INTERIORIZED FIRE OFFERINGS OF BREATHING,

INNER HEAT AND THE SUBTLE BODY*

by

Yael Bentor, JerusalelTI

The transition from the Vedic to the ｕｰ｡ｮｩｾ ､ ｣ period is characterized by the interiorization of
the sacrifice (Eliade 1954/69: 111-114; Heesterman 1985 & 1993; Smith 1989: 194-216). The
renouncers extinguish the external sacrificial fire only to enkindle it within themselves. The
true sacrifice is no longer a libation into a fire, but an inner process of realization fueled by in-
ner heat. This inner heat is intimately associated with life. Hence, the physiological functions of
life, such as eating and breathing, are identified with the Vedic fire ritual. Furthermore, the sac-
rifice needs no longer to be a deliberate undertaking. As breathing and digestion are uninter-
rupted processes, also the offering of the inner sacrifice continues as long as one lives. In the
present paper the interiorization of the fire sacrifice in terms of breathing (prii{1a) and inner heat
(tapas, gtUJ71-n1O) in India and in Tibet will be examined.
The presentation of new practices in the garb of older ones is a common feature in every
religion. Such a heuristic strategy serves to provide the innovations with an orthodox status.
Thus, in the Kiitadanta Sutta! the Buddha declared that the best form of sacrifice to the fire is
the Buddhist path to the attainment of nirvii{18. Fire rituals seem to have enjoyed such a degree
of popularity in ancient India that even the Heterodox traditions could not ignore them.
Eventually this meant that despite the positions taken in Buddhist scriptures, such as the
Kiitadanta Sutta, over the course of time the fire ritual of Vedic origins was appropriated by
Buddhism as one of many diverse means that might be employed on the path to nJi-vii{1a. At the
time Buddhism adapted them, Hindu fire rituals already included not only external rituals, but
also internalized rituals which were interpreted by systems such as the ｕｰ｡ｮｩｾ ､ｳ and the
renunciation movements in terms of the Vedic sacrifice. The Hindu Tantra continued to employ
the terms of Vedic fire rituals in contrasting their own practices to Vedic rituals in order to
emphasize the superiority of the tantric methods. Buddhist Tantra naturally had no need to
invoke Vedic authority. Though it was probably influenced by the prior Indian tradition which
developed the fire ritual, it was free to make use of the rich associations of fire to suit its own
system of ideas and practices.
Fire rituals are especially susceptible to a diversity of interpretations. External fire may be
related to light, heat, cooking, home, incubation, ripening, growth, fertility, purification,
purgation and so forth. When internalized fire is akin to the heat of the living body, life,
vitality, energy, digestion, anger, sexual desire and excitation, procreation, purification, ecstatic
2
insights, yogic practices, etc. The interiorization of fire may pertain to a mental performance

* This research was supported by The Israel Science Foundation founded by The Israel Academy ofSciences.

1 DTghanikiiya 1.5. For English translations see, Rhys Davids, T. W. (1899/1956), Dialogues ofthe Buddha. London,
Luzac & Company, Vo1. I, 173-185 and Walshe, Maurice (1987), Thus Have I Heard: The Long Discourses ofthe
Buddha [DTgha Nikiiya]. London, Wisdom Publications, pp. 133-141.
2See also ｾｩｉＱ･ｲＬ Jeani-ne (1971), "The Heart of ｾｧｶ･､ｩ｣ Religion: Agni, Flame Divine", in A Reappraisal of Yoga:
Essays in Indian Philosophy. Georg Feuerstein and Jeanine Miller (eds.), London, Rider & Company, 121-151;
 52 Y. Bentor

