हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

xiv HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ of different degrees of merit acquired in past lives come under the first two categories. We shall now speak of the Kaniṣṭha Adhikārin-s who have to begin their Yoga in the present life. For these no course of Yoga is possible save the Haṭha-yoga, which they should patiently follow, guided by a competent Guru. For, says Śrī Śaṃkarācārya in his treatise on Rāja- yoga, called Aparokṣānubhūti: ‘The practice of Haṭha- yoga is intended for those whose nature requires to be purged of all impurities.’ Now, since the majority of men are not free from the infirmities of their lower nature, it follows that the majority of students are in need of a first training which would fit them for the pursuit of the higher system of Rāja-yoga: a training which no system is so well adapted to secure as Haṭha- yoga. The misconceptions produced in the minds of some who, not having impartially viewed the philo- sophies of Sāṃkhya and Yoga—terms synonymous with Rāja- and Haṭha-Yoga-s—jump to the conclusion that the two are distinct sciences, each having a dis- tinct bearing upon the knowledge of Self, has been made evident in the Bhagavadgītā, (V. 4 and 5), where Śrī Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna: सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः । एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥ यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते । एकं सांख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