हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

INTRODUCTION xvii exhorting them in the last chapter of the Īśvaragītā: ‘I have now fully explained the different subjects respecting which your minds were perplexed with doubt; but know further, that this Nārāyaṇa and myself are one and the same, and that there is no difference between us. He, like me, is incorporeal, imperishable, the supreme and universal soul. Those, however, who behold diversity in this universe, consider us to be distinct deities, naming him Viṣṇu, and me Maheśvara; but those who know that we are in essence one and the same shall be free from the pains of re- birth.’ As a further illustration of the excellence of the Haṭha-yoga, which we have attempted to establish by the above few quotations drawn out of an over- whelming number of ancient authorities, we would invite the reader’s attention to the familiar, but never- theless undeniable, analogy introduced in a work of very ancient repute, known as Śaivāgama, in which Ādinātha (the God Śiva) urges even the most perfect Yogin not to give up his practice of Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Kumbhaka, etc. for the purpose of keeping his body in perfect good health even as all human beings are required to keep their dwelling houses in perfect sanitary condition. In view of the combined advantage of the two systems, and for the enlightenment of men thirsting for knowledge, the great Yogin Svātmārāma compiled the Haṭhayogapradīpikā, of which we have in these pages attempted to give, with the original text and its