of the ritual, to the replacement of the ritual with a continuous process of life such as breathing
or eating, to a particular way of life such as renunciation, to an actual performance with an
3
inner interpretation, to the replacement of the external ritual with an internal one, and so forth.
In Western scholarly literature the distinctions among these different modes of interiorization
. 4
are often blurred.
In the Tibetan literature one finds the following internal fire rituals. 1. Fire offerings based
on the inner heat (gtU111-111O) and the subtle body as part of the Perfection Process. 2. Fire
offerings of great bliss performed together with a consort as in the Third Initiation. 3. Food
ritual (bhojanavidhi), in which food is offered to the deities residing at one's heart. 4. Mental
fire offerings. 5. Fire offerings of the Great Enlightened Wisdom which destroy ignorance, burn
the klesas and consume dichotomies. Space does not allow me to discuss here all these
interiorized fire rituals. Only the fire offerings of breathing, inner heart and the subtle body will
be treated here.
One of the most widespread notions of the interiorization of the Vedic sacrifice in the
ｕｰ｡ｮｩｾ ､ｳ is to consider life itself and the physiological functions that maintain it as an
unceasing sacrifice. Here we are concerned with breathing (prapa) regarded as an unceasing
sacrifice. The origins of such an interiorization of fire may be found within the classical Vedic
world in the traveling bral1/nins who are temporarily away from their sacred fires. Among the
various methods which enable the bral1/nins to carry their fires on their journeys is the
at111aSa111arOpa - the depositing of the sacred fires in one's self or one's body. "...after
performing the at111aSa111arOpa, an individual carries the fire in the form of breath".5 "When the
sacred fire is needed, the traveling Brahmin blows on an ordinary fire... ,,6 The bral1/11ins' sacred
fire is transformed here into their breath. The Brahma1)as expand on the idea of the traveling
brahmin. As a further refinement of the Vedic solution to the problem of performing the fire
ritual when one is on a journey, the JaJininiya Briihl1JaIJa teaches that the agnihotra is, in fact,
breathing or life. As long as one breathes the agnihotra is performed.? This implies that the

Knipe 1975; Levy, Paul (1982), "Le Role du feu dans le bouddhisme", Objets et Afondes 22, 149-156; Kaelber
1989; Smith, David (1990), "Aspects of the Symbolism of Fire", in Symbols in Aft and Religion: The Indian and the
Comparative Perspectives. Karel Werner (ed.), Durham, School of Oriental Studies, University of Durham
[reprinted: Delhi 1991, Motilal Banarsidass] 129-143.
3 See also Bodewitz 1973: 334, n. 84.
4 These works include those by Eliade 1954/1969; Varenne 1960; Biardeau, Madeleine and Malamoud, Charles
(1976), Le Sacnlice dans I'Inde Ancienne. Paris, Bibliotheque de I'Ecole des Hautes Etudes; Heestennan 1985 and
Brian Smith 1989.
5Olivel1e, Patrick (unpublished), "Agnisamaropa: Srauta Sources of the Renunciatory Rite", p. 4. See also the
Baudhiiyana Dhal117asastra 2.10.17, English translation: Biihler, George (1882), Sacred Laws of the Alyas, pmt 2,
Viisish/ha, and Baudhiiyana. Sacred Books of the East, Vot. 14, Oxford, Clarendon Press, reprinted in Delhi, Motilal
Banarsidass, 1969,273-79.
(, Olivelle, Patrick (1992), Saq1l7yiisa Ｚｳ､｡ｾｬＷ ｰｕ Hindu ScnjJtures on Ascetid"m and Renunciation. New York, Ox-
ford University Press, 89; seealso Biardeau and Malamoud 1976: 57-80 (see n. 4).
7 Then he recited to him:
"When he makes a long journey and then neglects his duty (of performing a mental agnihotra) there,
in what is that oblation offered by him which they keep offering for him at home?"
Vajasaneya said:
"He who wakes in the beings is found to be the one that knows while staying abroad. In him that ob-
lation is offered by him which they keep offering for him at home."
Breath he meant by saying that. Breath wakes in the beings. In breath that oblation is offered by him. Therefore they
say: "The agnihotra is ｢ｲ･｡ｴｨＯｾ For as long as he breathes with breath so long he offers the agl7ll1Otra." (Bodewitz
 Interiorized Fire Offerings of Breathing 53

twice daily performance of the ritual is unnecessary. According to the Baudhiiyana-Srauta-

