287 NADIS

Together with the chakras, the nadis - variously translated as "conduits", "nerves", "veins", "vessels" or "arteries" - constitute the composition of the subtle or yogic body in Tantra. Like the Chinese meridians, the nadis constitute channels of flow of subtle vital force (prana) The idea of nadis first appears in the earliest Upanishads (7th-8th century b.c.e.). The heart for example was said to be the centre of the 72,000 nadis. The concept was developed in the later Upanishads - from 2nd century b.c.e. to the 2nd century c.e. and later - and the nascent Yoga and Tantric schools. The Kshurika-Upanishad and later the Hathayogapradikpa mention the 72,000 nadis, especially the Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna channels. [Arthur Avalon, The Serpent Power, p.261]. Other figures have been proposed - 80,000 (Trisikhibramanopanishad), 200,000, or 300,000 (e.g. Siva Samhita, Goraksha Sataka, Goraksha Paddhati)