Mystery and Excellence of the Human Body

Hatha Yoga Pradipika

(A few extracts)

The two main and very practical tools used in the discipline of Hatha Yoga are the Asana and the Pranayama techniques.

The word asana comes from the verb as, "to sit" and can mean "sit ting position", but, more than that, 'refers to any specific body position described by the founders of Hatha Yoga. In the technique of Asanas, the body is taught to remain immobile in certain special postures. Why immobile? Because the usual restlessness of our body is just a sign that it is unable to hold even a limited amount of energy that enters into it. It immediately wants to dissipate it. By remaining absolutely still in the most difficult of prescribed postures, the body is taught to retain the life energy and to regulate it. The first and most apparent consequence of an increased circulation of force in the body is that it becomes remarkably healthy, vigorous and youthful, capable of feats of endurance of which the normal powers of man would be incapable. Patanjali describes the body of a perfected Yogin as "beautiful, lustrous, strong and having its parts as firm as the thunderbolt." Its natural tendencies towards decay, age and death are checked.

In , although he describes only a few asanas, Yogi Swatmarama speaks of eighty-four postures. So there are a great number of asanas and some of them are extremely complicated. This variety calls for a great flexibility of the body but it is also meant to alter the relation of the physical energy in the body to the earth energy. Consequently, the body tends to get something of the qualities of the subtle body. It is freed from its usual inertia and acquires a marvellous lightness.

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Here is how Yogi Swatmarama describes certain asanas and their effects:

Asanas:

Being the first accessory of Hatha Yoga, asana is described first. It should be practised for gaining steady posture, health and lightness of body.

I am going to describe certain asanas which have been adopted by Munis like Vasistha, etc., and Yogis like Matsyendra, etc.

Swastika-asana

Having kept both the hands under both the thighs, with the body straight, when one sits calmly in this posture, it is called Swastika.

Gomukha-asana

Placing the right ankle on the left side and the left ankle on the right side, makes Gomukha-asana, having the appearance of a cow.

Dhanura asana

Having caught the toes of the feet with both the hands and

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Practice of Hatha Yoga in Auroville

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carried them to the ears by drawing the body like a bow, it becomes Dhanura asana.

Paschima Tana

Having stretched the feet on the ground, like a stick, and having grasped the toes of both the feet with both the hands, when one sits with his forehead resting on the thighs, it is called Paschima Tana.

This Paschima Tana carries the air from the front to the back part of the body (i.e. to the susumna). It kindles gastric fire, reduces obesity and cures all diseases of men.

Mayura-asana

Place the palms of both the hands on the ground, and place the navel on both the elbows and balancing thus, the body should be stretched backward like a stick. This is called Mayura-asana.

This asana soon destroys all diseases, and removes abdominal disorders, and also those arising from irregularities of phlegm, bile and wind, digests unwholesome food taken in excess, increases appetite and destroys the most deadly poison.

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Shava-asana

Lying down on the ground, like a corpse, is called Sava-asana. It removes fatigue and gives rest to the mind.

Padmasana

Place the right foot on the left thigh and the left foot on the right thigh, and grasp the toes with the hands crossed over the back. Press the chin against the chest and gaze on the tip of the nose. This is called the Padmasana, the destroyer of the diseases of the Yamis.

Place the feet on the thighs, with the soles upwards, and place the hands on the thighs, with the palms upwards.

Gaze on the tip of the nose, keeping the tongue pressed against the root of the teeth of the upper jaw, and the chin against the chest, and raise the air up slowly, i.e., pull the apana-vayu gently upwards.

This is called the Padmasana, the destroyer of all disease. It is difficult of attainment but can be learnt by the wise.

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The second method used by Hatha Yoga is the Pranayama.

Pranayama is known to eliminate disorders and malfunctioning in the physical body, but is not entirely effective at the beginning if some imbalance is present. Especially if there is a defect in the proportion of the three humours of the body as defined by Ayurveda (kapha or mucus, pitta or bile, vata or wind), this should be corrected first. So Hatha Yoga uses supplementary physical methods specially designed for this purpose. They are called the "six actions " or shatkarma.

