हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 49 62. By contraction [of the Mūlādhāra] the Apāna, whose course is downwards, is forced to go upwards [through Suṣumnā]. Yogin-s call that Mūla-bandha. 63. Pressing the anus with the heal compress the air forcibly and repeatedly until the breath [Apāna] goes upwards. 64. Through the Mūla-bandha, Prāṇa and Apāna unite with Nāda and bindu and confer perfection in Yoga. There is no doubt about this. The meaning seems to be this: Through the Mūla-bandha, the Prāṇa and Apāna unite and go into the Suṣumnā . Then the inner sound (Nāda) becomes audible and the Prāṇa and Apāna uniting with Nāda go above the heart and join the bindu, i.e. the anusvāra or the inaudible sound of the point in the sacred syllable Oṃ, symbolizing the transcendent Śiva. They then proceed to the head and thus the Yogin obtains perfection. Nāda is the mysti- cal inner sound proceeding from the Anāhatacakra or the cardiac centre. 65. By constant practice of the Mūla-bandha, a union of Prāṇa and Apāna is achieved. Urine and excrement decrease and even the aged become young. 66. When the Apāna rises upwards and reaches the sphere of fire, then the flame of the fire becomes lengthened, being fanned by Apāna. The sphere of the fire is said to be triangular in shape and is situated in the centre of the body, below the navel. In the case of animals it is rectangular, and circular in the case of birds. The flame of the fire referred to is the gastric fire. 67. When the Apāna and the fire join Prāṇa, which is by nature hot, then the heat in the body is greatly intensified.

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50 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 68. By reason of that, the Kuṇḍalinī which is asleep, feeling the extreme heat, is awakened, just as a serpent struck by a stick hisses and straightens itself. 69. Then it enters within the Suṣumnā, like [a snake] which enters its hole. Therefore the Yogin-s should every day and always practise Mūla-bandha. 70. Then the JĀLAṂDHARA-BANDHA [is described]: Contract the throat and hold the chin firmly against the chest [about four inches from the chest]. This is the Bandha called Jālaṃdhara which destroys old age and death. 71. Because it constricts the network (jāla) of Nāḍī-s and [arrests] the downward course of the flow of ambrosial water (jāla) [from the cavity in the palate], this Bandha is Jālaṃdhara. It destroys all the maladies of the throat. 72. When the Jālaṃdhara-bandha is practised, by contraction of the throat, the nectar does not fall into the [gastric] fire and the Prāṇa is not agitated [i.e. not misdirected]. 73. By the [firm] contraction of the throat the two Nāḍī-s [Iḍā and Piṅgalā] are deadened. Here [in the throat] is situated the middle Cakra (Viśuddhi). This binds the sixteen ādhāra-s (vital centres). They are the toes, ankles, knees, thighs, the perineum, the generative organs, the navel, the heart, the neck, the throat, the tongue, the nose, the centre of the eyebrows, the forehead, the head and the Brahmarandhra, i.e. the upper opening of the Suṣumnā Nāḍī in the skull.

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 51 74. Contracting the anus, practise the Uḍḍīyāna- bandha. Constrain the Iḍā and the Piṅgalā [by the Jālaṁdhara-bandha], and cause [the breath] to flow through the Suṣumnā. 75. By these means the breath becomes motion- less [in the Suṣumnā]; then there is no death, old age, disease, etc. 76. Yogin-s know these three excellent Bandha-s practised by the great Siddha-s, which are the means of success in the various Haṭha-yoga practices. 77. Here Viparītakaraṇī [is described]: What- ever nectar flows from the Moon which is of divine form, all that is swallowed up by the Sun. Hence the body becomes old. The Moon is situated at the root of the palate and pours down a stream of nectar; the Sun is situated near the navel and its fire consumes the ambrosial flow. 78. There is an excellent process (karaṇa) by which the Sun is duped. This should be learnt from the Guru, and not through theoretical study of the Śāstra-s. 79. When the Sun is above and the Moon below [of the practitioner] whose navel is above and palate below, it is the Viparītakaraṇī. It is to be learnt through the instructions of a Guru. 80. In the case of one who practises this daily, the gastric fire is increased, and the practitioner should always have plenty of food.

