[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Religion and philosophy](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion) › [Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938) › c19 # Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c19: Chapter Fifteen: More Important Physiological Concepts Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs c19 - **Language:** English ### Chapter Fifteen: More Important Physiological Concepts ### [c19.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.2) ¹ Many descriptions of the various physiological aspects of the system of tāntra are to be found. The works of Arthur Avalon give much more detailed accounts than are here set forth. ### [c19.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.3) THE primary interest of the \*Gorakṣaśataka\* is with the major parts of the body, the trunk, neck and head. ### [c19.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.4) How can those Yogīs who do not know their own (body) as a house of one column, (with) nine doors, and (as presided over by) five tutelary divinities, attain perfection (in Yoga)?² ### [c19.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.5) ² P, verse 14. ### [c19.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.6) The nine doors are the seven in the head and the two at the base of the trunk. To these is added as a tenth the hole-in-the-skull, and it is through this that the soul, liberated, escapes. The divinities are Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Īśa and Sadāśiva, each of whom is assigned to a particular ‘centre’. ### [c19.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.7) More particularly, the system is concerned with the body from the standpoint of the two breaths, the six circles, the three channels, Śakti (Kuṇḍalinī) and Śiva. ### [c19.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.8) The body is pervaded by ten³ airs which are conceived of as vital powers, or functions of the human organism; specifically and particularly of the senses⁴ and the involuntary processes, moving in channels, or paths, called nāḍī,⁵ which are found in all parts of the body. Five of these airs are of more importance to the Yogī than are the others⁶, and of the five two are of special interest; and, finally, prāṇa, as the function of breathing, is primary.¹ Prāṇa, vāyu and māruta seem to mean not merely air, or breath, but also vital force, the principal of life, vitality, the antithesis of physical or bodily inertness and death. The prāṇa is often identified with the individual soul (jīva). The airs are as follows: ### [c19.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.9) ³ P, verses 34–37. ### [c19.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.10) ⁴ Edgerton, \*AJP\*, 1924, p. 41. ### [c19.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.11) ⁵ See below. ### [c19.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.12) ⁶ SS, 3: 6. ### [c19.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.13) ¹ See Keith, Religion and Philosophy of the Veda, vol. II, 453 ff. ### [c19.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.14) 1. The prāṇa is the breath,² having its chief seat in the region of the heart. It is always found in the mouth, the nose, the navel, the kanda and the great toe.³ It is the most important of all the airs and its control (prāṇāyāma) is fundamental in the Haṭha Yoga. The Upaniṣads know a single vital principle (prāṇa) which derives its existence from the self and which superintends the other functions.⁴ ### [c19.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.15) ² P, 33. ### [c19.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.16) ³ GP, p. 20. ### [c19.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.17) ⁴ See Das G., p. 37. ### [c19.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.18) 2. Apāna, the air of the lower part of the trunk, has its chief seat in the rectum.⁵ It functions in the voiding of faeces and urine⁶ and in other vital forces operating in the various functions of the lower portion of the body. It is found in the rectum, male organ, thighs, knees, lower abdomen, waist, and navel.⁷ ### [c19.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.19) ⁵ P, 34; SS, 3: 7. ### [c19.20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.20) ⁶ CGP, p. 34. ### [c19.21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.21) ⁷ CGP, p. 20. ### [c19.22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.22) 3. Samāna (samavāyu), whose chief seat is the region of the navel, is the function of digestion. This air, or intestinal fire, resides, also, in all the limbs and makes the body dry.