Satra (29.5), a brahl1lln who is physically unable to perform the external agnihotra, after
transfelTing the fire into himself, consumes the two agnihotra oblations himself, with the usual
ritual. s Such methods of expiation of secondary importance in the classical Vedic ritual became
central in Brahmal)ic and ｕｰ｡ｮｩｾ､｣ thought, where they were interpreted as a continuous and
uninterrupted inner agnihotra in accordance with the theories then current, which emphasized
internal processes (cf. Bodewitz 1973: 221 ff. ).9 Other Brahmal)ical texts explicitly identify the
sacred fires of the srauta rituals with the three or five breaths. 10
Such an interiorization of fire is related as well to the notion of taptls (Eliade 1954/69: 106-
11; Knipe 1975; Kaelber 1989: 84 ). 11 Like breath, also inner heat, means life. The practice of
ttlptlS, asceticism, or inner heat attested already in the ｾｧｶ･､｡ ideally accompanies every Vedic
sacrifice. Since ttlpas is regarded as the potential for accomplishments, it is accumulated
through different practices. The notion of taptls was adapted by various religious systems in
India. As Knipe explains:

1973: 04, emphasis mine. See also Bodewitz 1973: 237-23R. A similar passage is found in the Satapatha Briihl7lalJa
11.3.1, English translation: Eggeling, Julius (1 RR2-1900), The Satapatha Briihl7lalJa. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 5
vols., Vol. V: 4o-4R).
R In the case of a sacrificer who has become old or is (otherwise) incapacitated to undergo the exel1ion in connection
with the agnihotra, the consigning of the sacred fires into himself is recommended ... (At the time of the morning and
the evening agnihotra )... with the formulas relating to the agnihotra-oblations, and meditating upon Prajapati, [he
should] partake of as much milk as is usually offered as the agnihotra-oblation. (Srautakola: ｅｮ｣ｹｬｯｰ｡･､ＯｾＱ of Vedic
Sacrificial Ritual. Dandekar, R.N. et al. (eds.), Poona 195R-1973, Vaidika S3Ipsodhana Mary<;lala, 2 vols., 4 paJ1s,
Vol. I. 1 pp. 1R5-Ro. See also Bodewitz 1973: 231-234, 321 ).
9 Another fashion in which the Vedic texts explain the inner agnihotra as a continuous, uninterrupted sacrifice is
found in the Aitareya Aral]yaka:
To what end shall we repeat the Veda, to what end shall we sacrifice? For we sacrifice breath in
speech, or in breath speech.
(Keith, Arthur Berriedale (190R), Siinkhiiyana Aral]yaka. London, The Royal Asiatic Society, reprinted: New Delhi
1975, Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, 257).
Also the ｋ｡ｵｾｪｴ｡ｫｩＭｕｰ｡ｬＱ ｾ｡､･ｸｰｬ｡ｩｮｳ in an often cited passage:
...'the Inner Agnihotra Sacrifice,' as they call it. - As long, verily, as a person is speaking, he is not
able to breath. Then he is sacrificing breath (priiiJa) in speech. As long, verily, as a person is breath-
ing, he is not able to speak. Then he is sacrificing speech (viic) 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 (kal111a-maya).
Knowing this very thing, verily, indeed, the ancient did not sacrifice the Agnihotra sacrifice.
(Hume, Robel1 Ernest (1921), The T/uiteen Principal Upani'ihads. Reprinted in India, Madras 190R, Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 310. See also the PriiiJiignihotra Ｌ､｡ｾｩｮｰｕ Varenne 19(0).
10 One example is found in the Vaikhiinasa-Smiilta-SL7tra (11 1R):
The self-luminous Atman is the sacrificer;... the prarya (out-breathing) is the Garhapatya; the apana
(in-breathing) is the Ahavaniya; the vyana is the ｄ｡ｫｾｩｲｹ｡ｧｮｩ［ the udana is the Sabhya-fire; the
samana is the Avasathya-fire: these are the five fires ...
In this manner he should perfonTI at evening and at morning the Agnihotra into the breath. This
Agnihotra is the sacrifice of those who sacrifice to the Self, and it lasts as long as he lives: Thus say
the theologians.
(Caland, Willem (1931 ), Pancavil/lsa BriihmaiJa. Calcutta, Asiatic Society of Bengal, 05-00, emphasis mine).
11See also Kloppenborg, Ria (1990), "The Buddha's Redefinition of tapas (Ascetic Practice )", Buddhist Studies Re-
view7, 49-73. For heat in contemporary Indian rituals, see Beck, Brenda E. F. (1909), "Colour and Heat in South
Indian Ritual", Man 4.4, 553-572 and Babb, Lawrence A. (1973), "Heat and Control in Chhattisgarhi Ritual", The
Eastel11 Anthlvpologist 20.1, 1-28.
 56 Y. Bentor