52 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 81. If he stints his diet, the fire quickly consumes [the body]. On the first day he should stand for a moment upon his head, with his feet above. The process is this. The body should be raised in the air by resting the back of the head and neck and shoulders upon the ground, supporting the hips with the hands, the elbows resting on the ground if required. 82. Practise this by increasing the duration gra- dually every day. After six months wrinkles and grey hair disappear. He who practises this for a yāma (i.e. three hours) daily, conquers death. 83. Then VAJROLĪ [is described]: Even someone living an unrestricted life, without the disciplines prescribed by Yoga, if he knows well [by practice] the Vajrolī, becomes the repository of the siddhi-s. 84. Here I mention two things that are difficult for anyone to obtain: the one is milk [at the proper time] and the other, a woman who acts according to one’s wishes. Attention is drawn to the previous note (III. 43) pointing out that such statements should not be taken literally. 85. At the time of [the emission of the seminal fluid during] sexual intercourse, practise slowly and well to draw [it] up. Thus a man or a woman will obtain success in Vajrolī. 86. Blow with effort into the hole of the penis through a prescribed tube very slowly so as to allow the passage of air.

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 53 The process as described by the commentator is as follows: ‘Obtain a very fine lead tube, fourteen aṅgula-s (finger-breadths) long, and practise inserting it into the urethra, at the rate of one aṅgula a day, until twelve aṅgula-s are introduced within leaving two aṅgula-s outside, bent to face upwards. Then get another fine tube and insert it into the above-mentioned tube, and blow through it softly. This will clear all impurities in the passage. Then practise drawing up water through the tube, and later on, draw up the semen. This succeeds only in the case of those whose breath is brought under control. When the Khecarī-mudrā and breath- control have been thoroughly mastered, then this will succeed, not otherwise. 87. The semen that is about to fall into the genital organ of a woman should be drawn up by practice [of the Vajrolī-mudrā]. If already fallen he should draw up his own semen [and the woman’s seminal fluid] and [thus] preserve it. 88. Thus the knower of Yoga should preserve his semen. He [thereby] conquers death. When the semen is expended, death ensues [in due course]; but there is [prolonged] life for him who preserves it. 89. By preserving the semen [by the Vajrolī- mudrā], a pleasant smell arises in the body of the Yogin. As long as the semen is well retained in the body, whence is the fear of death? 90. The semen of men is subject to control by the mind and life depends upon the semen. Therefore both semen and mind should be carefully preserved and controlled. 91. A person perfect in this practice should, by drawing up well [the fluids] through the penis, preserve

54 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ his own semen and that of the woman with whom he has intercourse. The commentator states that this verse is an interpolation. 92. Then SAHAJOLĪ [is described]: Sahajolī and Amarolī are varieties of Vajrolī, being one [in respect of the result attained]. Mix the ashes obtained by burning cow-dung [cakes] with water. 93. After intercourse in the Vajrolī, the man and woman, their activity being ended, should, while sitting in a happy frame of mind, besmear the excellent parts of the body [with this mixture]. The parts are mainly the head, forehead, eyes, heart, shoulders and arms. 94. This is called Sahajolī in regard to which Yogin-s should always have confidence. It is a bene- ficial process and bestows liberation though connected with sensual experience. 95. This process in Yoga succeeds only in the case of the virtuous, who are brave, who perceive the truth and are free from envy; and not in the case of envious persons. 96. Then AMAROLĪ [is described]: Discarding the first part of the flow of water as it increases bile, and the last flow as being without essence, when the cool middle part of the stream [of Amarī] is absorbed, that is Amarolī according to the Kāpālika sect. The commentator explains that the stream refers to Śivāmbu, which literally means 'water of Śiva'. It is called Amarī.

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 55 97. He, who drinks daily the Amarī and inhales it day by day, should practise well Vajrolī. This is called Amarolī. 98. He should mix ashes with the nectar flowing from the Moon by the practice [of Amarolī] and smear it on the principal limbs [of the body]. Then divine sight is obtained. Divine sight means ability to see the past, the present and the future, as also hidden things. 99. If a woman, making herself expert through sufficient practice, draws up the semen of man, and preserves her own through [the practice of] Vajrolī, she also becomes a Yoginī. 100. Without any doubt, even the least part of her seminal fluid is not lost. In her body, the Nāda becomes bindu itself. That is, the Nāda that begins at the Mūlādhāra goes to the heart and unites with the bindu. The following may perhaps throw some light on these processes. The seminal fluid of man is called bīja or bindu, and that of the woman, rajas. By the external union of these two, a child is produced. But, only when these unite inter- nally, i.e. when the things that are really denoted by these expres- sions, unite in the inner man, he is called a Yogin. The bindu is said to be of the nature of the Moon and rajas of the nature of the Sun. From the union of these, is attained the supreme state. The bindu is capable of giving svarga, meaning temporal pleasures, as also mokṣa, i.e. emancipation. It can lead a man into virtue or vice. In other words, understood literally, it leads to the attainment of worldly pleasures, and hence vice; but if understood and practised according to its inner sense, it leads to virtue and emancipation.

