हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

xii HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ bliss. Wherefore, O Rāma! study the science of breath or prāṇa. Prāṇa is the chief principle of motion in the Sthūla (gross), Sūkṣma (subtle) and Kāraṇa (causal) bodies. We shall now attempt an examination of the Haṭha and the Rāja-yoga somewhat more minutely and see the difference that exists between the two. Haṭha is considered to be a compound word formed of two syllables: ha, means the moon, and ṭha, means the sun. These correspond to the breath which flows through the left and right nostrils. The regulation of breath for the purpose of checking the modification of the thinking principle is called Haṭha- yoga, under which the Aṣṭāṅga-yoga, Mantra-yoga, etc. as above enumerated, naturally fall. Rāja-yoga begins where Haṭha-yoga, properly followed, ends. It would therefore be unwise to consider the Haṭha- yoga as nothing more than a dangerous gymnastic feat, for a moderate exercise of it has been found by experience to be both conducive to health and longevity. It brings in its train the power to prevent or remove diseases, bodily or mental, for its practice regulates the action of the heart, the lungs and the circulation of the blood. It even bestows the gift of putting off death indefinitely, although this privilege is seldom exercised by the true Yogin who knows the consequences of interfering with the laws of nature. As the Rāja- and the Haṭha-yoga-s are the necessary counterparts of each other, the limbs as it were of the same body, either of them cannot be