Richard Rosen Yoga

GORAKSHA VACANA SAMGRAHA

Compilation of Goraksha's Instructions

INTRODUCTION

The Compilation of Goraksha’s Instructions (goraksha vacana samgraha, hereafter referred to as GVS) is
assigned to the seventeenth century of the Common Era by G. Feuerstein. It’s composed of 172 Sanskrit
couplets or shlokas, written in what’s called “praising” (anustubh) meter, which (to simplify) consists of
two lines of eight syllables each. The couplets are unevenly distributed among 25 headed though
unnumbered sections, to which I’ve assigned numbers for easier reference. Let’s look at this title in more
detail.

The word samgraha (pronounced sahm-grah-hah) means “seizing, grasping, holding together.” It
tells us the GVS is a collection or compilation of verses “seized” or excerpted without attribution from
other earlier texts. This kind of wholesale borrowing from existing texts, sometimes citing the sources
though usually not, is quite common in traditional Hatha Yoga literature. For example, James Mallinson
has shown that one of the school’s pivotal texts, the mid-fifteenth century Light on Hatha [Yoga] (hatha
pradipika), is in the main woven together from no less than 20 earlier texts. The old Hatha yogis believed
that the accumulated knowledge of their school was, as we’d say today, community property, and they
didn’t hesitate to take from it as little or as much as they needed for their own work. By the same token,
only a few took out-and-out credit for their compiling efforts; instead they attributed the finished
product to another teacher (e.g., gheranda samhita), a deity (typically Shiva, as in the shiva samhita), or
simply remained anonymous.

The GVS is attributed to the semi-legendary Goraksha, a name that means “cow protector.”
According to Feuerstein, this odd appellation may be “given to initiates of a certain level of spiritual
attainment ... [and] refer to someone who has achieved control over the tongue—both in the sense of
mastery of speech and mastery of the technique of khecari-mudra, which involves the ‘swallowing’ of the
tongue” (Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga, 107). After the school’s similarly semi-legendary founder,
Matsyendra, “Lord of Fish,” Goraksha is generally acknowledged as the most important teacher of early
Hatha Yoga. Scholars speculate that he lived in the twelfth century CE, though some legends assert he
was the direct disciple of Matsyendra. This is rather unlikely, because Matsyendra is assigned by scholars
to the tenth or eleventh century, and by the twelfth century his age might have been double or triple the
normal span of years. Still we can’t discount the legend entirely, given the Methuselah-like ages
reputedly attained by the master adepts.

The vagary of textual dating is common in Hatha Yoga. Some early texts are assigned to not one
but a range of perhaps two or three centuries, and there are many texts whose date is just too elusive
even for the scholars to determine. In that case, they just throw up their hands, admit defeat, and leave
the text undated. So placed in the context of Hatha’s thousand-year history, from approximately the
tenth or eleventh century CE when it first emerged, to the end of the nineteenth century, when it began
morphing into modern yoga, the GVS is a relatively recent work. As you might have already realized, the
GVS post-dates Goraksha by something like 600 years, so we can safely say he probably was not the
compiler of the text. The name Goraksha is, in fact, a popular stand-in for teachers from the thirteenth
century on, due no doubt to his early prominence and purported relationship with Matsyendra. More
than two dozen texts bear his name, either directly in the title (I’ve counted 10) or by traditional
association.

Of the GVS’s 172 verses, 157 are drawn from three texts available in English translation: the tenth
century Tracks of the Adepts’ Doctrine (siddha siddhanta paddhati, 40 verses, available from the Lonavla
Yoga Institute in Lonavla, India), the thirteenth century Goraksha’s Tracks (goraksha paddhati, 70 verses,
available in The Yoga Tradition by Georg Feuerstein), and the aforementioned Light on Hatha [Yoga] (47
verses, available from YogaVidya.com).

The word vacana (pronounced vah-cha-nah) has a number of meanings, among them: speaking,
expressing, statement, declaration, injunction of a teacher, and advice, instruction, direction, order,
command. As you can see, I’ve chosen to render vacana it as “instruction,” although there’s much in the
text that is more properly a “statement” of philosophical/ metaphysical intent or a “expression” of
possible outcomes of the practice instructions.

