कुण्डलिनी & DNA's Double Helix

kuṇḍalinī & ♋︎ spirals

Lobsang Melendez Ahuanari, Perú

DNA

The part of a living being that carries genetic information.

A biopolymer of deoxyribonucleic acid (a type of nucleic acid) that has four different chemical groups, called bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine.

Definition of double helix: a helix or spiral consisting of two strands in the surface of a cylinder that coil around its axis; especially: the structural arrangement of DNA in space that consists of paired polynucleotide strands stabilized by cross-links between purine and pyrimidine bases. The term double helix refers to the structure formed by double-stranded molecules of nucleic acids such as DNA. The double-helical structure of a nucleic acid complex arises as a consequence of its secondary structure and is a fundamental component in determining its tertiary structure.

The DNA double helix biopolymer of nucleic acid is held together by nucleotides which base pair together. In B-DNA, the most common double-helical structure found in nature, the double helix is right-handed with about 10–10.5 base pairs per turn. The double helix structure of DNA contains a major groove and a minor groove. In B-DNA the major groove is wider than the minor groove. Given the difference in widths of the major groove and minor groove, many proteins which bind to B-DNA do so through the wider major groove.

The double helix is the description of the structure of a DNA molecule. A DNA molecule consists of two strands that wind around each other like a twisted ladder. Each strand has a backbone made of alternating groups of sugar (deoxyribose) and phosphate groups. Attached to each sugar is one of four bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), or thymine (T). The two strands are held together by bonds between the bases, adenine forming a base pair with thymine, and cytosine forming a base pair with guanine.

"A double helix has become the icon for many kinds of discussions about where science has been and where it is going. This really is an amazing structure. One cannot stare at the double helix for very long without having a sense of awe about the elegance of this information molecule DNA. Its double-helical form basically means that all living forms are connected to each other because they all use this same structure to convey that information. Of course, this is Watson and Crick's incredible realization back in 1953, but it will stand in history as probably one of the most significant scientific moments of all time."

― Francis S. Collins, M.D., PhD.

अमृत • (amṛ́ta)

The concept of कुशालिनी Kuṇḍalinī is mentioned in the उपनिषदों Upanishads (9th – 7th centuries BCE). The संस्कृत Sanskrit adjective कुसालिन kuṇḍalin means "circular, annular". It is mentioned as a noun for "snake" (in the sense of "coiled") in the 12th-century राजतरंगिणी क्रॉनिकल Rajatarangini chronicle (I.2). कुशास Kuṇḍa (a noun meaning "bowl, water-pot" is found as the name of a नाग Nāga (serpent deity) in महाभारत Mahabharata 1.4828). The 8th-century तंत्रसदभाव तंत्र Tantrasadbhava Tantra uses the term kundalī, glossed by David Gordon White as "she who is ring-shaped".

The use of कुसलī kuṇḍalī as a name for देवी दुर्गा Goddess Durga (a form of शक्ति Shakti) appears often in तंत्र Tantrism and शक्तिवाद Shaktism from as early as the 11th century in the शारदतिलक Śaradatilaka. It was adopted as a technical term in हठ योग Hatha yoga during the 15th century and became widely used in the योग उपनिषद Yoga Upanishads by the 16th century. Eknath Easwaran has paraphrased the term as "the coiled power", a force which ordinarily rests at the base of the spine, described as being "coiled there like a serpent".