56 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 101. That bindu and that rajas, becoming united and remaining in the body by the practice of Vajrolī, confer all siddhi-s. 102. She who preserves by upward contraction her rajas is a Yoginī. She knows the past and the future and certainly attains perfection in Khecarī. 103. By the Yoga consisting of the practice of Vajrolī, bodily perfection is obtained [beauty, grace, and great strength]. This Yoga confers merit (puṇya), and though there is sensual experience, it leads to emancipation. 104. Now the ŚAKTICĀLANA [is described] : Kuṭi- lāṅgī, Kuṇḍalinī, Bhujaṅgī, Śakti, Īśvarī, Kuṇḍalī and Arundhatī are all synonymous words. 105. As one can fling open a door with a key, so the Yogin should through Haṭha-yoga open the door of liberation [i.e. the Suṣumnā] by [the power of] Kuṇḍalinī. 106. The great goddess (Kuṇḍalinī) sleeps closing with her mouth the entrance to the way by which the seat of Brahman (Brahmarandhra), where there is no pain, is to be reached. 107. The Kuṇḍalinī-śakti, who sleeps above the kanda, gives liberation to Yogin-s and bondage to the ignorant. He who knows her knows Yoga. The kanda is the place between the navel and the scrotum from where spring the 72,000 Nāḍī-s. See verse 113 below. 108. The Kuṇḍalinī is described as being coiled like a serpent. He who causes that Śakti to move

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 57 [from the Mūlādhāra upwards] becomes free, without doubt. 109. Between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā, there sits the Bālaraṇḍā [i.e. Kuṇḍalinī, literally, a young widow], practising austerity. She should be seized by force. That [leads to] the supreme seat of Viṣṇu. 110. Iḍā is the holy Gaṅgā and Piṅgalā is the river Yamunā. Between Iḍā and Piṅgalā, the young widow is Kuṇḍalinī. 111. By seizing the tail that sleeping serpent (Kuṇḍalinī) should be awakened. Then, that Śakti, throwing off her sleep, rises up with force. The commentator says that the secret of this process must be learnt from a Guru. 112. Having inhaled through the right nostril (piṅgalā), the recumbent serpent should be taken hold of by the process of paridhāna, and made to move daily for about an hour and a half, both morning and evening. The commentator adds that the process of paridhāna should be learnt from a Guru. The process described is the movement of the abdominal muscle from left to right and right to left in a spiral (see The Serpent Power, 1964, p. 207). 113. [The kanda] is twelve finger breadths (aṅgula-s) above [the anus] and four aṅgula-s in breadth, soft and white, and appearing as if it were a rolled cloth. Two aṅgula-s above the anus and two below the penis is the middle of the body. The kanda is nine aṅgula-s from the middle

58 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ of the body. It is like an egg and is covered by membranous coverings. In the case of beast and birds it is in the middle of the abdomen. 114. Seated in the Vajrāsana posture hold firmly with the hands the feet near the ankles, and thereby put pressure on the kanda. 115. Seated in the Vajrāsana posture, the Yogin having caused the Kuṇḍalinī to move, should then perform the Bhastrikā Kumbhaka. Thus he will soon awaken the Kuṇḍalinī. 116. He should then contract the Sun [which is near the navel] and then cause the Kuṇḍalinī to move. Even though fallen into the mouth of death, he need not fear death. Contraction of the Sun is effected by contraction of the navel. 117. By moving [the Kuṇḍalinī] fearlessly for about an hour and a half, she is drawn into the Suṣumnā and upwards a little. 118. By this [process] Kuṇḍalinī certainly leaves [open] the mouth of the Suṣumnā, and therefore Prāṇa goes naturally through the Suṣumnā. 119. So one should move daily the Arundhatī (Kuṇḍalinī) that is calmly sleeping. By merely moving her the Yogin is freed from diseases. 120. The Yogin who moves the Śakti becomes the possessor of the siddhi-s. What further needs be said? He conquers Time (Death) as if it were mere play. 121. Only one who delights in the life of a celibate (brahmacārin), and always conforms to a moderate and