I want to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of James Mallinson in producing this translation, and
most of all my Sanskrit tutor, Luis Gonzalez-Riemann. Everything of value comes from them, the
mistakes are mine alone.

GORAKSHA VACANA SAMGRAHA

§ 1 [1-4] The supreme Reality is different from [both] the dual (dvaita) and non-dual (advaita)

1 Some [people] wish for non-duality, others wish for duality. [But] they won’t find Reality, which is
[always and everywhere] the same, different from both duality and non-duality.

2 If the God (deva, Shiva) to whom everything goes is unchanging, full, undivided, then oh! the
maya, the great delusion, the false notions of duality and non-duality.

3 It’s said that the supreme Brahman is free of both existence and non-existence, free of
destruction and
generation, beyond all conceptions.
4 Those who know Reality know it as [infinite] space, [true] knowledge, and bliss, free of reason
and example, beyond the range of mind, intellect and so on.

§ 2 [5-11] The undivided essence of Shiva and Shakti

5 Shakti is within Shiva, Shiva is within Shakti. We should know there’s no difference [between
them], in the
same manner as the Moon and moonlight.

6 So Shiva deprived of Shakti can do nothing at all. But when joined to his own power (shakti), he
causes all
appearances.

7 Possessing his undiminished Shakti, [Shiva] perpetually manifests all forms, yet he remains only
one [without a second] in his own form.

8 Shiva (akula) possesses Shakti (kula), and Shakti desires Shiva. So the supreme Shiva (para shiva)
is of
single nature, just as in the case of water and a bubble.

9 Shakti causes expansion, Shiva causes contraction. He who practices the union (yoga) of these
two will become a king of accomplished yogis.

10 So what is seen as of thousands of powers (shakti) has only one meeting place, our own heart,
from which [all] forms emerge, and which is named Shiva, [owner of] supreme free will.

11 When he [Shiva] is about to animate, to know, and to make everything (vishva, the cosmos), it’s
said he has Shakti as his own Self (atman) , and appears as heart, womb, honey (madhu, i.e. blood), and
flesh.

§ 3 [12-16] The generation of the collective and individual bodies in the progressive
transformation of Shakti

12 From the standpoint of the Real (satya) there’s no creation, no cosmos, no [individual] body.
Even so, for
the sake of [the limited understanding of] common people, I’ll expound [on the creation] according to
the venerable tradition.

13 When there’s neither Maker nor cause, when there’s no [distinction as yet between] Shakti and
Shiva, then the Unmanifest, the supreme Brahman, is known as the Nameless One (anama).
14 The body is born from the supreme Shiva, progressively emerging through the shakti cakras in
these five forms: Unborn (nija), Unbounded (apara, having nothing beyond), Bound (para), Subtle
(sukshma), and Coiled One (kundalini)

15 The creation, known as the goddess Kundalini, is two-fold: on the one hand she has a gross
form, which is humankind’s inner Self.

16 On the other hand she’s all-pervading and subtle, yet also without [distinction between] what
penetrates and what’s penetrated. Whoever is deluded by opinions doesn’t know the difference
[between them].

§ 4 [17] Supreme consciousness

1. 17 The one consciousness is resplendent in the arrangement of parts of every living being.
The supreme glory of this consciousness shines down in every Reality. This consciousness flashes
forth in the [perpetual] to and fro and desire of the all the states of being. Just so, this cherished
consciousness shares in all mental impressions.

§ 5 [18-23] The true nature of the Self of everything

18 The Self is indeed the root of everything. No one needs proof of this. Who would be thirsty
immersed in the river Ganges?

19 Whatever the knower of yoga sees with the eye, impure or pure, that’s the Self. Having
understood this, he
withdraws [from what he sees].

20 Whatever the knower of yoga hears with the ears, unpleasant or pleasant, that’s the Self.
Having understood this, he withdraws [from what he hears].

21 Unsweet or sweet, whatever the knower of yoga tastes with his tongue, that’s the Self. Having
understood this, he withdraws [from what he tastes].

