On the Identity of the “Moon” of the Puranas

The “moon” in the Puranas is the left atrium of the heart.[1]  It is the receptacle of “nectar” (oxygenated blood). The pulmonary venous conduits are its various “portions” or “rays.”

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The oxygenated blood contained in the “moon” (left atrium) is the nectar, the famous amrta of the Puranas, also known by the name of the rasa of Soma. This nectar sustains all the entities (cells) of the universe (microcosm). In the Bhagavata (5. 22.10), we have:

ya eṣa ṣoḍaśa-kalaḥ puruṣo bhagavān manomayo 'nnamayo 'mṛtamayo deva-pitṛ-manuṣya-bhūta-paśu-pakṣi-sarīsṛpa-vīrudhāṃ prāṇāpy āyana-śīlatvāt sarvamaya iti varṇayanti

And this glorious person comprising of sixteen digits (in his fullness) viz. the Moon, is the presiding deity over the mind, the ruler (and giver) of food and an embodiment of nectar. The sages describe him as one with all, as he is, by nature, the nourisher of the life of all gods, manes, men, goblins, beasts, birds, reptiles, plants and creepers.

The chariot of the moon is said to be drawn by horses that are born of the waters. These without doubt refer to the pulmonary venous conduits. And, like the horses of the sun, these too travel till the end of the kalpa which is the Puranic code for the alveolar zone of the lung.

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[1] In the Puranas, the moon’s orb is said to be only “congealed water” (oxygenated blood). The term “congealed” is perhaps applied to imply storage rather than transmission.