⁸ ### [c19.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.23) ⁸ GP, p. 20. ### [c19.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.24) 4. Udāna, residing in the middle of the throat⁹ is the function of speech. It is active also in the hands and feet and causes enlargement of the body.¹⁰ ### [c19.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.25) ⁹ P, 34. ### [c19.26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.26) ¹⁰ GP, p. 20. ### [c19.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.27) 5. Vyāna pervades the whole body¹¹ and operates in the ears, lips, throat, nose, mouth, cheeks and the navel (maṇi bandh).¹² ### [c19.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.28) ¹¹ P, 35. ### [c19.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.29) ¹² GP, p. 20. ### [c19.30](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.30) The other airs are:¹³ ### [c19.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.31) ¹³ P, 35, 36. ### [c19.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.32) Note: P. Gorakṣaśataka, Poona text. (GS) PC. Commentary on P. SCN. Ṣaṭcakra Nirūpaṇa (In The Serpent Power). SP. The Serpent Power. B. Benares manuscript of the Gorakṣaśataka. GP. Gorakṣa Paddhati. CGP. Commentary on GP. HYP. Haṭhayogapradīpikā. SS. Śiva Saṃhita. ### [c19.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.33) 6. \*Nāga\*, which causes eructation; 7. \*Kurma\*, which functions in winking; 8. \*Kṛkara\* which causes sneezing or hunger;¹ 9. \*Devadatta\*, yawning; and 10. \*Dhanañjaya\*; the air which remains in the body after death.² Is this the function of decay? ### [c19.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.34) ¹ B, 33. ### [c19.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.35) ² P, 37. ### [c19.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.36) Prāṇa and apāna ‘situated above and below’³ the diaphragm, are the most important and receive the most attention in the system. They are ‘joined’ in the navel.⁴ To the Yogī the navel is the centre of the body. Apāna is drawn up to the navel, by the prāṇa; and is there united with it (the prāṇa). Prāṇa and apāna alternately draw each other. In pronouncing ‘\*ha\*’ apāna expels prāṇa; and in pronouncing ‘\*sa\*’ prāṇa drives down apāna. Thus is described the breathing process and it is conceived of as an expelling and inhaling of the jīva, or soul, which, because of lack of clear insight, identifies itself with the process.⁵ It is said that the final going out of prāṇa is the exit of jīva in death. The word, ‘haṃsa’, derived from the process of breathing (\*ha\* + \*sa\*) becomes a mantra, called the ajapa gāyatrī, the unmuttered gāyatrī. So the Yogī ‘repeats’ this mantra, of incalculable power, continually, twenty-one thousand six hundred times in a day and a night.⁶ ### [c19.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.37) ³ P, 42-44. ### [c19.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.38) ⁴ See Brown, \*JAOS\*, vol. XXXIX, p. 108. ### [c19.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.39) ⁵ P, 42. ### [c19.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.40) ⁶ P, 42-44. ### [c19.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.41) In Yoga practice these two, prāṇa and apāna, are to be joined. The knowledge of how this is done is of great importance to Yogīs⁷ and belongs to the highest knowledge,⁸ delivering from old age and death.⁹ ### [c19.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.42) ⁷ P, 41. ### [c19.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.43) ⁸ P, 45. ### [c19.44](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.44) ⁹ \*HYP\*, 2: 47. ### [c19.45](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.45) But the texts are more specific about the knowledge that is required of the body. The Yogī should add to his general knowledge (of the body), and of the prāṇas, that of the nāḍis, the six centres, and the sixteen supports (ādhāra). ### [c19.46](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.46) The vital forces function through the nāḍis,¹⁰ sometimes called channels, or arteries, or fibres. They are paths of power, not gross channels, but subtle lines.¹¹ They are spoken of as 72,000 in number¹² or as 3,00,000,¹³ or as 2,00,000.¹ Among these seventy-two are of considerable importance,² but they are not named. The nāḍis are spoken of as a network pervading the body and having their origin in the kanda. They all have their ends (outlets) in the openings of the body. The ten chief nāḍis are iḍā, piṅglā, suṣumṇā, gāndhārī, hastijihvā, pūṣā, yaśasvinī, alambuṣā, kūhūś and śaṃkhinī.