22 Good smell or foul smell, whatever the knower of yoga smells with his nose, that’s the Self.
Having understood this, he withdraws [from what he smells].

23 Rough or tender, whatever the knower of yoga touches with his skin, that’s the Self. Having
understood this, he withdraws [from what he touches].

§ 6 [24-25] There’s no difference between the embodied Self (jivatman) and the supreme Self
(paramatman)
24 Upon reflection, these three, the Self, the supreme Self and the embodied Self, have a
[common] origin. This the teaching asserts.

25 He who asks the yogi for that teaching, the true word, which brings an end to all pairs of
opposites, he [then] knows the Self, the Lord (ishvara).

§ 7 [26-29] Liberation results from Self-knowledge

26 The yogi may attain freedom by meditating on the Self, which is all-pervading, pure, and sky-
like, resembling the rays of the sun on water.

27 Through repeated exercise, the yogi awakens the liberation-making power (kundalini), [then] all
conditioning (upadhi) ceases and his own [true] Self shines out.

28 The pure space (akasha) of the Self is greater than the supreme space. Always meditating in this
way, the yogis know Reality.

29 Having meditated upon and realized that this brilliance of the Brahma-nature is the
unsurpassed light of Shiva, the yogi is freed, so said Goraksha.

§ 8 [30-35] The secret of the syllable OM

30 The supreme light is OM, rooted in that place always are the gods of the Moon (candra), Sun
(surya), and Fire (agni), and the worlds Earth (bhur), Atmosphere (bhuvas), and Heaven (svar).

31 The supreme light is OM, rooted in that place are the three times (past, present, future), three
Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama), three worlds (Earth, Atmosphere, Heaven), three fires (domestic or western,
eastern, and southern), and three accents [in recitation] (short, long, protracted).

32 The supreme light is OM, standing in that place are all the deities, Brahma, Vishnu, and
Maheshvara (Shiva), and [the qualities of] being (sattva), passion (rajas), and darkness (tamas).

33 The supreme light is OM, rooted in that place are the three-fold goddesses, Brahmi, Raudri,
and Vaishnavi, [who are] action, will, and wisdom.

34 He who always recites the pranava (OM), whether pure or impure, isn’t smeared by affliction,
just as a
lotus leaf [isn’t affected] by water.

35 In solitude, assume the Lotus Seat (padmasana), support the body and neck in alignment, gaze
at the tip of the nose, and recite the imperishable syllable OM.

§ 9 [36-42] The secret of the body

36 “Drop” (bindu) is the source of the body. The channels [both gross and subtle], which make up
the body
from head to sole, are rooted in bindu.

37 Bindu again is also two-fold: white and red. It’s said the white is pure (sukra), while the red is
known as the “great impurity” (maha rajas, menstrual discharge).

38 The white bindu is Shiva, the red is Shakti. The former is the Moon, the latter is the Sun. Only
by uniting
the two does [the yogi] reach the supreme stage.

39 The white is united with the Moon, the red is united with the Sun. He who knows they are both
the same is the knower of yoga.

40 As long as the bindu is retained in the body, how can there be fear of death? Spilling the bindu
is death, preserving it [in the body] is life.

41 Yogis who don’t know their own body as a house with one pillar (the spine), nine doors (two
eyes, ears, and nostrils, the mouth, and the two “doors” of elimination), and five deities (the senses) can’t
succeed.

42 Yogis who don’t know their own body with its six cakras, 16 props, three marks, and five spaces
can’t succeed.

§ 10 [43-47] Seeing the cosmos in the individual body

The yogi who recognizes the movable and the immovable [cosmos as existing] in the body, that one is
the knower of the body.

43 In this body is Meru (the spine), along with seven islands, [as well as] rivers, oceans, hills, lands,
and guardians of the lands.

44 Sages, monks, all the stars (or constellations), planets, holy places, temples and their deities.

45 The Moon (shashi, literally, containing a hare) and the Sun (bhaskara, making light) as they spin,
cause creation and destruction. There’s space, wind (or air), fire, water, and earth too.

46 All the creatures in the three worlds are found in the body. Surrounding Meru, all are engaged
in their usual business.

