The Acinus in the Puranas

 The acinus is treated as a very special zone by the Puranic authors. These authors, endowed with the extraordinary skill of converting bare anatomical facts into easy to understand conceptions for the masses, were extra-conscious of the need to reflect the difference between the conducting and the respiratory portions of the lung in their metaphorical narrative.

A Great Center of Production

The acinus which is the functional zone of the lung is regarded as a center of production by these great wizards of metaphor. As is evident from the description of Puskaradvipa, it is the region  of plenty a veritable cornucopia, where there is an abundance of foodgrains and riches and the objects of sense enjoyment. For the neural entities and the entities of the microcosm, it is the flow of oxygen molecules alone that constitutes the supreme object of desire. It is the fruit of every sacrifice, the objective behind every effort and the supreme wealth and treasure. 

In addition to the metaphor of the gold mine one other metaphor applied to the acinus is that of the crops. The clusters of respiratory bronchioles are viewed as the region of foodgrains such as paddy. The grains processed from these fields which again stands for the life-sustaining flow of oxygen-rich blood, is sent via channels of food--the pulmonary veins--for storage in the left atrium and eventual distributon among the neural entities as rice. This giving or bestowing is done by the aorta (Laksmi's abode) through the medium of the bronchial arteries. 

Speaking of Krsna, the most famous metaphor applied to the region of the acinus is Gokula, the station of cows. The lila of Krsna is the exercise of the Lord's conscious intervention in the most distal region of the lung where true respiration takes place, the acinus. The conscious power of the Lord is exercised at each and every level of the hierarchy.

Now, the Lord, in order to steer matter towards the desired teleological end, must intervene at each and every level of material development. At the level of the acinus the intervention of the Lord is perhaps at its most intelligent level. He has to integrate all the three chief entities of the pulmonary apparatus at this level.