³ They terminate respectively in the left nostril, the right nostril, the hole-in-the-skull (anterior fontanelle), the left eye, the right eye, the right ear, the left ear, the mouth, the male organ and the anus.⁴ ### [c19.47](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.47) ¹⁰ P, 26. ### [c19.48](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.48) ¹¹ \*SP\*, p. 115. ### [c19.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.49) ¹² P, 25; \*HYP\*, 4: 8. ### [c19.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.50) ¹³ P, 13. ### [c19.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.51) ¹ GP, 13. ### [c19.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.52) ² P, 26. For other estimates see SP, p. 130. Śiva Saṃsitā speaks of fourteen as important. ### [c19.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.53) ³ P, 27, 28. ### [c19.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.54) ⁴ P, 29, 30, 31. ### [c19.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.55) Of these nāḍis the first three are the most important and receive major attention as the paths of the prāṇa. They are of vital importance in prāṇāyāma and the raising of Kuṇḍalinī Śakti. The first two are subordinate to the third, through which, by Yoga, prāṇa is supposed to pass by way of the various centres out of the body through the brahmarandhra. ### [c19.56](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.56) Iḍā, piṅglā and suṣumṇā are called respectively moon (candra, śaśī), sun (Sūrya, mihra) and fire (agni);⁵ and Gaṅgā, Jumnā and Sarasvatī.⁶ Iḍā is feminine, piṅglā is masculine. They both indicate Kāla (death) and suṣumṇā devours Kāla.⁷ Iḍā was the universal mother, the mother Earth.⁸ ### [c19.57](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.57) ⁵ P, 32; SCN, p. 4. ### [c19.58](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.58) ⁶ HYP, 3: 51. ### [c19.59](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.59) ⁷ SP, p. 131. ### [c19.60](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.60) ⁸ JRAS (1890), p. 344. Dr. G. W. Brown pointed out that iḍā is Dravidian for ‘left.’ ### [c19.61](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.61) Suṣumṇā is called also brahmanāḍī (The Brahma-channel),⁹ Śūnyapadavī (path-of-non-existence, empty-path), brahmarandhra (hole-in-the-skull), mahāpatha (the-great-highway), śmaśāna (burial-ground), śāmbhavī (Durgā; sacred to Śiva), madhyamārga (middle-path), and śaktimārga (path of śakti).¹⁰ It is identified with the spinal cord,¹¹ and is said to extend from the mūlādhāra to the vacuum below the hole-in-the-skull. It is the path of enjoyment, in which male and female unite. ### [c19.62](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.62) ⁹ CP, HYP, 2: 46. ### [c19.63](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.63) ¹⁰ HYP, 3: 4; SCN, p. 145. ### [c19.64](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.64) ¹¹ So DHIP, vol. II, p. 354. SS, 5.121. ### [c19.65](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.65) Iḍā and piṅglā arising in the left and right scrotum (?) (kanda) ascend alternating from left to right, having thus gone around or through, all the centres (‘proceeding spirally they meet the suṣumṇā in each cakra’) and proceed to the space between the eyebrows, where they form a plaited knot with suṣumṇā and thence continue to the left and right nostrils. They also form a plaited knot with suṣumṇā in the kanda. They are pale, moon-coloured, and lustrous red, sun-coloured, respectively.¹ ### [c19.66](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.66) ¹ SCN, pp, 5, 6. ### [c19.67](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.67) Suṣumṇā, the chief channel, lies between iḍā and piṅglā. It is the path of the Kuṇḍalinī.² The door at the lower end of the suṣumṇā is called brahmaḍvāra.³ The suṣumṇā is three-fold in its constitution; its inner fibre, very subtle, is the pale nectar-giving citriṇīnāḍī, the brāhmānāḍī. ### [c19.68](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.68) ² GP, p. 19; SCN, p. 4. ### [c19.69](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.69) ³ HYP, 4: 18. See below. ### [c19.70](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.70) The channels are conceived of as full of impurities or secretions.⁴ ### [c19.71](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.71) ⁴ P, 95. ### [c19.72](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.72) The Nāḍis should be cleansed of their impurities by performing the mudrās, etc. (which are the the practices relating to the air) āsanas, kumbhakas and various curious mudrās.