47 He who knows all this is a yogi, in this matter there’s no doubt.

§ 11 [48-51] The secret of the breath

48 With the [the sound] HA, the striver (yati, the Self) is expelled [from the body, and] with [the
sound] SA it returns [to the body] again. It’s said that the embodied Self continually recites the mantra
hamsa hamsa (literally, wild gander).

49 The Self continually recites this [hamsa] mantra 21,600 times in a day and a night.

50 The meter (gayatri, song) named ajapa (unpronounced) grants liberation to yogis. With merely
the notion [of it in mind] the person is freed from affliction.

51 Knowledge like this, recitation like this, wisdom like this, wasn’t [known] in the past nor [will it
be known] in the future.

§ 12 [52-53] The direct experience of the supreme stage

52 Of what use is speech in the absence of intellect and mind, of a knower of Reality, of reasoning
and inference, and of any other art?

53 [Likewise], how can [even] an eloquent guru speak of that stage? That’s why it’s said that we
must

experience the supreme stage directly, with [the help of] Shiva.

§ 13 [54-61] The nature of samadhi (literally, putting together)

54 That union of the two, the embodied Self and the supreme Self, eliminates mental conceptions.
This is called samadhi.

55 Samadhi is described as unity of the mind and Self, just as water flowing to the sea becomes
one [with it].

56 When the embodied Self is dissolved and the mind absorbed, the [resulting] equilibrium is
called samadhi.

57 Among the senses (indriya), the activity of the mind has the highest rank. Once the embodied
Self has ascended, there’s no [longer any] mind or senses.

58 Then the yogi, yoked to samadhi, knows neither cold nor hot, neither sorrow nor joy, neither
honor nor disgrace.

59 Then the yogi, yoked with samadhi, can’t be overpowered by mantra or yantra (literally, device),
can’t be harmed by any person, can’t be cut by any weapon.
60 Through the methods of yoga, the yogi dissolves into the supreme Brahman, [who’s] support-
less, root-

less, form-less and [beyond] delusion.

61 When ghee is poured into ghee, it remains ghee, just as milk [poured into] milk [remains milk].
So assuredly the yogi merged with Reality [remains himself].

§ 14 [62-77] The six-limb yoga

62 These are the six limbs of yoga: posture (asana, literally, seat), restraint of prana (prana
samrodha), [sense] withdrawal (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation, (dhyana), and samadhi.

63 With asana, diseases are warded off, by extending and restraining the breath, the source of
error (pataka, that which causes us to fall or sink) [is rooted out], by pratyahara, the yogi’s mind is freed
from agitation.

64 Dharana [creates] mental firmness, dhyana [creates] a blissful [state of] consciousness. In
samadhi, having

surrendered [both] auspicious and inauspicious karma, the yogi accomplishes his desire for release
(moksha).

65 There are as many asanas as there are living species. [Of them only] the supreme Lord (Shiva)
knows all their varieties.

66 Of all the asanas, two have been praised [the most]: the first is Adept’s Seat (siddhasana), the
second is Lotus Seat (kamalasana).

67 [In a] solitary [place], the yogi [should sit in] Bound Lotus Seat (baddha padmasana), salute his
guru and Shiva, and [with his] gaze on the tip of his nose, practice pranayama.

68 [The yogi should] raise the back breath (apana vayu) and join it with the fourth (prana) [breath].
When these [combined breaths] are led upward with the power (shakti), he’s freed from all afflictions.

69 Pranayama, the yogis’ great duty (dharma), grants release. By [practicing] pranayama day and
night, [they can] abandon the net of afflictions.

70 With proper practice, pranyama removes all diseases. Improper practice [though], causes all
diseases.

71 Exhale the breath very properly. Inhale the breath very properly. Restrain it very properly. Just
so, [the yogi] gains success.

72 The eyes and other senses (adi, such things and others of the same kind) are wandering
among their

respective sense objects. Their withdrawal from them (sense objects) is called pratyahara.

73 As a tortoise contracts its limbs into the middle of its shell, so the yogi should withdraw his own
senses into himself.

