Born in Kerala, South India in 1927, Swami Vishnu-devananda entered the Sivananda Ashram as a young man. For twelve years he lived and worked at the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, Himalayas, tmder the guidance of his master, Swami.Sivananda. A large part of Swami Vishnu-devananda's training was directed towards developing his remarkable talents in the field of Hatha Yoga. He was appointed the first Professor of Hath a Yoga at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy. At the same time, he continued his own practice, mastering many difficultand advanced Hatha Yoga techniques: asanas, pranayama, mudras, bandhas and kriyas. When asked how he perfected these ancient practices, which to a great extent had been lost to the modern world, Swamiji would say, "My Master touched me and opened my intuitive eye. All this knowledge returned to me from past lives:' In 1957, Swami Vishnu-devananda was sent to the West by his guru with the • words, "people are waiting:' He brought with himhis teachings of Yoga an be e world renowned as an expert in Hatha and Raja Yoga. Swamiji founded the Internation"alSivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, with Headquarters in Val Morin, Quebec, Canada and centers worldwide. Swami Vishnu-devananda was a tireless campaigner for world peace. He piloted his own plane to the trouble spots of the globe, earning him the nickname from the press of the "Flying Swami:' He had indefatigable energy, which he attributed to his intensive # Hatha Yoga practice. The author of the long-time bestselling The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga and Meditation and Mantras,Swami Vishnu-devananda is the inspiration behind the Sivananda Companion to Yoga, Yoga Mind and Body and many other books. Swami Vishnu-devananda entered Mahasamadhi on November 9, 1993. His body was consigned to the Ganga (Ganges River) in Uttarkashi, Himalayas. This is where Swamiji had spent much time in his early life doing intensive sadhana. The work and teachings of Swami Vishnu-devananda continue through the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. SIVANANDA YOGA MoTILAL BANARSIDAss VEDANTA CENTRE PUBLISHERS PvT. LTD. ISB\.' 81-208-161-t-5 Rs. 150 6 G 41•1g «1 ftlChl HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA The Classic Guide for the Advanced Practice of Hatha Yoga (Kundalini Yoga) As Written Down in the Seventeenth Centuryfrom Ancient Sources by Yogi Swatmarama Containing the CommentaryJyotsna of Brahmananda Practical Commentary by SWAMI VISHNU-DEVANANDA MOTII.AL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED • DELHI @ OM LOTUS PUBLICATIONS First PublisMd: Ccuuu/Q, 1987 Reprint: Delhi. 1992, 1997, 1999 Copyritht © 1987 BY THE INTERNATIONAL SIVANANDA YOGA VEDANTA CENTERS All Rights Reserved. ISBN: 81-208-1614-5 Also available at: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS 41 U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 110 007 8 Mahalaxmi Chamber, Warden Road, Mumbai 400 026 120 Royapettah High Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 Sanas Plaza, 1302, Baji Rao Road, Pune 411 002 16 St. Mark's Road, Bangalore 560 001 8 Camac Street, Calcutta 700 017 Ashok Rajpath, Patna 800 004 Chowk, Varanasi 221 001 FOR SALE IN SOUTH ASIA ONLY PRINTED IN INDIA BY JAINENDRA PRAKASH JAIN AT SHRI JAINENDRA PRESS, A-45 NARAINA. PHASE I, NEW DELHI 110 028 AND PUBLISHED BY NARENDRA PRAKASH JAIN FOR MOTILAL DANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED, BUNGALOW ROAD, DELHI 110 007 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface to Third Edition oooooooooooooooo.. oooooooooooooooooooooo Page vii Preface to First Edition 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Page ix Editor's Note 00000000000000000000000000 000000000000000000000000000000000 Page xii Chapter 1 0000000 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00000 0 0 0 0 000000 0 00 0 0 0 000000000 0 0 00000 Page Chapter 2 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Page 41 ' Chapter 3 - Introduction OOOOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOooooooooooooooooo Page 89 Chapter 3 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Page 103 Chapter 4 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Page 149 Epilogue 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Page 198 Glossary 0000000 000000000000000000 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Page 202 Index 0 000000000000000000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00000 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000000 0 00 000 000000 00 0 00 00000 Page 220 Bibliography ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Page 227 Addresses of International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers 00000000000000000000000000 Page 228 vi HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA Swami Vishnu-devananda (1927-1993) To commemorate the lOth anniversary of the birth of Swami Vishnu-devananda PREFACE Vll PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION OM NAMO NARAYANAYA December, 1997 Four years have passed since Swami Vishnu-devananda left his physical body. As his close students and staff watched, Swamiji