⁵ ### [c19.73](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.73) ⁵ HYP, 1: 58. ### [c19.74](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.74) Other means also are used. For special persons, those in whose channels is an excess of fats and phlegm a special set of six duties (ṣaṭkarmāṇi) is enjoined.⁶ In the cleaning of the paths prāṇāyāma is the chief agent. ### [c19.75](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.75) ⁶ HYP, 2: 21, i; 2: 22. ### [c19.76](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.76) When the channels have been cleansed the body becomes lean and of a glowing colour, the health is good, the appetite is strong,⁷ divine sounds are heard (a most desirable state), and prāṇāyāma can be performed effectively, namely, Kuṇḍalinī can be raised (the aim of the Haṭha Yoga).⁸ ### [c19.77](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.77) ⁷ HYP, 2: 20. ### [c19.78](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.78) ⁸ HYP, 2: 19; 2: 20. ### [c19.79](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.79) The lotuses, circles, wheels, centres, vital stations (padma cakra, ādhāra) may be conceived of as positions or locations in the body where various aspects of vital force reside. They are often identified with the ganglia at various levels along the spinal cord; but this may not be accurate. They are not in the plexuses, but in the spinal column.⁹ They are most complicated in their symbolism and are not easy to describe. Conceived of as stations along the suṣumṇā, which passes through them, they are viewed in relation to the successive positions which Kuṇḍalinī reaches in her ascent to the place of Śiva. From the standpoint of creation, each padma may be conceived of as a place of union of Śakti and Śiva, each having within itself both male and female, divinities and forces. Each, except the last, may be viewed as a microcosm, containing all the forces of creation. Besides, each contains the union symbol of the yoni-liṅga, in triangle and liṅga, or letter and bindu, crescent and circle. They are described as lotuses (padma) with varying numbers of petals, each leaf having its letter, called bīja with bindu, and all drawn with symbolic use of colour, and mythical animals. The various figures, triangles, squares, and the like belong to yantra, the letters with their bindus to mantra. The latter as (mantras) are to be meditated upon in turn proceeding from right to left. ### [c19.80](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.80) ⁹ SP, p. 76. I find that Dasgupta, in the second volume of his History of Indian Philosophy, takes this position. He says: ‘How far the cakras can themselves be called nerve-plexuses is very doubtful, since the nerve-plexuses are all outside the spinal aperture; but if the kuṇḍalinī is to pass through the aperture of the citriṇī nāḍī and at the same time pass through the cakras, the cakras or the lotuses (padma) must be inside the spinal cord. . . A nerve- ### [c19.81](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.81) The circles, or lotuses, are a characteristic element in the Yogī’s conception of the Haṭha Yoga. The lotuses, except the last are also called Pīṭhas,¹ and are seats of Śakti. ### [c19.82](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.82) ¹ See note under Devī Pātan in chap. five. ### [c19.83](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.83) The names and locations of the various cakras, beginning with the lowest, are as follows:² ### [c19.84](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.84) ² The descriptions are based for the most part upon P, SP, CGP CP and SP. ### [c19.85](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.85) 1. Mūlādhāra, at the base of the spinal column. 2. Svādhiṣṭhāna, at the root of the male organ, or the male organ.³ 3. Maṇipūraka, in the region of the navel. 4. Anāhata, the heart lotus. 5. Viśuddha, in the throat. 6. Ājñā, between the eyebrows, within the skull. ### [c19.86](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.86) ³ P, 22. ### [c19.87](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.87) Related to these most intimately are two other regions of the body, the kanda and the brahmarandhra; the former in the lower part of the abdomen, the source of all the nāḍis, the latter at the anterior fontanelle. ### [c19.88](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.88) physical interpretation of them as nerve-plexuses would be unfaithful to the texts.’ P. 356. Quoted by permission of Macmillan and Company, Publishers. ### [c19.89](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.89) The lower five are counted as centres of the five forms of matter—earth, water, fire, air and ether, each with its appropriate letter with its bindu, known as its bīja mantra, and its colour. At the top of the head (brahmarandhra) is the blissful abode of Paramaśiva-Śakti. ### [c19.90](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.90) As centres of characteristic vital forces, the cakras become the objects of concentration of thought or of fixed attention and in them are to be discovered the mysteries of creation and the psychic energies of Kuṇḍalinī. Not only does each centre contain a special form of substance and power but also of bliss or of ecstatic experience. ### [c19.91](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.91) The mūlādhara,¹ is also called ādhāra, gudādhra, gudasthāna, bhumaṇḍalā, mūlacakra, and is described as located in the gudadwāra, ‘the door of the anus.’ Moreover it is attached to the mouth of the suṣumṇā thus being the lower doorway of the brahmarandra, or suṣumṇā. This ādhāra is the principal seat of the apāna. It consists of a lotus with four petals, red in colour, upon which are the golden letters वं, शं, षं, सं (v, ś, ṣ and s, with their bindus), which are objects for meditation. ### [c19.92](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.92) ¹ mūla, root; guda, anus; bhū, earth; dwāra, door; sthāna, place; maṇḍla, circle. ### [c19.93](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.93) In the centre of the lotus is a yellow square, surrounded by eight shining spears, the emblem of earth (Pṛthivī). The tips of the spears are shaped like a woman’s breasts. ### [c19.94](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.94) In the centre of the square is a red triangle resting on its apex, symbolizing the yoni, and called Kāmarūpa. It is described also as the triangular place of fire, looking like burnished gold, that by which kāma is felt. In the yoni stands the self-existent liṅga, with its disc of light like a jewel, around which is coiled eight times, and shining like lightning, Kuṇḍalinī. She is asleep closing with her mouth (head, face) the aperture of the liṅga. Here in particular is the brahmadwāra where she drinks nectar, and produces words, or is the source of sounds. She is to be meditated upon, here, as a girl of sixteen in full bloom (Bālasundarī). Moreover, she is the support of the body as Śeṣa of the earth. On the triangle rests the bīja, or seed, or charm of the cakra, the letter लं (l, laṅ), yellow in colour, the bīja-mantra of earth and also of Indra. The tip of the bīja rests on the elephant of Indra. In the bindu or dot of this letter is the four-headed, four-armed Brahmā, shining like 10,000,000 suns, seated on a haṃsa, or swan. By his side is Dākiṇī Śakti. She is a terrible form of Kālī, who feeds on human flesh; and who casts the evil eye upon children causing them to pine and die, by consuming their livers. She carries in her four hands a spear, a staff with a human skull, a sword and a cup of wine. She is fierce and plump, and is clad in a black antelope’s skin. She is sitting on a lotus. ### [c19.95](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.95) Svādhiṣṭhāna, is also called jalamaṇḍala, because its tattva or form of matter is water (jala). It is also known as meḍhrādhāra.¹ This centre is at the root of the male organ, some say that that organ itself. The lotus consists of six petals of a reddish colour bordering on orange, upon which are written in gold the letters बं, भं, मं, यं, रं, लं (b, bh, m, y, r, and l each with its bindu). Within this cakra is a white half-moon, luminous as the autumn moon, and within this the watery region of Varuṇa. Some say that the moon has an eight-petalled lotus on each side of it. The central bīja is वं (v vaṃ), the bīja-mantra of Varuṇa, in white, resting on a makara, a legendary creature, a fabulous sea-monster, resembling an aligator, the vehicle of Kāma. In the bindu sits the four-armed Viṣṇu, luminous, blue-coloured, dressed in yellow, wearing the svastika, a garland, and the great jewel, both luminous. He holds the conch, discus, mace and lotus in his hands and is seated on Garuḍa. Within the circle of the moon, and associated with Viṣṇu, is the Goddess Śākinī² seated on a red, double lotus. She is a demon attendant of Kālī, blue in colour. In her four hands she holds a trident, a lotus, a drum and a battle axe. She is three-eyed, ferocious in aspect, showing her teeth (fangs), while a streak of blood issues from one of her nostrils. She is a wish-granter, and is exalted with the nectar. Prāṇa, which arises with the syllable sva, rests in this cakra and represents the paraliṅga. ### [c19.96](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.96) ¹ Meḍhra, the liṅga. ### [c19.97](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.97) ² GP, p. 15. Śiva Saṃhitā says Rākiṇī. ### [c19.98](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.98) Between the two cakras, the mūlādhāra and the svādhiṣṭhāna is the yonisthāna, spoken of as the image of desire. It is the four-fingered space between the anus and the root of the male organ, described as two fingers-breadth from each of them. It is further characterized as the place of Śiva-Śakti, the place of enjoyment, and as Kāmarūpa. In part, at least, this seems to be identified with the triangle of the mūlādhāra.