74 Provided with asanas, joined to pranayama, endowed with pratyahara, he should practice
dharana.

75 Dharana is explained as a steady mind and concentration of the five elements in the heart one
by one.

76 Every thought abides in the heart of the yogi. [When] he steadies all his thoughts in Reality,
that’s truly called meditation.

77 Dhyana is two-fold: with qualities and without qualities. It’s saguna [because] it’s divided by
properties, it’s nirguna because it’s complete (or undivided by anything).

§ 15 [78-85] The ten restraints (yama) [and] the ten vows (niyama)

78 Non-harming, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy, patience, constancy, compassion, rectitude,

moderate diet, cleanliness, so the 10 yamas.

79 Austerity, contentment, faithfulness, generosity, respect toward the Lord, listening to the
doctrines [of accepted truth], modesty, recitation [of mantras], and sacrifice are the 10 niyamas.

80 Gluttony, [over-] exertion, gossiping, unwholesome attraction to the vows, attachment to the
company [of people], restlessness, [are the] six [elements that] destroy yoga.

81 Enthusiasm, joyfulness, courage, knowing Reality, conviction, and abandoning attachment to

company are the six [elements] that lead to success.

82 He who eats oil-rich and sweet food [while] joyfully [remembering] the Lord (Shiva), and
excluding a fourth portion [i.e., leaving a quarter of the stomach empty], is called a moderate eater.

83 [The yogi] should be a celibate and renouncer, and eat a moderate diet. He will become an
adept (siddha) within a year, of this there’s no doubt.

84 He who knows and speaks constantly of a single truth, unborn, eternal, imperishable,
unchanging, that one is called “truth wise” (satya vadi).

85 He who recognizes Shiva as pure, peaceful, formless, supremely blissful and always expansive,
that one is a “pure Shiva” (shuddha shaiva).

§ 16 [86-92] The cakras along the center line (spine) of the body

86 Support (adhara) is the first cakra, Own Place (svadhishthana) is the second, the Jewel City
(manipura) is the third, and Unstruck [Sound] (anahata) is the fourth.

87 The fifth [cakra] is Purity (vishuddhi), the sixth is Command (ajna) cakra. The great seventh
cakra, on the great path, is in the Brahma Hole (brahma randhra).

88 Support has four petals, and Own Place has six petals. The navel (manipura) has 10 petals, and
the lotus at the heart (anahata) [has the same] number [of petals] as the Sun [has months] (i.e., 12).

89 The 16-petal [lotus] (vishuddhi) is in the throat, the two-petal [lotus] (ajna) is in the mid-brow. On
the great path in the Brahma Hole is [a lotus] named Thousand-Spokes (sahasrara).

90 [As has been said], Support is the first cakra, Own Place is the second, “Yoni’s Place” (yonisthana)
is in the middle, called “Desire’s Form.”

91 The four-petals lotus (pankaja, mud-born) named Support is in the place of the anus. In the
middle [of it] is said to be the “womb” (yoni) named Desire (kama) by the adepts.

92 In the middle of this womb stands a great “phallus” (linga), facing west (toward the back). He
who knows this jewel-like form is a knower of yoga (yogavit).

§ 17 [93-104] The places of meditation along the center [line] of the body

93 The first cakra, Support, with its four digits (petals) resembles gold. Meditating there on the Self
with the gaze on the tip of the nose [the yogi] will become happy.

94 The luminous cakra Own Place is equal in splendor to a real ruby. Meditating there on the Self
with the gaze on the tip of the nose [the yogi] will become the equal of Brahma.

95 The cakra Jewel City resembles the rising (or dawning) sun. Meditating there on the Self with
the gaze on the tip of the nose [the yogi] shakes the world.

96 The great cakra Unstruck is a lotus with 12 spokes (petals). Meditating there on the Self with
the gaze on the tip of the nose [the yogi] will become deathless (amara) like the deity he meditates on.
97 The cakra Purity is in the middle of the “bell” (ghantika, uvula?), shining radiantly like a lamp.
Always meditating there on the Self with the gaze on the tip of the nose [the yogi] casts off sorrow.

98 The nectar (piyusha) flows abundantly from the Moon mandala in the “hanger” (lambika,
tongue? ). Meditating there on the Self with the gaze on the tip of the nose [the yogi] casts off death.