If there be excess of fat or phlegm in the body, the six kinds of kriyas (duties) should be performed first. But others, not suffering from the excess of these, should not per form them,

The six kinds of duties are: Dhauti, Basti, Neti, Trataka, Nauti and Kapala Bhati. These are called the six actions.

These six kinds of actions which cleanse the body should be kept secret. They produce extraordinary attributes and are performed with earnestness by the best of Yogis.

Yoga Pradipika explains here one of these cleansing techniques, the one called "dhauti":

The Dhauti

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A strip of cloth, about three inches wide and fifteen cubits long, is pushed in (swallowed), when moist with warm water, through the passage shown by the guru, and is taken out again. This is called Dhauti Karma.*

There is no doubt, that cough, asthma, enlargement of the spleen, leprosy, and twenty kinds of diseases born of phlegm, disappear by the practice of Dhauti Karma.

Once the different systems of his body have been cleansed by Shat karma, the apprentice may start practising Pranayama:

The exercises called Pranayamas have to be combined with asanas and should be performed keeping the body immobile, firmly established in one of the prescribed postures.

While Asana deals with the most material part of the physical being, Pranayama deals with the life-energy, Prana. Or rather it deals with the most apparent manifestation of it in us which is breathing, and thereby seeks to obtain mastery over all the powers of Prana: It is a technique through which the quantity of Prana in the body is activated to a higher frequency, controlled and directed at will.

It consists of breathing exercises of various kinds. The Yogin must first equalise the duration of his inhalations (puraka) and exhalations (rechaka). Progressively he should increase the time during which he retains his breath in-between (kumbhaka). The most important thing here is the retention of breath. At the beginning, of course, it is extremely difficult to execute for more than just a few seconds, but through regular and arduous practice, it can be conquered. Thereafter a stage is even reached when breathing ceases. This is Kevala Kumbhaka or "retention alone".

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* The strip should be moistened with a little warm water, and the end should be held with the teeth. It is swallowed, little by little; thus, first day 1 cubit, 2nd day 2 cubits, 3rd day 3 cubits, and so on. After swallowing it the stomach should be given a good, round motion from left to right, and then it should be taken out slowly and gently

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So the body of the Hatha Yogin experiences something which normally occurs only at the time of death: cessation of breath.

It is maybe why Swatmarama states that a Yogin practising Pranayama gets rid of the fear of death.

If properly performed, Pranayama is said to be very effective in removing certain diseases. The body is described as lean and glowing.

The first aim of Pranayama is to purify the nervous system in such a way that the mind, no longer subject to its usual disorder and agitation, is completely stilled. In the system of Hatha Yoga, Prana and mind are intricately linked. The mind is totally dependent on body and Prana. If one controls Prana, his mind is automatically controlled.

Yogi Swatmarama describes here some exercises of Pranayama:

An Indian miniature showing Pranayama

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Posture becoming established, a Yogi, master of himself, eating salutary and moderate food, should practise pranayama, as instructed by his guru.

Respiration being disturbed, the mind becomes disturbed. By restraining respiration, the Yogi gets steadiness of mind.

So long as the (breathing) air stays in the body, it is called life. Death consists in the passing out of the (breathing) air. It is, therefore, necessary to restrain the breath.

Method of performing Pranayama

Sitting in the Padmasana posture the Yogi should fill in the air through the left nostril (closing the right one); and, keeping it confined according to one's ability, it should be expelled slowly through the surya (right nostril). Then, drawing in the air through the surya (right nostril) slowly, the belly should be filled, and after performing Kumbhaka as before, it should be expelled slowly through the chandra (left nostril).

Inhaling thus through the one through which it was

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expelled, and having restrained it there, till possible, it should be exhaled through the other, slowly and not forcibly.

If the air be inhaled through the left nostril, it should be expelled again through the other, and filling it through the right nostril, confining it there, it should be expelled through the left nostril. By practising in this way, through the right and the left nostrils alternately, the whole of the collection of the nadis of the yamis (practisers) becomes clean, i.e., free from impurities, after three months and over.

Kumbhakas should be performed gradually four times during day and night, i.e., (morning, noon, evening and mid night), till the number of Kumbhakas for one time is eighty and for day and night together it is three hundred twenty.