A similar interpretation is found in the Vasantatilaka (dPyid-kyi-thig-le) [8.23-8.24] by

｡ｹｲｩ､ Ｉｉｾｰｋ (Nag-po-spyod-pa-ba ).19
The head [or] the skull is explained as the vessel for oblations. The funnel is ex-
plained as the rasana. That which consists of the lalana [at] the heart wheel is
called the ladle. The hearth is the navel mandala. The Brahma-fire which is blown
by the wind of kal111a is situated at the ｴｨｲ･ｦｾｬ､ junction (SlJlll-Jlldo, tJika!a ).20
The actual practice of the yoga of the subtle body is further explained by the early Sa-skya
scholar Kun-dga' -snying-po (1092-1158), the first among the five foremost masters of the Sa-
skya-pa (sa-skya gong-l11a lnga):
Having kindled the gtllJll-1110 fire at the navel center, the bodbicitta (white ele-
ment) whose nature becomes moist and warm descends from the /-JaIJ1 at the head
21
center to the throat center. Then it descents further into the heart center. From
there again it descents into the 0'11 at the navel. Thereby the feeling of bliss is
born, while the conceptual thoughts of the skandha etc. are overcome. Finally the
realization of the pure-by-nature mind is born. 22
'Phags-pa Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan (1235-1280), the last among the five foremost masters of the
Sa-skya school, provides a succinct definition for this fire ritual of the subtle body:
The pouring of the completely pure oblation of the seed (khaIJ1s) with the funnel
and ladle of the rO-1118 and rkyang-JJ1a into the hearth of the nJi1J1a{1a wheel (the
navel center) and so forth in which blazes the immaculate and clear fire of En-
lightened Wisdom. 23
At about the same time the 'Brug-pa bKa' -brgyud-pa teacher Yang-dgon-pa rGyal-mtshan-dpal
(1213-1258) also wrote :24
One's own requisites for fire offerings are as follows: the hearth is the junction of
the channels (SllJl1-11Jdo), the fire deity is the short 'A', the ladle and funnel are the
rO-1118 and rkyang"'111a, the oblations are the winds and drops.
While in certain texts, such as the 8r1- VaJia9aka TantJa above, the oblations are the gross body
of skandbas, dbatus, ayatanas etc., here the oblations are the subtle body of winds (dung) and
drops (tbig-le). The fire deity here is the short 'A'. This is one of the descriptions of the gtllJll-

19 Vasantatilakii of ｃ ｡ ｉ ｹ ｩ ｶ ｲ ｡ ｴ ｔ ｳ ｊ ｩ ｫ ｲ ｾ Ｈ Ｑ ｩ ｣ ｊ ｹ ｡ with cOl17l17entaIy RahasyadTpikii by Vanaratna. Samdhong Rinpoche and