99 The yogi who has subdued his breath and constantly meditates on the supreme dark-blue Lord
(Shiva) in the middle of the forehead, will attain [the goal] of yoga.

100 In the Brahma Hole is a great cakra, the lotus [named] Thousand-Spokes. Meditating there on
the Self with the gaze on the tip of the nose, [the yogi] will become an adept.

101 The anus, penis, navel, heart, the throat above, the bell, the hanger, the mid-brow place, the
opening to the sky (nabhobila, Brahma Hole): these nine are named by the yogis as places of meditation
...

102 ... [and] the liberating truth about conditioning brings about the rising of the eight
[paranormal] qualities. Conditioning and Reality are thus considered two-fold. The former is called
“color” (varna, covering), the latter is considered the Self.

103 On the one hand, conditioning is said to be [mistaken] knowledge, while on the other hand
Reality is otherwise, [said to be the essential] nature. [Even] the purest crystal (sphatika, i.e., atman) looks
otherwise when in contact with color.

104 With constant practice the yogi’s world [attachment] is dissolved, [and] released by the power
of the Liberation-Maker (muktikrt, i.e., kundalini), his own Self shines out.

§ 18 [105-113] Kundalini awakening

105 Crooked Limb (kutilangi), Coiled One (kundalini), Going-in-curves (bhujangi, i.e., snake), Power
(Shakti), Mistress (ishvari), Ring (kundali), Morning Star (arundhati)—these words are synonyms.

106 The supreme Mistress (parameshvari) sleeps with her mouth obstructing the gate to the path
that leads to Brahma’s Place, which is free of suffering.

107 Kundalini-Shakti sleeps above the bulb (kanda). She liberates yogins but binds the ignorant.
He who knows her, is a knower of yoga.

108 It’s said that Kundalini is curled [up], like a snake. He who moves this power is liberated, here
there’s no doubt [about this].

109 Forcibly seize the wretched young widow who’s between Ganges and Yamuna. This leads to
the supreme stage.

110 The divine Ganges is Comfort (ida), the Yamuna is Tawny (pingala). The young widow in
between Comfort and Tawny is Kundalini.

111 Seize her tail and wake the sleeping serpent. Then that Shakti puts aside her sleep and
forcibly rises up.

112 All the lotuses and knots (grantha) are split when the sleeping Kundalini is awakened by the
grace of the guru.

113 Then the empty path becomes the royal path for prana. Then consciousness is without
support. Then time (kala, black) is cheated.

§ 19 [114-119] The ten kinds [of] seals (mudra)

114 The Great Seal (maha mudra), Great Bond (maha bandha), Great Piercer (maha vedha), the
Mover-in-the- Sky [Seal] (khecari), the Flying-Up [Seal] (uddiyana), the Root Bond (mula bandha),
the Net Bearing
Bond (jalandhara bandha) ...

115 ... the Inverted Action [Seal] (viparita karani), vajroli [mudra] (untranslated), Shaking-the-Power
[Seal] (shakti calana)—these are the ten mudras which assuredly eliminate old age and death.

116 These were handed down by the First Master (Shiva). They are divine, grant the eight
supernatural powers, beloved by all the adepts, and hard to obtain, even by the shining ones (marut,
deities).

117 Take great care to keep them hidden, as if they were a box of jewels. Like relations with a
respectable woman, don’t speak of them to anyone.

118 [The root] mud means “to delight,” [the affix] ra “to grant.” Recognition of the oneness of both
the embodied Self and the supreme Self is called mudra.

119 [What gives] delight to the host of deities and causes multitudes of demons to take flight, is
called mudra, which grants significant fortune.

§ 20 [120-123] Shiva’s Seal (shambhavi mudra)

120 The mark [to be observed] is inside, the unblinking [motionless] gaze is outside. This is
Shambhavi Mudra, hidden in the Veda and the sacred books (shastra).
121 Take Comfortable Seat (sukhasana), align the body, with consciousness inside and gaze
outside. This is known as the Meditation Seal (dhyana mudra).