In the beginning there is perspiration, in the middle stage there is quivering, and in the last or the third stage one obtains steadiness; and then the breath should be made steady or motionless.

Just as lions, elephants and tigers are controlled by and by,

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so the breath is controlled by slow degrees, otherwise (i.e., by being hasty or using too much force) it kills the practiser himself.

When Pranayama, etc., are performed properly, they eradicate all diseases: but an improper practice generates disease.

Hiccough, asthma cough, pain in the head, the ears, and the eyes; these and other various kinds of diseases are generated by the disturbance of the breath.

Considering Puraka (filling), Rechaka (expelling) and Kumbhaka (confining), Pranayama is of three kinds, but considering it accompanied by Puraka and Rechaka, and without these, it is of two kinds only, i.e., Sahita (with) and Kevala (alone).

Exercise in Sahita should be continued till success in Kevala is gained. This latter is simply confining the air with ease, without Rechaka and Puraka.

In the practice of Kevala Pranayama when it can be per formed successfully without Rechaka and Puraka, then it

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is called Kevala Kumbhaka.

There is nothing in the three worlds which may be difficult to obtain for him who is able to keep the air confined according to pleasure, by means of Kevala Kumbhaka.

After performing Pranayama and other related exercises like mudras, or bandhas ("stops" or "locks") which remove blockages, "capture" and channelize the energy, the Hatha Yogin becomes able to direct the Prana anywhere. And this is of momentous importance. According to an ancient Indian science, the life-force circulates in the subtle body through a series of channels (nadis gathered up in six centres called lotuses or chakras (circles) which rise in an ascending line to a summit, the "thousand petalled lotus " from where all vital and mental energy flows. This pattern is reproduced in the physical body: these centres are situated along a main channel (the sushumna nadi), in the centre of the spinal cord, that rises from the bottom of the vertebral column upto the brain.

Usually, due to obstructions in the different nadis of the nervous sys tem, very little energy/lows into them, so the chakras are closed or only partly open. It is said that the supreme energy is there, but asleep, coiled like a snake (kundalini) in the lowest of the chakras. But when the body is immobile and capable of holding the Prana, when the back is strictly erect and in a straight line, when the mind is stilled, the Sushumna nadi entirely clear of obstructions, then the Kundalini Shakti awakens, rises, pierces the chakras and opens each of the ascending planes to the divine light and energy. When the Kundalini Shakti pierces through the highest chakra (brahmarandhra), it merges with the supreme Soul. The Hatha Yogin attains the stage of Samadhi or Yogic Trance, the supreme step of the ladder of the Hatha Yogic practice.

As the chief of the snakes is the support of the earth with

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The Mahamudra

Pressing the Yoni (perineum) with the heel of the left foot, and stretching forth the right foot, its toe should be grasped by the thumb and first finger.

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By stopping the throat (by Jalandhara Bandha) the air is drawn in from the outside and carried down. Just as a snake struck with a stick becomes straight like a stick, in the same way, sakti (susumna) becomes straight at once. Then the Kundalini, becoming as it were dead, and, leaving both the Ida and the Pingala, enters the susumna (the middle passage).

It should be expelled then, slowly only and not violently. For this very reason, the best of the wise men call it the Maha Mudra. This Maha Mudra has been propounded by great masters. Great evils and pains, like death, are destroyed by it, and for this reason wise men call it the Maha Mudra.

The Saktichalana.

Kutilangi (crooked-bodied), Kundalini, Bhujangi (a she serpent) Sakti, Ishwari, Kundali, Arundhati, — all these words are synonymous.

As a door is opened with a key, so the Yogi opens the door of mukti by opening Kundalini by means of Hatha Yoga.

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The Parameswari (Kundalini) sleeps, covering the hole of the passage by which one can go to the seat of Brahma which is free from pains.

Kundali Sakti sleeps on the bulb, for the purpose of giving moksa to Yogis and bondage to the ignorant. He who knows it, knows Yoga.

Kundali is of a bent shape, and has been described to be like a serpent. He who has moved that Sakti is no doubt Mukta (released from bondage).

As salt being dissolved in water becomes one with it, so when Atma and mind become one, it is called Samadhi.

When the Prana becomes lean (vigourless) and the mind becomes absorbed, then their becoming equal is called Samadhi.

