Vaj wrote: > ...it refers to the technique of the sacrifice, > the creation of man in five stages and the path > of the gods. > You are incorrect. The passage refers to the sacrificial breath in speech. Mircea Eliade writes in 'Yoga: Immortality and Freedom' citing the Kausitaki Brahmana Upanisad: 'As long, verily, as a person is breathing, he is not able to speak. Then he is sacrificing speech in breath. These two are unending, immortal oblations; whether waking or sleeping, one is sacrificing continuously, uninterruptedly. Now, whatever other oblations there are, they are limited, for they consist of works. Knowing this very thing, verily, indeed, the ancients did not sacrifice the Agnihotra sacrifice' (Hume, 51).
"The true sacrifice consists in oblations to the breaths: 'if one offers the Agnihotra sacrifice without knowing this - that would be just as if he were to ... pour the offering on ashes." According to Eliade, "This form of sacrifice is generally given the name 'mental sacrifice.' We should prefer to call it 'ritual interiorization,' for, besides mental prayer, it implies a profound assimilation of the physiological functions to the life of the cosmos" (112). The passage cited without a doubt refers to certain yogis, fakirs and ascetics who practiced yogic pranayama. Work cited: 'Yoga: Immortality and Freedom' By Mircea Eliade Princeton U. Press, 1969