achieved that state of Samadhi which he so yearned for, and spoke of so beautifully in his commentaries on the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Often, at the end of a Yoga Teachers' Training Course, Swamiji would extol the new graduates to be "teachers and not preachers:' He meant that Yoga is an art and science to be practiced and learned first hand. Swamiji himself used his own body and mind as a laboratory. Whatever he read or heard, he experienced himself and could report first hand results. Although True Knowledge cannot be learned froma book, scriptures such as the present one, are meant as guides. Together with an experienced teacher, they can steer the sincere student along the proper path. In an effort to enhance the usefulness of the present edition, pictures, the original Sanskrit text, glossary and index have been included. It is offered with a prayer: "May the whole world find Peace and Happiness:' Yours in His Service, the staff and students of The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center viii HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA Published in honour of the 60th Birthday "Diamond Jubilee Celebration" of Swami Vishnu-devananda by his disdples and devotees PREFACE ix PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION I would like to begin by speaking about the spiritual path we are climbing through Yoga. You might say that it is an uphill climb. There are ups and downs. We climb up and then once again go down. There is no straight path to the top and there are many obstacles. In some places the road is wide but then suddenly it narrows. We come to a bush through which it is very difficult to penetrate, and even though we continue, we do not know where we are going. So it is with the spiritual journey. In the beginning it is all very wonderful: "Ah, yes, I can do asanas, pranayama, etc:: but then suddenly you come to that big bush in your path and you don't know in which direction to go. If somehow you come out of the bush, you come next to a swamp. Some students disappear in the quicksand and never come out. Perhaps they see a beautiful girl or a handsome man and get married, and oh, they want to enjoy their life with children, home and family - once again swallowed by Maya, their spiritual purpose completely forgotten. Nevertheless, it is possible to penetrate these obstacles and reach the top. Now you can see all around beautifully. Now you can meditate and enjoy full freedom. No more birth, no more death; you've got an eternal holiday. These experiencesare familiarto the yogi. He findsno smooth road to the top. Those who succeed come from different directions, having followed different teachers, but once they reach the top, everything is the same. On the way the obstacles will differ, but at the top the view is the same. The purpose of the practice of Yoga is to give your life a boost, to put your spiritual progress in first gear. Then you may go into second gear X HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA and maybe into third gear where you can cruise comfortably after climbing the hills. This is unlike most worldly people who just coast downhill without knowing about brakes, thinking that happiness is somewhere down there, waiting. They go straight downhill, faster and faster into numerous disasters such as cancer, AIDS, high blood pressure, heart trouble. Soon it is too late and they crash. So even though it may seem very easy, please don't coast downhill. We will show you another way. The path was laid out by the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, an ancient text used by Yogis to create the power to go uphill all the way to the top. This path was laid out by great beings called siddhas: Matsyendranath, his disciple Gorakshanath and others, fourteen in all. This is one of the earliest treatises on Hatha Yoga; all the modern books are based on it. It is the central route. All of us have only expanded and expounded on it in different ways. In addition to following the practices laid out in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, I strongly recommend the study of books such as Shankaracharya's Viveka Chudamani, and the Srimad Bhagavatam. The Viveka Chudamani is a very beautiful book, and those who follow its instruction will create the necessary dispassion to surmount the obstacles created by rajas (passion or activity). In addition, we also need devotion, because without God's grace we cannot reach the Source no matter how hard we strive. To help create this devotion, we read from the Bhagavatam. This practice is not something I invented; it is the traditional method which I myself followed intensively when I was with Master Sivananda in the Himalayas. I lived in the forest where there were cobras and tigers. Sometimes I could hear the tigers from my cottage when they would come by to drink water and they would roar. I had only a flimsy door which they could easily have pushed through. Nevertheless, in such an environment I went through this training morning, noon, evening and midnight, practicing for almost fourteen hours daily. I hardly slept - just two or three hours a night. But I can't begin to describe the power that builds up.