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 59 salutary diet, and who practises Yoga in the form of sti- mulating Kuṇḍalinī approaches siddhi within forty days. 122. Having set the Kuṇḍalinī in motion, the Bhastrikā Kumbhaka should be particularly practised. Whence is the fear of Death for the self-restrained [Yogin] who practises thus every day? 123. Except the practice of [causing to move] Kuṇḍalinī [through Śakticālana], what other means is there for clearing away the impurities of the seventy- two thousand Nāḍī-s? 124. This middle Nāḍī (Suṣumnā) becomes straight [for the easy passage of Prāṇa] by persevering practice by Yogin-s, by Āsana-s, Prāṇāyāma and Mudrā-s. 125. To those who are alert [and free from indolence] in practice, and whose minds are steadily held in a state of concentration (samādhi), the Rudrāṇī (Śāmbhavī) or other Mudrā confers a beneficial fulfil- ment (siddhi). 126. There is no earth (pṛthvī) without Rāja- yoga, there is no night without Rāja-yoga, and even a variety of Mudrā-s become useless without Rāja-yoga. Here pṛthvī stands for the firmness of the Āsana-s. Night stands for Kumbhaka, in which state everything is quiet. There is a pun on the words rāja-yoga. The earth does not flourish without the sovereign’s rule (rāja-yoga), the night does not shine in the absence of the moon (rājā) and the seal (mudrā) is of no use without being associated with the king (rājā). 127. All the breathing processes should be practised with a mind concentrated [on them]. The

60 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ wise man should not allow his mind to wander else- where. 128. Thus have the ten Mudrā-s been described by the primeval Lord, Śambhu (Śiva). Each one of them confers on the self-restrained (Yamin-s) the great siddhi. 129. One who imparts teaching regarding the Mudrā-s as handed down by a succession of Guru-s, he is the real teacher. He is the master, the Lord (Īśvara) in visible form. 130. Carefully following his teaching, he who concentrates on the practice of the Mudrā-s, obtains the capacity to overcome death, along with the siddhi-s such as aṇiman.

FOURTH CHAPTER

1. Salutations to Śiva, the Guru, who is of the form of nāda, bindu and kalā; the person ever devoted to these obtains the stainless state [free from māyā]. This chapter is wholly devoted to Rāja-yoga. The nāda is a mystical sound similar to the prolongation of the sound of a bell and represented by a semicircle in Om. Bindu is the ṃ sound of the anusvāra in the Praṇava. Kalā is a speciality of nāda.
2. Now I shall expound the excellent process of Samādhi, that destroys death, leads to [eternal] happi- ness and confers the supreme bliss of [absorption in] Brahman. ‘Destroying death’ means enabling the Yogin to shed his body at will. This is explained later on. The happiness of a Jīvanmukta is brought about when the mind is stilled and the vāsanā-s (acquired tendencies) are destroyed. Bliss is that of Videhamukti, when the Prārabdha-karman is exhausted and a permanent union takes place between the Jīva and Parabrahman. 3, 4. Rāja-yoga, Samādhi, Unmanī, Manonmanī, Amaratva (immortality), Laya (absorption), Tattva (Truth), Śūnyāśūnya (void and yet not-void), Parama- pada (the supreme state), Amanaska (transcending the mind), Advaita (non-duality), Nirālamba (without support), Nirañjana (pure), Jīvanmukti (liberation

162 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ while in the body), Sahaja (natural state) and Turya, all of these are synonymous. 5. [SAMĀDHI is explained]: As salt in water unites and dissolves into it, a likewise merging of mind and self (ātman) is Samādhi. 6. When the Prāṇa is without any movement [in Kumbhaka] and the mind is absorbed in the Self, that state of harmony is called Samādhi. This is the state of Saṁprajñāta Samādhi described by Patañjali. 7. That state of equilibrium which is the union of the Jīvātman and Paramātman, in which there is the end of all desire-ideation, that is called Samādhi. This is Asaṁprajñāta Samādhi in which there is no distinction of knower, known or knowing. 8. Who really knows the greatness of Rāja-yoga? Spiritual knowledge (jñāna), freedom (mukti), stability (sthiti) and perfection (siddhi) are obtained through the teaching of the Guru. 9. Without the compassion of the true Guru, the renunciation of sensual pleasures, the perception of Truth and the natural state of Being (sahajāvasthā, which is the supreme state), are most difficult to attain. 10. When the great Power (Kuṇḍalinī) has been awakened by the various Āsana-s, the different Kumbha- ka-s and Mudrā-s, the Prāṇa is quiescent in the void (Brahmarandhra).