¹ Its position, as here described, must involve the idea that the body contains within itself both aspects of the creative power, reminiscences of the thought of ardhanārī. The place is sometimes spoken of as the Gaurīpīṭha. ### [c19.99](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.99) ¹ PC 18 so places it. ### [c19.100](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.100) The manipūraka, also called nābhiṣṭhana, ravisthāna, sūrya-sthāna², is situated in the region of the navel. It contains ten blue petals, with the letters ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, t, th, d, dh, n, p, ph, (ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, t, th, d, dh, n, p, ph, also in blue, each with its bindu). It is the seat of the element fire, of the sun, and of the samāna. In the centre of the circle is a read triangle, bordered by three svastikas and containing the bīja-mantra रं (raṃ)³ also in red. This centre is also viewed as the seat of rajas, the menstrual fluid,⁴ and, as the sun, the cakra is said to soak up the nectar (bindu) from the moon. The bīja rests on a ram, radiant like the rising sun. Sitting above the triangle is Mahārudra, red in colour, but white with ashes, three-eyed, with hands extended to grant boons, or to dispel fear (vara- and abhyamudrās). He is the destroyer of creation. In one hand he holds a rudrākṣa rosary, in the other a weapon. He is seated on a bull. Beside him is Lākini Śakti, blue in colour, four-handed, seated on a red lotus. She carries in her hands a thunderbolt, and a weapon of fire, while the other two hands are in gesture as are Rudra's. Her breasts are ruddy with blood and fat which drip from her mouth. She is fond of meat and of rice and of dal cooked and mixed with meat and blood. ### [c19.101](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.101) ² Nābhi, navel; ravi, sun; sūrya, sun. ### [c19.102](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.102) ³ Raṃ is the seed-mantra of fire. ### [c19.103](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.103) ⁴ The kanda is conceived as in the region described as the navel and is the place of fire symbolized by the yoni. ### [c19.104](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.104) The circle, or lotus, of the heart is called anāhata, hṛdasthāna.⁵ Its name suggests the sabdha brahma (sound) which is heard, produced without striking two things together. It is the seat of the prāṇa, and the puruṣa or jīvātman, and includes, according to the \*Upaniṣads\*, both heart and lungs. Its element is air. The lotus consists of twelve petals of a golden colour, upon which are the letters, कं, खं, गं, घं, ङं, चं, छं, जं, झं, जं, टं, ठं (k, kh, g, gh, c, ch, j, jh, ñ, ṭ, ṭh, each with its bindu, and all painted red). The circle is bright-red in colour; within this is a double triangle, smoke-coloured, in the centre of which is a golden triangle containing a liṅga, bright like shining gold, with a white crescent in its head, above which is a bindu. The bīja-mantra of this cakra is यं (y, yaṃ), black, resting on an antelope. Above the double triangle, but within the circle sits Īśvara with hands in gesture for granting boons and dispelling fear. The god is three-eyed. With him is associated Kākinī Śakti with two hands as Īśvara, her other two containing a noose and a skull. She is yellow in appearance, happy (that is, in excited mood), auspicious, three-eyed, benefactress. Her heart is softened from drinking the nectar. She sits on a red lotus and wears the skin of a black antelope. This lotus is the seat of desires, of the \*saṃskāras\* or records of deeds, and of the egoizing faculty. It contains also the celestial wishing-tree bestowing more than the suppliant desires. (But below the \*anāhata\* is a small eight-petalled, red lotus containing the wishing-tree, considered also as the seat of the \*iṣṭha devatā\* wandering among trees laden with fruit, flowers, and birds. It is called the \*ānandakanda\*.)