CHAPTER X. (Pratyahar and Anaesthetics).
WE have said before, that there are other methods of suspending the nerves of consciousness, or physical life besides Pranayama and Pratyahar. Some of them are occult; in short, the agency through which these results are produced is not properly understood by modern scientists; there are others which may be termed scientific in the limited acceptation of the term. All these methods tend to produce unconsciousness, to suspend vitality, and to bring on temporary death. A man in this state of Pratyahar, whether induced by medicinal drugs, or by the occult manipulation of vayu and akas is little removed from a vegetable in the external manifestations of life; but his spiritual consciousness is at the same time very much intensified.
The medicinal drugs which produce Pratyahar are known as anaesthetics. “When inhaled in the form of vapour, they possess the property of destroying consciousness (?) and at the same time causing insensibility to pain.” The most important of them are (1) chloroform, (2) ether, (3) nitrous oxide gas etc. Ether was formerly in great demand than at present; now chloroform reigns supreme; while nitrous oxide gas, also known as the laughing gas, is used for smaller operations, by Dentists. The principal condition of their administration is the same, as that required in Yoga, viz.,—“the patient should fast for 5 or 6 hours before chloroform is exhibited,” so also “before administering the nitrous oxide gas; the only precaution to be observed is that a meal should not have been recently taken.” Messrs. Lallemand, Perin and Duroy observe:—“We have usually experimented [with chloroform] only on fasting animals, but once we happened to give chloroform to a dog whilst it was digesting a full meal. The course of the phenomena was so irregular and so grave (the animal dying a short time afterwards) that we considered it our duty to record the experiment. In all experiments wherein the dogs were fasting, the mark of etherism was regular.” But in submitting to “inhalation three dogs, a short time after they had taken food, the results were incomplete. The animals betrayed a painful anxiety, and rejected the food which loaded the stomach, the vomiting relieved them.”
“The nitrous oxide gas is the safest as an anaesthetic, leaving no injurious results, It does not act chemically on the blood, and is soon eliminated out of the system when natural respiration is commenced. The act of chloroform in its various stages towards anaesthesia will do for an illustration:—
“When inhaled in small doses, it produces a slight species of inebriation, with some impairment of vision and common sensibility, consciousness remaining. The sensation produced by these small doses are
usually of a pleasurable character.” In the second stage “if the inhalation be continued longer, the patient passes into a dreamy (?) state, sometimes with considerable mental excitement, but with loss of common sensibility.” This stage corresponds with Pratyahar, when the Yogi loses common physical sensibility, but still retains consciousness. By carrying on the inhalation “the patient loses the power of voluntary motion, and passes into unconsciousness; then there is an inclination of the eyes upwards and complete suspension of the mental faculties.” This in Yoga corresponds to savikalpa samadhi. Here modern medical science stops, and does not profess to go beyond. It has studied with great care and precaution, taken note of the minute changes which the body undergoes successively; but has not been equally successful in tracing the mental side of the picture. The science of Yoga steps in to supply the hiatus. If its results are to be credited, (and we do not see why they should not,) then we must perforce differ from the scientists who would have us believe that the last stage of anaesthesia is a loss of consciousness. We are taught by those who have experimented with the mind, that the last stage, far from being loss of consciousness, is the highest and absolute state of consciousness which the human spirit, in its present stage of development, is capable of. Loss of memory which ordinary men experience when returning to their normal condition from a state of anaesthesia is no more proof of loss of consciousness than the Sushuptiavastha (the state of profound dreamless sleep). It requires special training to transfer the spiritual consciousness back into the physical consciousness. Some are naturally endowed with this faculty, and are born seers and magicians; while others can develop it by a painful and laborious course of mental training, and are known as Adepts, Yogis, &c.
Some of the results of anaesthesia and the conditions of its administration throw a curious side-light on the truth of Yoga and the phenomena observed in Pratyahar. We give the following in confirmation of our assertion from a book on Chloroform by Dr. A.E. Samson, M.B. In the second stage “the senses become affected, frequently the sounds in the room are exaggerated in their intensity, the ticking of the clock becomes like the falling of a ponderous hammer. The surrounding objects become dim and as it were dissolve in light, and then a veil enwraps them all. A strange effect is the phenomena of narcotic reminiscence. Events of the past life may be recalled, conversations may be repeated, and actions reproduced. I have heard a young girl, throughout the whole course of a surgical operation, sing “Beautiful star” correctly, word for word and note for note.” Similarly the precautions, necessary in the administration of anaesthetics are almost the same as required by the Yogi. Thus to quote the same authority:—“Of all conditions of system, probably the worst to bear chloroform is alcoholism. It is a most note-worthy fact that when we look over the records of death from chloroform, we find that very many have occurred in hard drinkers. Intemperance induces a state of system most inimical to chloroform.” For chloroform substitute Yoga, and it will be equally true. “The average age at which death from chloroform has occurred is 30, the married are almost twice the number.” Here again we see the necessity of celibacy and the early practice of Yoga.