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 63 11. In the Yogin in whom the [Kuṇḍalinī] Śakti is awakened and who is free of all karman-s, the truly natural State comes into being on its own. In the practice of the Āsana-s, all corporeal activity comes to an end, and actions are confined to Prāṇa and the organs of sense. By Kumbhaka, the movement of Prāṇa and the sense-organs is arrested, and there remains the mental activity. By Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna and Saṁprajñāta Samādhi, mental activity ceases and actions are confined to the buddhi. By complete absence of attachment and long practice of Saṁprajñāta Samādhi, the activities of the buddhi cease and the Yogin attains his original unchangeable state, which is the final beatitude. 12. When the Prāṇa flows in the Suṣumnā and the mind is absorbed in the void the knower of Yoga [he who can end the modifications of the mind] up- roots all karman-s. ‘Void’ means Brahman unaffected by Time, Space or Matter. 13. Salutations to you, O Immortal, who have conquered even that Time, into whose jaws falls this universe, with all the mobile and immobile things. Here the perfected Yogin-s are meant by the term ‘immortal’. 14. When the mind has reached a state of equani- mity and Prāṇa moves through the Suṣumnā, then there is Amarolī, Vajrolī and Sahajolī. This stanza shows that Vajrolī and the other like processes are not physical, but have a symbolical significance. 15. How can spiritual knowledge arise in the mind, as long as the Prāṇa lives [is active] and the mind

64 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ is not dead [in abeyance]? He who causes both Prāṇa and mind to become quiescent obtains liberation. No other person can do so. The Prāṇa lives so long as it flows through Iḍā and Piṅgalā; the sense-organs live so long as they seek objects; the mind lives so long as it is shaped by the various objects of perception. Prāṇa dies when it remains without movement in Brahmarandhra. The mind dies when it is not modified by objects. In this stanza Yoga is said to be essential to Jñāna. In the Yogavijaya, Pārvatī asks: ‘Some say that liberation is obtained through knowledge only; then what is the use of Yoga?’ Śiva replies: ‘A battle is won by a sword; but what is the use of a sword without a war and valour? So both are absolutely necessary.’ If it is argued that King Janaka and other great men did not practise Yoga at all, the answer is: Kings like Janaka, Vaiśya-s like Tulādhāra, Śūdra-s like Pailavaka, women like Maitreyī, Śārṅgī, Śāṇḍilī, Cūḍālā, have obtained knowledge without practising Yoga, because they had perfected Yoga in their previous incarnations. We also hear that by the force of Yoga practised in previous lives many attained the state of Brahmā, sons of Brahmā, devarṣi, brahmarṣi, muni and bhakta. They attained complete knowledge without being initiated by a Guru. Hiraṇyagarbha (Brahmā), Vasiṣṭha, Nārada, Śuka, Vāmadeva and Sanatkumāra are said to have been born Siddha-s. 16. Remaining always in a suitable place, having learnt well to open the Suṣumnā and make Prāṇa flow through the centre [i.e. Suṣumnā], it should be res- trained in the Brahmarandhra. The place should be pleasant, etc. as described in I. 12. 17. The Sun and the Moon create [the division of] Time in the form of day and night. Suṣumnā consumes Time. This is a secret.

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 65 The Prāṇa moves in the Iḍā (Moon) for about an hour and then in the Piṅgalā (Sun). So two hours form a day and night for the Yogin. The ordinary day consists of twelve such days. When the Prāṇa leaves Iḍā and Piṅgalā and remains in the Suṣumnā, then there is no Time. So Suṣumnā is said to consume Time. The Yogin knowing beforehand the time of his death takes his Prāṇa to Brahmarandhra and defies Time and discards his body at will. 18. There are 72,000 Nāḍī passages in this cage [the body]. [Of these] Suṣumnā is the Power that appertains to Śambhu (Śāmbhavī Śakti). The others [Iḍā, Piṅgalā, etc.] are not of great use. 19. When breath has been controlled, then it should be made to awaken the Kuṇḍalinī along with the gastric fire, and enter the Suṣumnā without any restriction. 20. When the Prāṇa flows through Suṣumnā, the Manonmanī state is attained. If not, the other prac- tices are a mere exertion for the Yogin. 21. He who suspends (restrains) the breath, restrains also the mind. He who controls the mind, also controls the breath. 22. The [activity of the] mind has two causes: the Prāṇa and the vāsanā-s (acquired tendencies and impressions). When one of these becomes inactive, the other too also come to an end. 23. Where the mind is stilled there the Prāṇa is suspended; and where the Prāṇa is completely in abeyance, there the mind is quiescent. 24. Mind and Prāṇa are mingled like milk and water, and their activities concur. Where there is