¹ When the \*manas\* is completely restrained or fixed in the heart, the Yogī attains consciousness of identity with Śiva. ### [c19.105](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.105) ⁵ Hṛda, heart. ### [c19.106](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.106) ¹ \*SCN\*, pp. 58, 59. ### [c19.107](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.107) In the throat, or at its base, is the cakra called \*Viśuddha\*, \*kaṇṭhadeśa\*,² \*candraṣṭhāna\*, \*jālandharapīṭha\*, \*bhāratiṣṭhāna\*. Another name, derived from the fact that the \*khecarimudrā\* is performed there, is \*vyomacakra\*. It is also called the \*nābho-maṇḍala\*. It is the residence of udāna. Its element is ether. It is the seat of bindu. This lotus contains sixteen petals, of a smoky-purple colour, containing the crimson letters अं, आं, इं, ईं, उं, ऊं, ऋं, ऋं, लं, लूं, एं, ऐं, ओं, औं, अं, अः (a, ā, i, u, ū, ṛ, ḷ, e, ai, o, au, and the two breathings a, ā, each with its bindu). These are all the vowels. Within the circle of the petals is the blue field of \*ākāśa\*, space, and within this, again, a crystal-white triangle, within which is a pure circle of the moon which contains a white elephant. Upon the beast rests the bīja-mantra of this \*cakra\*, हं (\*h\*, \*haṃ\*, the symbol of ether, \*ākāśa\*). In the bindu of the bīja is Sadāśiva,¹ with body half silver, half gold, seated on a bull. He is five-faced, three-eyed in each, covered with ashes, having a tiger’s skin and a garland of snakes. He carries in his several hands a trident, an axe, a sword, a \*vajra\* (thunderbolt), dahana (fire?), a bell, a goad, a noose, and shows auspicious gestures. With him is Gāurī, Sadāgāurī, who is one-half of Śiva’s body, with ten beautiful arms, five faces each with three eyes. She has a noose, a goad and a book, and is in auspicious gesture. She is seated on bones. (Or, he is accompanied by Śākinī, in yellow raiment, carrying in her four hands a bow, an arrow, a noose and a goad.) She is ‘white.’ ### [c19.108](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.108) ² \*Kaṇṭha\*, throat; \*deśa\*, place; \*candra\*, moon. ### [c19.109](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.109) ¹ Sadā, eternal. ### [c19.110](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.110) The ājñā is also called the uḍḍiyāna and the \*jñāna\*-lotus. It is situated between the eyebrows, and back of them, and consists of two white petals on which are the letters हं and क्ष (\*h\*, and \*kṣ\* variegated in colour and with their bindus). They are the bījas of kalās. \*Kalā\*, a digit or one-sixteenth of the moon’s diameter, refers to Śiva as bearing one-sixteenth of the moon. This \*cakra\* is the seat of the buddhi, ahaṃkāra, manas and the \*indryas\* (the sensory and motor functions), all in subtle state. It is the circle of command over movements. It is the place of uninterrupted bliss. The circle of this lotus is white and within it is a white triangle containing a white liṅga called \*itara liṅga\*. Here is Paramaśiva.² The bīja-mantra of this \*cakra\* is ॐ (\*oṃ\*). As the inner ātma this oṃ is pure mind, buddhi, like a flame. Above it is the crescent moon, above that the bindu from makāra (m) and still higher the half crescent moon. The goddess of this lotus is Hākinī, six-faced, like so many moons, with six arms bearing a book, a skull, a drum, a rosary and with two hands extending in auspicious gesture. She is seated on a white lotus, drinking ambrosia. ### [c19.111](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.111) ² Parama, the highest. ### [c19.112](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.112) Each of these circles is described by Gheraṇḍa as a dhāraṇā and the characteristic effect of fixed attention on each is noted. ### [c19.113](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.113) Two other centres are included in the scheme, the kanda and the sahasrāra. ### [c19.114](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.114) The former, the kanda, is called also kandayoni and nāḍi-cakra. Descriptions are contradictory and do not make clear just what is meant and it has been suggested that it is the uterus, or the testes. It is spoken of as the meeting place, or the origin, of all the nāḍis, the place whence all the vital airs flow. It is shaped like an egg, and above it Kuṇḍalinī is coiled eight times and is asleep. It lies between the anus and the root of the meḍhra (male organ). And, again, it is said that it is strung on the suṣumṇā in the maṇipūraka. It is clearly close to the source of creative forces. Dr. Dasgupta says: ### [c19.115](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.115) Other accounts of these nāḍis hold that the iḍā proceeds from the right testicle and the piṅgla from the left testicle and passes on the left and right of the suṣumṇā in a bent form (dhanur ākāre). The three, however, meet at the root of the penis, which is thus regarded as the meeting of the three rivers. . .