The simple act of breathing in and out is taken for granted and, for that reason, probably neglected by many people. What symptoms would a person show who is neglecting the act of inhaling and exhalation?  Well, to put it in a nut-shell, such a person would lack vitality.  His skin would appear dull and his skin colour could be pallid. He would generally look unhealthy and  lacking vitality. He would be quite unaware of the importance of breathing and the need to regulate one’s breathing in a systematic manner. When asked, he would probably admit that fact. Internally, a person is the best judge whether he or she is aware of the act of breathing or not. Externally, if one were to observe a person frequently inhaling and exhaling with deliberation with the chest heaving up and down like the waves of a placid ocean in a quiet and clean beach, we may conclude that such a person takes breathing seriously.

The stage has been reached when Raja Khāṇḍikyaḥ is no longer interested in worldly existence and its mundane joys or sorrows.  He is aiming for a much higher prize or goal.  He wants to get rid of all infirmities and sins that have arisen in his Mind by placing it in that auspicious shelter mentioned by Keśidhvajaḥ .  But what is that auspicious and miraculous refuge or shelter that can overhaul the mind, and clean it fully and perfectly? ? He knows that once his Mind has been rendered pure, he  can make a bid for Mokśa confident of success.  So he prays to Raja Keśidhvajaḥ to tell him all about that “auspicious refuge/asylum which destroys all sins & infirmities”.  Khāṇḍikyaḥ has also realised that the miraculous expedient mentioned by Keśidhvajaḥ can be adopted by any Yogi to clear the path to liberation. That is why he is eager to learn more about it from his former enemy who is perhaps, more spiritually advanced than himself.  Thus,  the context of Ṣlokaḥ  [6/7/46] of the Vishṇu Purāṇa is both thrilling as well as vital for all Yogis.

We are not trying to sell aspects of Hindu Philosophy packaged in the apparent respectability of modern science.  The two are quite respectable and effective in their own right. No packaging is needed as such to market either.  Someday, Science and Hindu Philosophy may cooperate in making more headway in explaining the nature of both the Universe and its Creator, namely the Brahman itself.  The lesson from Modern Quantum Mechanics is that Philosophic speculations about the nature of the Brahman have to accept the contradictory aspects of the Brahman as being complementary for building up a cogent Theory of the Nature of the Brahman.  Hindu Philosophy has done just that and propounded its Theory of the Brahman based on this principle. It is a feature of Hindu Philosophy that definitive views are not propounded on any question in the sense that nothing is deemed as being absolutely final.  Everything is open to questioning or revision at any time in eternity.  In general, in all discussions, an open mind is needed that is willing to accommodate dichotomies, to re-examine existing concepts in the light of new ideas or theories that may crop up from time to time as  formulated/proposed by thinkers in the field. That is the reason why Hinduism has no single all powerful Prophet whose words are deemed final, inviolable, and beyond questioning except on pain of torture, maiming or death. 

Dharmabhūtajñyāna should be viewed  is  being both  a  substance  as  well  as  its inseparable attribute.  It  is self-luminous  but  not  self-conscious.  It  is like  a  lamp which  can illuminate and show up both  itself  and  its  object  but  it cannot know either itself or its object of illumination.  We may also look upon Dharmabhūtajñyāna or attributive  consciousness as being the type of consciousness vectored outwards to reach out into the material world.  It is this form of consciousness that acts as the interface between the spiritual knower and the material data fed to it by the Mind-Body-Sense Organs System of material nature.  In the pristine state, the Dharmabhūtajñyāna of the Self is unlimited in range and comprehension.  In embodiment, due to intimate contact with Prakṛti it is severely attenuated in different Selves according to their Karman and state of knowledge.

The two types of human consciousness namely the essential and the attributive types of consciousness posited in the Viṣiṣtādvaita Theory of Consciousness represent a major breakthrough made by Rāmānujacāryā in understanding the most mysterious and difficult to comprehend nature of human consciousness.  When the Jivātman introspects upon itself, it is in effect using its inward power of consciousness to know more about itself.  As the Jivātman continues to probe itself deeper,  it comes to know that it is but the sole sentient being or the knower within the body; that it is the Master of the Body for whose benefit the Body-Mind Complex have been programmed by the Brahman to incessantly gather and feed sensory data for experiencing the material Universe. Probing further and further at deeper and deeper levels of inward-introspection, the Jivātman comes to know that there is a Super-Self dwelling within its own Self who is the Inner Controller of every cit and acit entity in the Universe without exception.  Thereafter, it would be a matter of time, before the lucky Jivātman puts two and two together and recognises that the Super-Self dwelling within itself is the very Brahman the Sages, the Scriptures, and Gurus have been speaking about for thousands of years about.