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66 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ [activity of] Prāṇa there is [that of the] mind, where there is [activity of] the mind, there is [that of] Prāṇa. 25. If one is suspended, the other is set at rest. If one acts, the other [too] acts. If they are not quietened, all the senses are active; if they are controlled the state of liberation is attained. 26. Mercury and mind are unsteady by nature. If mercury and mind are bound [i.e. stabilized], what is impossible of attainment on this earth? 27. O Pārvati! Mercury, as also Prāṇa, when immobilized, destroy diseases; when [themselves] dead [i.e. inactive], they give life; when bound, they enable [persons] to rise in the air. Mercury is made solid and inactive by the use of herbs; and the Prāṇa is made immobile when absorbed in the Brahmarandhra by means of Kumbhaka. When mercury is bound (by a certain process) and reduced to the form of a pill, it is called gahanaguṭikā, and by putting it in the mouth, one can rise in the air. In the same manner, Prāṇa, when held in the centre between the two eyebrows, enables one to rise in the air. The Gorakṣaśataka says: ‘Between the eye- brows there appears a round spot, black as a ball of collyrium. It is of the essence of Vāyu, and its presiding deity is Īśvara. Restraining the Prāṇa in this Cakra along with the mind for two hours gives the power of rising in the air to a Yogin.’ 28. When the mind is steady, the Prāṇa is stable, and hence there is stability of semen. There is always strength when the semen is stable, and it gives the body stability. 29. The mind is the lord of the organs of sense; the Prāṇa is the lord of the mind; absorption (laya)

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 67 is the lord of the Prāṇa and that absorption has Nāda (the inner sound) for its basis. 30. This itself [the quiescence of the mind] may be called liberation; others may say that it is not. [However] when the Prāṇa and mind are in a state of absorption, an indefinable bliss ensues. 31. When inhalation and exhalation are sus- pended, when all grasping of objects [by the senses] has completely ceased, when there is no movement of the body, and no modification of the mind, there is success in absorption (laya) for Yogin-s. 32. When all mental transformations (saṃkalpa) have entirely ceased and when there is no physical movement, an indescribable state of absorption ensues, which is known by the self, but is beyond the reach of words. 33. Where vision is [directed], there [in Brah- man] is absorption. That [Avidyā] in which eternally exist the elements [such as earth] and the senses [hearing, etc.] and that Force (śakti) which is in all living things, both are dissolved in the characteristicless [Brahman]. 34. People say ‘ laya, laya ’, but what is the nature of laya? Laya is the non-recollection of the objects of sense due to the non-recurrence of previously acquired impressions and tendencies (vāsanā-s). 35. The Veda-s, Śāstra-s and Purāṇa-s are like common courtesans [as they are available to all men]. But the Śāmbhavī-mudrā is guarded like a well-born woman.

68 HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 36. [The ŚĀMBHAVĪ-MUDRĀ is described]: Con- centration on the internal object [in any Cakra from the Mūlādhāra to the Brahmarandhra], while the external sight is devoid of winking, this is that Śāmbhavī- mudrā preserved in the Veda-s and Śāstra-s. 37. When the Yogin remains with mind and breath absorbed in the internal object, when his pupils are motionless, when, though his eyes perceive without, he sees not [i.e. does not grasp the objects], it is indeed the Śāmbhavī-mudrā. When it is obtained by the favour of the Guru, that state which is of Śambhu, which is other than the void and the not-void, that Reality manifests itself [to the Yogin]. The attention should be directed to the Anāhata-cakra and the object of internal contemplation is Iśvara with attributes, or Brahman, which is the real object of the two sentences, ‘ That Thou art ’ and ‘ I am Brahman ’. It is not the void, because in the contemplation of the internal object, there is the nature of sat (being). It is other than the not-void, because even this object ceases to be afterwards. 38. The Śāmbhavī and the Khecarī Mudrā-s, though differing in the position [of the eyes] and place [to which the attention of the mind is directed, both] bring about the bliss of absorption of the mind in the void, which is [the Ātman] of the nature of Bliss- consciousness. It is called void, because it is not affected by Time, Place or Matter. It is void of things like itself and also of things different from itself. The positions of the two Mudrā-s are said to be different, because in the Śāmbhavī-mudrā the eyes are directed