122 When the yogi abides with consciousness and breath immersed in the inner mark, seeing
outward and below with motionless pupils, even so not seeing ...

123 ... this is certainly Shambhavi Mudra. If it is obtained by the guru’s grace, then Reality, which is
supreme Shiva, and which differs from [both] void and not-void (shunya ashunya), bursts forth.

§ 21 [124-131] The phases of pranayama

124 Pranayama is said to have three parts: exhale (reca, emptying), inhale (puraka, filling), and
retention (kumbhaka, pot-like). Kumbhaka is thought to be two-fold: accompanied (sahita) and alone
(kevala).

125 As long as kevala is isn’t perfected, [the yogi] should practice sahita.

126 Relinquish exhale and inhale [and] comfortably hold the breath. This pranayama is indeed
kevala kumbhaka.

127 By virtue of abandoning exhale and inhale in kevala kumbhaka, nothing in the three worlds is
hard to accomplish.

128 [The yogi given] power by comfortably holding the breath in kevala kumbhaka, gains even the
state of Raja Yoga. Here there’s no doubt.

129 Through kumbhaka, the Kundalini is awakened. Through waking the Kundalini, the Most
Gracious is opened, and success in Hatha is born.

130 Hatha without Raja, and Raja without Hatha is incomplete. So practice the pair [until]
successful.

131 He whose gaze steady without [any] visible mark, whose breath is steady without repeated
effort, and whose mind is steady without support [of an object], he alone is a yogi, he is a guru worthy of
service.

§ 22 [132-140] The dissolution (laya) of the mind

132 When the mind is steady, breath is still, then bindu is still. When bindu is still, it produces a
body that is always strong and steady.

133 The mind is the master (natha) of the senses, and the breath (marut) is the master of the
mind. Laya is the master of the breath, and that laya depends on the [subtle] sound (nada).

134 The laya of the yogis—[when] the inhale and exhale and the grasping of objects [of the senses]
have
perished, inactive, not changing—is supreme.

135 When all conceptions are cut off and all actions pass away, laya is born, known [only] by the
Self, beyond words.

136 Shiva’s Place is at the mid-brow. There the mind melts away. That stage is known as the Fourth
(turya).

There time is unknown.

137 Center the Self in space (kha) and space in the Self. Make everything space, then don’t think of
anything.

138 Don’t think of external things, don’t think of internal things. Abandon all thoughts, don’t think
of anything.

139 All this visible world, whether moving or not moving, is seen by the mind. [Then] duality can’t
grasp [us] if
the mind is absent (unmani).

140 The mind melts [away] from abandoning knowable things. When the mind is melted away,
[the Self] alone (kaivalya) remains.

§ 23 [141-149] The investigation of nada

141 The yogi, sitting in Liberated Seat (muktasana) and holding Shambhavi [Mudra], should listen
single-mindedly to the [subtle] sound in the right ear.

142 There the mind closely follows and steadies in whatever sound [it hears] first, then melts
together with the sound.

143 Having covered the ears with his hands, the sage (muni) should fix his consciousness on that
sound (dhvani), until he attains the steady state.

144 Various loud sounds are heard in the first stage of practice. Subtler and subtler ones are
heard as the practice progresses.

145 In the beginning [the sounds are like] the ocean, a thunder cloud, a kettle drum, and a
jharjhara drum. In the middle [the sounds are like] a small drum, conch, a bell, and a gong. These are the
various sounds heard in the middle of the body [in sushumna].

146 In the end [is heard]: small bell, a flute, a vina, and a bee.

147 Even when loud sounds [like] a cloud, a kettle drum, and so on are heard, lay hold of [or
attend to] the subtler and subtler sounds only.

148 The perceivable exists within the echo of the Unstruck [Sound]. The mind enters the sound
there and joins with the knowable. [Then] the mind dissolves. That’s the highest stage of Vishnu.

149 Whatever is heard in the form of nada is certainly Shakti. The formless, who’s the end of the
elements, is certainly the supreme Lord.

§ 24 [150-154] The marks of the “Shaken Off” (avadhuta)

150 He’s called an Avadhuta who’s [been] “shorn”” (mundana, i.e., liberated) by cutting the
sweeping net of aafflictions, [and so is] free from all states.

