Deciphering the Clouds

 

"Clouds" rain in the acinar region 

The central axes, 7-8 in number, as we have seen already in the chapter on geography, are referred to as the Meru and the heavenly regions. These regions are Ramyaka, Kimpurusa and the rest. In these regions, it is said that Indra never pours down rain. Therefore there can be no question of sighting clouds in this portion of the bronchial lotus. Therefore it is said that the sun merely draws the water from these places, through the pulmonary artery. This is the heavenly water that is being drawn and the pulmonary flow is given the name of the heavenly Ganga or Ganga in the sky. It is only in the levels of the bronchial tree following these levels that the clouds are imagined. This would be the bronchiolar region; from this region onwards, the sun (bronchial conduit) no longer sucks but only pours. Different kinds of clouds are imagined. 

Movements Along the Bronchial Conduit : Creation, Destruction, Day and Night

 The bronchial conduit is regarded as the sun in the same sense as it is regarded as a dik gaja. It is in the sense of "anatomical compass." The bronchial conduits illuminate the interior of the lung, as it were, by making clear the "directions." As the bronchial lotus expands and unfolds, we have the movement of day synonymous with vivification and creation; and as it contracts and folds back, we have the movement of destruction and expiration of the universe. 

The movement of day which is from the hilum of the lung to the region of the acinus, is also the path taken by the oxygen molecules to reach the respiratory zone and, therefore, matches beautifully with all the vivifying aspects associated with "day;" while the movement of night which is from the acinus to the hilum – the path taken by the molecules of carbon-dioxide to exit from the lung – is fittingly described as a movement of destruction. Not only does this movement finish off the bronchial tree anatomically but, physiologically also, it is associated with the carrying of a deadly substance (carbon-dioxide). It also ends a cycle of inspiration and expiration; and the creation of a "new" world is set to begin with a new cycle. 

The Three Divisions of the Ganga

The deoxygenated pulmonary flow, the Ganga, first travels through the "sky," the foremost part of the pulmonary arterial conduit network. Then it is borne by the "wind" in the secondary division of the pulmonary arterial tree (corresponding to the bronchioles?). And, finally, this flow, assuming the name of "Sita," enters the "fire" at the level of the acinus.

She is three-fold as the river of sky, earth, and the lower regions, tripathaga, trilokaga, etc.

Sita's Entering Fire in Lanka 

The deoxygenated flow, enters the "fire" of the pulmonary arterial conduit in the "lower" regions –the acinus –and becomes exceedingly pure.