Indifference to worldly enjoyments is very difficult to obtain, and equally difficult is the knowledge of the Realities to obtain. It is very difficult to get the condition of Samadhi, without the favour of a true guru.

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By means of various postures and different Kumbhakas, when the great power (Kundali) awakens, then the Prana becomes absorbed in Sunya (Samadhi).

The Yogi whose sakti has awakened, and who has renounced all actions, attains to the condition of Samadhi, without any effort.

When the Prana flows in the Susumna, and the mind has entered sunya, then the Yogi is free from the effects of Karmas.

O Immortal one (that is, the yogi who has attained to the condition of Samadhi), I salute thee! Even death itself, into whose mouth the whole of this movable and immovable world has fallen, has been conquered by thee.

In this body there are seventy-two thousand openings of Nadis; of these, the susumna, which has the Sambhavi Sakti in it, is the only important one, the rest are useless.

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The Vayu should be made to enter the Susumna without restraint by him who has practised the control of breathing and has awakened the Kundali by the (gastric) fire.

The Prana, flowing through the susumna, brings about the condition of manonmani; other practices are simply futile for the Yogi.

By whom the breathing has been controlled, by him the activities of the mind also have been controlled; and, conversely, by whom the activities of the mind have been controlled, by him the breathing also has been controlled.

There are two causes of the activities of the mind: (1) Vasana (desires) and (2) the respiration (the Prana). Of these, the destruction of the one is the destruction of both.

Breathing is lessened when the mind becomes absorbed, and the mind becomes absorbed when the Prana is restrained.

Both the mind and the breath are united together, like milk and water; and both of them are equal in their activities.

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Mind begins its activities where there is the breath, and the Prana begins its activities where there is the mind.

By the suspension of the one, therefore, comes the suspension of the other, and by the operations of the one are brought about the operations of the other. When they are present, the Indriyas (the senses) remain engaged in their proper functions, and when they become latent then there is moksa.

Freeing the mind from all thoughts and thinking of nothing, one should sit firmly like a pot in the space (surround ed and filled with the ether).

As the air, in and out of the body, remains unmoved, so the breath with mind becomes steady in its place (i.e., in Brahmarandhra).

By thus practising, night and day, the breathing is brought under control, and, as the practice increases, the mind becomes calm and steady.

One should become void in and void out, and void like a

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pot in the space. Full in and full outside, like a jar in the ocean.

He should be neither of inside nor of outside world; and, leaving all thoughts, he should think of nothing.

The whole of this world and all the schemes of the mind are but the creations of thought. Discarding these thoughts and taking leave of all conjectures, O Rama! obtain peace.

As camphor disappears in fire, and rock salt in water, so the mind united with the atma loses its identity.

When the knowable, and the knowledge, are both destroyed equally, then there is no second way (i.e., Duality is destroyed).

All this movable and immovable world is mind. When the mind has attained to the unmani avastha, there is no dwaita (from the absence of the working of the mind.)

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Mind disappears by removing the knowable, and, on its disappearance, atma only remains behind.

Arambha Avastha

When the Brahma granthi (in the heart) is pierced through by Pranayama, then a sort of happiness is experienced in the vacuum of the heart, and the anahat sounds, like various tinkling sounds of ornaments, are heard in the body.

In the arambha, a Yogi's body becomes divine, glowing, healthy, and emits a divine smell. The whole of his heart becomes void.

The Yogi, engaged in Samadhi, feels neither smell, taste, colour, touch, sound, nor is conscious of his own self.

He whose mind is neither sleeping, waking, remembering, destitute of memory, disappearing nor appearing, is liberated.

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He feels neither heat, cold, pain, pleasure, respect nor disrespect. Such a Yogi is absorbed in Samadhi.

He who, though awake, appears like one sleeping, and is without inspiration and expiration, is certainly free.

The Yogi, engaged in Samadhi, cannot be killed by any instrument, and is beyond the controlling power of beings. He is beyond the reach of incantations and charms.

As long as the Prana does not enter and flow in the middle channel and the bindu does not become firm by the control of the movements of the Prana; as long as the mind does not assume the form of Brahma without any effort in contemplation, so long all the talk of knowledge and wisdom is merely the nonsensical babbling of a mad man.