151 He’s called an Avadhuta who’s free from confusion and abides steadfastly in the midst of the
world, who wears a loin cloth (kaupina), carries a begging bowl (kharpara, half skull), and is joyful
(adainya, not
wretched).

He’s called an Avadhuta whose sandal (paduka pada) is supreme knowledge, [whose] deerskin (mrgatvac)
is the Unstruck (anahata), [whose] practice is supreme consciousness.

152 He’s called an Avadhuta whose belt (mekhala) is the end of worldly action (nivrtti), [whose]
straw mat (kata) is the form of his Self, [and] who’s escaped from the six disorders (shavikara).

153 He’s called an Avadhuta whose two earrings are the light of the consciousness (citprakasha),
[and whose] rosary of rudraksha seeds (malaksha) is repose.

154 He’s called an Avadhuta whose staff (danda) is courage (dhairya), [whose] begging bowl is
space (parakasha), [and whose] yoga band (patta) is innate power (nija shakti).

155 He’s called an Avadhuta [who] turns his alms into dual and non-dual (bheda abheda, split-
unsplit),
and delighting in this food (i.e., his alms), digests and so becomes that (the supreme stage).

156 He’s called an Avadhuta who always naturally (svayam) [and] duly (samyak) returns to his own
Self, [and] views the cosmos with equanimity.

157 He’s called an Avadhuta who understands his Self , who abides in his Self, and who stays
whole without exertion, and knows his identity (svatma) with the cosmos.

158 He’s called an Avadhuta whose nature is light, who happily shines this light, who rests in this
light, and who sportingly delights in the world.

159 He’s called an Avadhuta who [sometimes takes] pleasure, [sometimes] renounces [pleasure],
naked (nagna) or demonic (pishaca), [who sometimes acts like] a king (raja) or as a follower of established
practice.

160 He becomes an adept who’s always absorbed in the unity of the mundane (virajata) and the
transcendental (vishvatita, all-encompassing).

161 He’s an accomplished knower of yoga who sits apart (udasina, shuns company), is always calm,
contented, [and] abides in his own inner light and great bliss.

162 He’s an accomplished knower of yoga who’s always filled with bliss, who’s pure and deeply
joyful.

163 Shakti causes expansion, Shiva causes contraction. He who practices the yoga of these two will
become an accomplished knower of yoga.

164 [A yogi] doesn’t grieve when someone departs this world, isn’t deceived by wealth or delighted
by gain. Blissful and absorbed in [his] Self-awakened [state], he isn’t distressed by the passage of time.

§ 25 [165-172] The majesty of the wise guru

165 The natural state (sahaja) is self-knowledge (svatma samvitti), concentrated attention
(samyama), and self-control (svatma nigraha). The Self [then] comes to rest in itself, without a second, the
supreme stage. This knowledge [is received] from the mouth of the wise guru; on the contrary, it can’t be
gained from [the study of] ten million (koti) sacred books ...

166 Without the compassion of the wise guru, it’s impossible to accomplish the powers. So, said
the True Lord (satyamishvara, Shiva), he should be revered.

167 He who wishes to achieve unending peace should resort to the lotus feet of the guru. There
he will leave [behind] the “wandering through” (samsara, of successive births and deaths) and [then] the
supreme stage, where emotions are in balance, isn’t far away.

168 The supreme stage is reached by the sayings [of the guru], by the descent of power
(shaktipata), by looking at the guru’s feet, or by the kindness of the guru.
169 [The guru] reveals what’s to be learned, the knowledge of the Self, the supreme stage, which
comes from Shiva. [He does this] in a twinkling of the eye, with little more than a word or [by] making a
direct look.

170 He’s known as a wise guru who, with the stroke of the sword of compassion, cuts the eight
snares of the disciple and begets complete bliss.

171 Why talk a lot or read 10 million holy books? Without the compassion of the guru, it’s difficult
to reach the state of conscious repose.

172 Without the compassion of the wise guru, the renunciation of sense objects, seeing Reality,
and [achieving] the natural state [are all] difficult.

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