Why is a channel named after the new moon?

The tradition reads the lower body through lunar cycles, and kuhu is the dark night before the cycle restarts. The association with the reproductive region follows from that.

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Secondary channel

Kuhu

Kuhū · कुहू

Kuhu is the night of the new moon, the dark one before the cycle starts again. The channel runs down the front of sushumna and terminates at the genitals.

new moon genitals downward

Runs: Down the front of the central channel
Ends at: The genitals
Carries: Ojas, the reproductive and excretory functions
Name means: The new moon night
Associated wind: Apana
Related centre: Sacral chakra
Group: One of the eleven secondary nadis
Sources: Shiva Samhita, Gheranda Samhita, later commentaries

Where it runs

Kuhu descends in front of sushumna and ends at the genitals, which places it with shankhini and varuni in the group governed by the downward wind. Practices that work on that region, mula bandha and vajroli among them, are described as acting on this channel.

Its placement in front of the central channel rather than beside it is unusual and is preserved consistently across the lists.

The name

Kuhu names the dark night of the new moon, the point where the lunar cycle empties before refilling. Given the channel's association with the reproductive region, the naming is unlikely to be casual: it is the moment before a cycle begins.

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Its centre

Sacral chakra

Svadhisthana, the water centre below the navel.

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Its wind

Apana

The downward wind it carries.

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Central channel

Sushumna

The axis every other channel is described against.

Frequently asked questions

: The tradition reads the lower body through lunar cycles, and kuhu is the dark night before the cycle restarts. The association with the reproductive region follows from that.

阿兰布莎

气脉

萨罗斯瓦蒂