Vrajvallabh Dwivedi (eds.), Sarnath 1990, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies; Toh. 144R.
20 Here the fire is explained only as the Brahma-fire and it is situated not at the navel but below it at the junction of
the three subtle channels.
21 Literarily: "into that which is like the c11ll-shing tlo'wer of the heart" (cf. Sal]JVaIvdaya Tantra 7.17, Tsuda, Shinichi
(ed.), Tokyo 1974, The Hokuseido Press).
22 Kun-dga'-snying-po, "sByin-sreg-gi tfka", The Complete WOl*S ofthe Great Masters of the Sa skya Sect ofthe
Tibetan Buddhism. [SSKBj Tokyo 196R, The Toyo Bunko, Vo1.1, pp. 229.1-231.1, on p. 229.3-4. Because this
passage is written as a commentary I have partly paraphrased it rather than translate it. The words padl17a, rdo-lJe, sa-
bon, bla-med gnas and ye-shes me ni skyes gyw'-bas that appear in Kun-dga'-snying-po's text refer to Nag-po-pa,
"bDe-mchog 'khor-Io'i sbyin-sreg", (Toh. 1447 = Toh. 1537, Derge, Vo1. 21, p. 5R5 and Vol. 23, p. 223).
23 'Phags-pa bLo-gros-rgyal-mtshan, "sByin-sreg cho-ga rgyas-pa", SSKBVo1. 6, pp. 1R7.4-195.4, on p. 1RR.2.
24 Yang-dgon-pa rGyal-mtshan-dpal, "rDo-rje lus-kyi sbas-bshad", in gS:wg-chen Thabs-lal17 Nyer-171kho rNal- 'byor
sNying-nol: Dor-zhi-gdong-drug-snyems-blo (ed.), P.R.C. 1991 p. 96. In the table of contents of the book in which
this work appears the author is given as Sa-skya-pa rGyal-mtshan-dpal-bzang. Based on the colophon of this work
itself, however, Dan Martin identifies him as the 'Brug-pa Yang-dgon-pa rGyal-mtshan-dpal (personal communica-
tion).
 Interiorized Fire Offerings of Breathing 57

1170 fire, which refers to the vowel length-mark in Indic alphabets that resembles an upright
filament.
rJe Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419), the founder of the dGe-Iugs-pa school, supplements the
explanations given above for this fire ritual in his work on fire rituals entitled dNgos-grl/b rgya-
Il1t5ho: The rO-Ina is the funnel and the rkyang-111a is the ladle,
the navel wheel is the hearth, and the head wheel is the vessel for the oblations; the
head and also the skull. The oblations are like the liquid of bodhieitta. The flame
of the fire offerings is the inner heat (gtWJ1-1J10) whose nature is the fire of the red
bodhieitta, the elemental essence. This elemental fire, the constituent of blood,
dissolves the oblation of semen which abides at the head. Since, for the most part,
it [the fire, red bodhieitta] ascends through the rO-111a, the channel in which it
abides is called the funnel, because it is the channel which oblates the elixir
(bel/d). Since the melted semen descents, for the most part through the rkyang-l11a,
that channel is called the ladle which is to be filled; it is because the rO-111a fills it
with oblated elixir. The Brahma-fire, the elemental essence, abides below the na-
vel at the secret lotus. But because it is considered for the most part to always
abide at the navel, it was also explained to abide at the navel. The equivalent of the
fan which kindles the fire is action (kan11a). Both object of meditation and the
senses should be united. Through meditating on the coemergent gtW11-117O, when
the mind is stable, having united the winds of the rO-I113 and rkyal1g-111a in the
central channel, the fire of yogic gtWl1-1110 becomes 'one taste' with the Brahma-
fire. Thereby the blazing gtWl1-117O melts the oblation. Hence coemergent bliss is
bestowed. 25
Tsong-kha-pa identifies here the implements of the fire ritual with the four centers (wheels,
eakra, 'khor-lo) of the subtle body: The head of the funnel is the rO-I113 at the throat center and
the head of the ladle is the rkyang-111a at the heart center. The navel center in which the gtwn-
1110 fire or red bodhieitta burns is the hearth, while the head center which contains the oblations
of semen or white bodbicitta is the vessel for the oblations. The fire dissolves the oblation of
semen. On the whole, the fire or red bodhieitta ascends through the rO-l11a which is therefore
considered to be the funnel. The white bodhieitta, the melted semen, descends through the
l*yang-111a which is therefore called the ladle. The purpose of this yoga is the merging of the
winds of right and left subtle channels in the central one as well as the oblater with the oblated,
the sacrificer with the sacrificed or the gtUll1-1110 fire with the melted semen. Thereby the
realization of nonduality is attained and the most supreme bliss is bestowed.
As the rNying-ma-pa Sog-bzlog-pa (b. 1552) points out, "this is the yoga of the Perfection
Process" .20 The practice itself is no different from the yoga of the subtle body which is a major
component of the Perfection Process (rdzogs-nin). Its interpretation here, however, is in terms
of the fire ritual. The Vedic fire is lit by rubbing together two fire sticks called araJJis, while the
inner fire of gfwl1-lno is considered to ignite by means of the friction of the winds in the rO-111a

