तन्त्रसार (महामाहेश्वर अभिनवगुप्त - तन्त्रालोक का प्रामाणिक सार-संग्रह सटीक)

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respective locations in it. It is to be noted here that adhvās
are generally known as paths which by means of sequence
lead the aspirant to the Supreme, and in the end the one in
whom the right view of non-duality has rightly developed
these adhvās are absorbed in I-consciousness. For this
reason adhvās are not simply path but are something that
is absorbed.
Hence the Yogin makes an effort to realise the Supreme
Reality by taking resort to prāṇa and then puts an end to
the mutations caused by the impelling force of Time.
Prāṇa is vibrative by nature. This vibration arises
spontaneously in the location of kanda below the genitive
organ. The spontaneous movement of prāṇa bestows little
spiritual result in comparison to the movement which is
caused by the conscious effort of the Yogin. Hence by
his deliberate effort in association which jyeṣṭhāśakti the
Yogin tries to move his prāṇa from the centre of the heart
along the path upward so that it may reach dvādaśānta, the
top of the head, and then after getting it to take a little
rest there for a moment it is made to run again toward the
heart. This process of ingoing and outgoing is simply
known as inhaling and exhaling, but to the Yogin it means
something else. In the primary stage the Yogin by his
keen observant look watches each movement of prāṇa rising
in the heart, proceeding upward and coming back in the
heart again. He divides the whole course of prāṇa into
sixteen divisions. Each of these sixteen divisions is known
as tuṭi, representing a day. Similarly, the exhaling is taken
to represent a night. When the Yogin becomes sufficiently
proficient, he then takes each movement of prāṇa and apāna
to represent a month.