yoga.
In some circumstances, kuṇ ḍalinī can even occur without yoga practice, for instance due to a shock or an accident, but in this kind of circumstance the person has no conscious control over the power, and so there is no guarantee of true spiritual awakening.
The Three Psychic Knots – Obstacles to Kuṇḍalinī Awakening
Within the suṣumnā nāḍī there are three psychic knots of energy known as granthis. The Sanskrit word granthi means a ‘knot’, a tied-up force, or an obstacle to one’s spiritual growth. These knots restrict human life to instinctive, emotional and intellectual levels. If lower desires become dominant in a person, the flow of prāṇa gets obstructed and short-circuited at the first knot or Brahma granthi, diminishing the flow of energy to the higher centres. The path of the kuṇ ḍalinī is obstructed, preventing its upward movement to the sahasrāra chakra.
When kuṇ ḍalinī is activated it rises upward through the chakras, and pierces successive veils of ignorance in the form of granthis, which change the perception of reality and consciousness.
The granthis are a protective mechanism, like safety valves or circuit breakers, that effectively prevent premature entrance of the kuṇ ḍalinī energy into the chakras above the svādhiṣ ṭhāna chakra. The three knots are named after the presiding deities of these knots: Brahma granthi, Viṣ ṇu granthi and Rudra (Śiva) granthi, which are respectively the creative, preservative and transforming forces involved in the presence of any object.
For the spiritual aspirant or yogi it is important to loosen these knots and make the iḍā and piṅgalā function smoothly so that they are in balance, with a clear flow of prāṇa. The nāḍīs need to be purified and strengthened to allow the strong surge of energy to rise up the spine.
Brahma Granthi
The first knot is located at the root chakra (mūlādhāra), and is related to the physical body. This knot is connected with our entanglement in the world of names and forms. It creates instinctive drives and strong, demanding, sensual desires with attachment.
Viṣṇu Granthi
The second knot is located at the heart chakra (anāhata), and is related to the astral body. This is associated with emotional life, attachment, and understanding ourselves through the concept of ego.
Rudra granthi
The third knot is located in the ājñā chakra or Spiritual Eye, and is related to the causal body. This is the point where the iḍā and piṅgalā cross over. Rudra granthi is concerned with intellectual obsessions, and attachments to psychic phenomena and psychic powers, and our mortal insecurity. When the kuṇ ḍalinī loosens this knot, it can continue its upward journey to the crown chakra (sahasrāra), enabling the yogi to attain transcendental bliss.