Hatha Yoga Pradipika

TheHaṭha Yoga Pradīpikā (Sanskrit:haṭhayogapradīpikā, हठयोगप्रदीपिका or Light on Hatha Yoga) is a classic fifteenth-centurySanskrit manual onhaṭha yoga, written bySvātmārāma, who connects the teaching's lineage toMatsyendranath of theNathas. It is among the most influential surviving texts on haṭha yoga, being one of the three classic texts alongside theGheranda Samhita and theShiva Samhita.^[1]

More recently, eight works of early hatha yoga that may have contributed to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika have been identified.

Title and composition

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Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.40–41, 2.77, translated by Mallinson & Singleton
As long as thebreath is restrained in the body, the mind is calm. As long as the gaze is between the eyebrows there is no danger of death. When all the channels have been purified by correctly performing restraints of the breath, the wind easily pierces and enters the aperture of theSushumna. At the end of the breath-retention inkumbhaka, make the mind free of support. Through practising yoga thus one attains therajayoga state.^[2]

Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.40–41, 2.77, translated by Mallinson & Singleton

As long as thebreath is restrained in the body, the mind is calm. As long as the gaze is between the eyebrows there is no danger of death. When all the channels have been purified by correctly performing restraints of the breath, the wind easily pierces and enters the aperture of theSushumna.

At the end of the breath-retention inkumbhaka, make the mind free of support. Through practising yoga thus one attains therajayoga state.^[2]

Different manuscripts offer different titles for the text, includingHaṭhayogapradīpikā,Haṭhapradīpikā,Haṭhapradī, andHath-Pradipika.^[3] It was composed by Svātmārāma in the 15th century as a compilation of the earlier haṭha yoga texts. Svātmārāma incorporates older Sanskrit concepts into his synthesis. He introduces his system as a preparatory stage for physical purification before highermeditation orRaja Yoga.^[4]

Summary

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Manuscript painting of ayogin in meditation, showing thechakras and the three mainnāḍīs (channels) of thesubtle body. A small serpent, representing theKundalini, climbs from the base of the central nāḍī.

TheHatha Yoga Pradīpikā lists thirty-five earlier Haṭha Yoga masters (siddhas), includingĀdi Nātha,Matsyendranāth andGorakṣanāth. The work consists of 389shlokas (verses) in four chapters that describe topics including purification (Sanskrit:ṣaṭkarma), posture (āsana), breath control (prāṇāyāma), spiritual centres in the body (chakra),kuṇḍalinī, energetic locks (bandha), energy (prāṇa), channels of thesubtle body (nāḍī), and energetic seals (mudrā).^[5]

Chapter 1 deals with setting the proper environment for yoga, the ethical duties of a yogi, and theasanas.
Chapter 2 deals withpranayama and thesatkarmas.
Chapter 3 discusses themudras and their benefits.
Chapter 4 deals withmeditation andsamadhi as a journey of personal spiritual growth.

It runs in the line ofHindu yoga (as opposed to theBuddhist andJain traditions) and is dedicated to The First Lord (Ādi Nātha), one of the names of LordŚiva (the Hindu god of destruction and renewal). He is described in several Nāth texts as having imparted the secret of haṭha yoga to his divine consortPārvatī.

Mechanisms

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TheHatha Yoga Pradipika presents two contradictory models, one involving stopping the flow ofBindu, the other involvingKundalini and encouraging the flow ofAmrita, to explain how Hatha Yoga leads to immortality, without attempting to harmonise them.^[6]

TheHatha Yoga Pradipika presents two contradictory models of how Hatha Yoga may lead to immortality (moksha), both culled from other texts, without attempting to harmonise them.^[6]

The earlier model involves the manipulation ofBindu; it drips continually from the moon centre in the head, falling to its destruction either in the digestive fire of the belly (the sun centre), or to be ejaculated as semen, with which it was identified. The loss of Bindu causes progressive weakening and ultimately death. In this model, Bindu is to be conserved, and the various mudras act to block its passage down theSushumna nadi, the central channel of thesubtle body.^[6]

The later model involves the stimulation ofKundalini, visualised as a small serpent coiled around the base of the Sushumna nadi. In this model, the mudras serve to unblock the channel, allowing Kundalini to rise. When Kundalini finally reaches the top at theSahasrara chakra, the thousand-petalled lotus, the store ofAmrita, the nectar of immortality stored in the head, is released. The Amrita then floods down through the body, rendering it immortal.^[6]

Modern research

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TheHatha Yoga Pradipika is the hatha yoga text that has historically been studied withinyoga teacher training programmes, alongside texts on classical yoga such asPatanjali'sYoga Sutras.^[7] In the twenty-first century, research on the history of yoga has led to a more developed understanding of hatha yoga's origins.^[8]

James Mallinson has studied the origins of hatha yoga in classic yoga texts such as theKhecarīvidyā. He has identified eight works of early hatha yoga that may have contributed to its official formation in theHatha Yoga Pradipika. This has stimulated further research into understanding the formation of hatha yoga.^[9]

Jason Birch has investigated the role of theHatha Yoga Pradīpikā in popularizing an interpretation of the Sanskrit wordhaṭha. The text drew from classic texts on different systems of yoga, and Svātmārāma grouped what he had found under the generic term "haṭha yoga". Examining Buddhist tantric commentaries and earlier medieval yoga texts, Birch found that the adverbial uses of the word suggested that it meant "force", rather than "the metaphysical explanation proposed in the 14th centuryYogabīja of uniting the sun (ha) and moon (ṭha)".^[10]