David Frawley on Prana

“Mantras can work to hold and sustain our prana. Prana, [we could say], is the spirit of mantra. Mantra in turn is the expression of prana.”

“Prana and Vak are two facets of the same underlying reality. Prana is unmanifest speech, and speech is manifest prana. Prana naturally creates sound, which is the hissing sound of the breath.”

“The Vedas define the two fundamental forces in the universe as Prana or life-energy, which we experience mainly through the breath, and Vak, which is speech, articulation or expression overall.”

“The ruling power of Prana as will, insight and the urge to transcend. Vak or speech is the Goddess or feminine principle, Shakti or the Devi (Goddess) relative to Shiva, and Indrani, the feminine aspect of Indra.”

“Prana is Great God or masculine principle – Shiva in Hindu thought – who represents the transcendent Prana or immortal life energy beyond life and death. This power was called Indra in Vedic thought, the foremost of the Vedic deities, who represents.”

“Prana is spirit which is formless, while speech is the basis of form and matter through naming process. Name and form arise from speech while being and consciousness are sustained by prana. Prana and speech are intertwined, like husband and wife, or the right and left sides of the body. They always move together. Prana is the energy behind speech, which moves through the breath.”