function of the vital air apāna q. v.--In the verse of the
Bhāgav. Pur. (2. 10. 16.) anu prāṇanti yaṃ prāṇāḥ prāṇantaṃ sarva-
jantuṣu . apānantamapānanti naradevamivānugāḥ, it deserves no-
tice that Srīdharasvāmin takes the word apānat in the sense
‘ceasing to perform vital functions’, viz. ‘they (according to
the comm., the senses) cease to exercise their functions when
it (the vital air prāṇa) ceases to perform its function’: prāṇā
indriyāṇi yaṃ (scil. prāṇaṃ, the word of the preceding verse)
prāṇantaṃ ceṣṭāṃ kurvantamanu paścātprāṇanti ceṣṭāṃ kurvanti . apānantaṃ
ceṣṭāṃ tyajantamanu apānanti ceṣṭāṃ tyajanti . rājānamanu bhṛtyā iva;
but it seems very doubtful whether he is correct in this con-
struction of the verse, as prāṇāḥ might be taken in the
general sense ‘vital airs’, and the sense ‘they perform the
function of exhaling and inhaling according to the function
of life (prāṇa)’ would be in conformity with the usual mean-
ing of the words in question. E. an with apa, kṛt aff. śatṛ.