From prāṇa to śakti—The emergence of the central channel in Tantric yoga

The earliest Tantra, the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā, appears to know only about two energy channels (nāḍī) in the body: left and right. This paper looks into some other early tantric, mostly śākta, sources which also appear to speak of only two body channels, whether in the course of worship, initiation, or practices aimed at obtaining supernatural powers. The siddhi of entering in another person's body, to manipulate that person or to extract his vital essences, is examined in more detail, as well as the siddhi of flying. In early sources, many of these practices appear to be based on the manipulation of the vital breaths that flow in two parallel channels (iḍā and suṣumnā) assimilated to the northern and southern courses of the sun (uttarāyana, dakṣiṇāyana). The appearance of the third channel seems to shift the focal point of these practices to the heart in the centre of the body, where the supreme deity resides. It is therefore proposed that the more theistic ideas about the constitution of the body contributed to the emergence of the central channel and, subsequently, to the idea of the nāḍī network. And while the earliest practices were based on the elevation of and by the udāna, they gave way to the raising of the Kuṇḍalinī.