25 Tsong-kha-pa Blo-bzang-grags-pa, "dPal rDo-lje- 'jigs-byed-kyi 'phrin-Ias bzhi'i sbyin-sreg dngos-grub-kyi rgya-
mtsho", Collected Works of Tsong-kha-pa. New Delhi, 1975 Vol. 16, pp. 139-199, on pp. 195-196. I would like to
thank Geshe Tshul-khrims-chos-'phel of Sera Monastery and David Molk for their help with some difficult points in
this work of Tsong-kha-pa.
2(, Sog-bzlog-pa Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan, gSang-sngags sPyi'i sByin-bsregs-kyi rNam-bzhag rGyud-sde 'j dGongs-don
gSal-ba. [written in 1602] Thimphu, Bhutan, 1984, 136pp, on p. 10
 58 Y. Bentor

and rkyang-ma and their penetration into the central channel. 27 While in the Vedic agnibotra the
fire consumes the oblations for the purpose of, among others, conveying them to the gods, and
in certain among the principal ｕｰ｡ｮｩｾ､ｳ the offerings to the prfi1J8-fitnJaJ1 is performed for the
realization of the fitIl1an-brahman as a unity, this tantric practice is centered on the inner fire of
2x
gtllll1-J110 which consumes dualities. As the Vedic Agni links heaven and earth by being a
messenger of the oblations offered to the gods, the practice of inner heat unites the opposite
poles of the red and white bodhicitta.
The Vedic fire ritual with its hearth, funnel, ladle, oblations, deities and so forth has
received diverse interpretations in different historical epochs and contexts to accord with the
then-prevailing theories. Fire with its associations of inner heat, heightened states, inner
insights and its transformative power finds a multitude of applications in the various systems
on the theoretical, symbolic and practical levels. The fire ritual is always employed for
accomplishing the highest goal as maintained by these schools. The continuous employment of
internalized fire rituals in Tibet is a part of the general process of interiorization which took
place in both Hinduism and Buddhism especially in the systems of the yoga and tantra. The
prime objective of yogic and tantric soteriological rituals is the attainment of an inner
transformation. The tantra argues that its methods lead to quick results in comparison to
general Mahayana practices. The fire, which is the very epitome of transformation and of
swiftness, is an excellent symbol for these tantric methods. To cite Bachelard: "if all that
changes slowly may be explained by life, all that changes quickly is explained by fire".2Y

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27 Cf. Abhinavagupta, Tantriiloka V. 22 in Silburn, Lilian (19&&), KundaIJiJi: Energy ofthe Depths. New York, State
University of New York Press 41-42; and Bachelard, Gaston (1964/&7), The Psychoanalysis ofFli·e. London, Quar-
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28 For a similar interpretation in Hindu Tantrism see Silburn 19&8: 88 (see the previous note).
29 1964/87: 7 (see n. 27).