Reading Yoga Pradipika, one marvels at the depth of the great psycho-physical science on which rests the system of Hatha Yoga. One is amazed by the precise knowledge of the body possessed by the ancient sages of India who elaborated the techniques described by Swatmarama: here the body is not seen as a kind of machine move or less dependent on the mind, more or less cumbersome and recalcitrant, whose functions carry no meaning except that of immediate necessity. It is known and experienced as a living symbol, a powerful and sacred yantra which can connect us with our subtle body, with the universal energy, with the Divine.

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Of course, Hatha Yoga is a difficult and onerous system. When seriously pursued, it requires so much time and effort that it hardly leaves room for any other activity or research. It demands not only a complete dedication but also a total surrender to the guru. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika insists on the fact that no success can be achieved without the presence and the guidance of the guru. So it is unlikely that many people can or will want to undertake to practise Hatha Yoga in the traditional way.

Yet it is a fact that in the last fifty years or so Hatha Yoga has been accepted as an alternate therapeutic science all over the world and that a lot of people, even without exactly knowing what Hatha Yoga stands for, have derived many benefits from even a very limited practice. Is this attraction for Hatha Yoga not a sign that, although its real goal is generally forgotten, there is in mankind a sort of aspiration to look at the body in a new way? Is it not a sign that men, more or less consciously, sense that there is a secret, hidden deep into the body, and that it may be the key to the future evolution of humanity? Perhaps it is what Hatha Yoga can teach the modem world. Perhaps men can dispense with its methods but, taking advantage of the science on which it is founded, they can use it as a help to go forward in search of higher truths.

Hatha Yoga gives us a key to discover the subtle body behind the gross body. It also gives us the knowledge and experience of the centres of the subtle body, each one of which connects a certain level of consciousness and energy with its corresponding universal plane of consciousness and energy.

By constant practice of Hatha Yoga one can attain remarkable capacities of the body. One can stop the heart beats and yet continue to live; one can remain without food for long periods of time and yet can sustain the life-force and strength of the body; some Hatha Yogins are reported to live without any intake of food; the Hatha Yogin can demonstrate remarkable feats of physical powers and capacities: one can become as light as a feather, one can be as heavy as to be entirely immobile and immovable; one can become even atomic and can pass through physical obstructions. The Hatha Yogin can maintain health and vigour with ease and effortlessly. The Hatha Yogin can endure heat or cold, upto extraordinary degrees. The Hatha Yogin's longevity also can be very great and even indefinite. All these things are possible.

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According to the larger views of Yoga, however, there are possibilities of attainment of great vistas of knowledge and great effectivities of will-power, capable of effecting interventions in world-events and world-actions. For these attainments, other Yogas and their methods need to be developed. Raja Yoga, for example, gives the possibilities of expansion of mental powers of extraordinary nature. Jnana Yoga can give possibilities of specialized domains of existence, leading up to the knowledge of the Supra Cosmic. Bhakti Yoga can provide experiences of extraordinary intensities and emotions and purified relationships with human beings and creatures of the world culminating in aesthetic union with the Divine. And there are many other systems of Yoga, each one capable of giving special powers and attainments. Hatha Yoga is only one of the many systems of Yoga. A synthesis of Yoga would include basic principle's not only of Hatha Yoga but also of other Yogas; and such a synthesis of Yoga would also provide a judicious combination of various systems of Yoga, leading upto a comprehensive combination of consequences for the perfection of the spiritual, mental, vital and physical perfection. A divine life in a divine body would be the ideal of the integral Yoga. In the integral Yoga, perfections of the physical body would be a part of the totality of attainments, although the methods of Hatha Yoga may not prove to be indispensable. And yet, methods of Hatha Yoga can optionally be employed in the total processes of the integral Yoga.

One thing however stands out very clearly. Hatha Yoga is a systematic process; it is scientifically rigorous and meticulous; its results can be verified; they can be demonstrated; they can be repeated in increasing number of individuals, provided its methods are rigorously pursued and practised.

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Extracts from The Hatha Yoga Pradipika,

translated into English by Panchan Singh,

Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers PV Limited, New Delhi.

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