¹ ### [c19.116](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.116) ¹ DHIP, vol. II, p. 354. Quoted by permission of the Macmillan Company, Publishers. ### [c19.117](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.117) The final goal of the Kuṇḍalinī Yoga is the top of the head, the brahmasthāna, brahmarandhra, known as the hole-in-the-skull, the nirvāṇacakra (circle where release is achieved), mahāpatha (the great path of release). It is the place of final bliss (brahmānanda). It is situated above the end of the suṣumṇā. Because it is a lotus of 1,000 petals it is called sahasrāra. It has its head downwards, and its clustered filaments are tinged with the colour of the young sun. Each of the petals has upon it a letter of the alphabet, and they are recorded on the leaves and read from right to left, 50 × 20 = 1,000, one-thousand letters in all, each with its bindu; within this lotus is the full moon, resplendent as the clear sky, moist with nectar. And within this is a triangle, and in this the great void shines Śūnya (void) which is the subtle bindu, which is para bindu, which is Īśvara, having as its centre the abode of Brahma. Above the bindu, in the aperture is Saṃkinī, the goddess who creates, maintains and destroys. Within this lotus is the full moon, resplendent as the clear sky, moist with nectar. Here is experience of final union, \*unmanī\*, where the bond of attachment with the world is cut and the bliss of release is enjoyed. Here Śiva stands, free from all illusion, with Nirvāṇaśakti. In the triangle in the sahasrāra are three bindus; the ḥ (\*haṃ\*), the male, the other two in the form of \*sa\* which is \*Prakṛti\*. The two bindus make up the third as \*visārga\* (:) so that their union is \*haṃsaḥ\*. The divine form here is one-half of Śiva (\*Śivārdha\*) united with nāda which calls or draws out bindu. Below this level are the forms of creative union in cakras down to mūlādhāra. But here is the undivided origin of all dual forms. This high place is, viewing the Kuṇḍalinī as she moves upwards, the level of dissolution. Śakti here is nirvāṇaśakti. The fruit of ‘knowledge’ of sahasrāra is final bliss. ### [c19.118](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.118) The cakras which the Hindus mention are numerous, but those already enumerated are the principle ones. Under the name of \*ādhāras\*, seats of vital functions, they are objects of meditation. The word is said to mean ‘container.’¹ The list of sixteen as supplied by the commentary² to the Poona edition of the \*Gorakṣaśataka\*, together with their positions, which includes those already described is³ as follows: (1) \*Pādaṅgusthādhāra\* (great toe); (2) \*Mūlādhāra\* (anus); (3) \*Gudādhāra\* (rectum); (4) \*Meḍhrādhāra\* (liṅga); (5) \*Uḍḍiyānādhāra\* (above the navel); (6) \*Nābhyādhāra\* (navel); (7) \*Hṛdayādhāra\* (heart); \*Kaṇṭhādhāra\* (throat); (9) \*Ghaṇṭikādhāra\* (soft palate); (10) \*Tatvādhāra\* (in soft palate); (11) \*Jihvamūlādhāra\* (root of the tongue); (12) \*Urdhvadantamūlādhāra\* (root of upper front teeth); (13) \*Nāsāgrādhāra\* (tip of the nose); (14) \*Bhrumadhyādhāra\* (a point between the eyebrows); (15) \*Lalāṭādhāra\* (forehead); (16) \*Brahmarandhrādhāra\* (top of head).⁴ ### [c19.119](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.119) ¹ SCN, p. 80. ### [c19.120](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.120) ² To verse 13. ### [c19.121](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.121) ³ They are supplied from the \*Siddha-Siddhānta-Paddhati\*. ### [c19.122](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.122) ⁴ In the detailed accounts a number of cakras are described which occupy the space between these. Paṇḍit Gopi Nāth Kavirāj, in \*The Princess of Wales Sarasvati Bhavana Studies\* (in 1923), enumerates and describes a number which he found illustrated in an old coloured chart. The list agrees only in part with the ordinary ones. ### [c19.123](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.123) A list with their names is given in \*Haṭhayogapradīpikā\* (3: 72, note), and still another list is given in the \*Gorakṣa-Paddhati\* (comment on verse 13). In general, it may be said that these lists refer to the same portions of the body, the descriptive terms varying.¹ ### [c19.124](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.124) ¹ See also SCN, p. 80. ### [c19.125](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.125) The books give some attention to the dhātus or secretions of the body, whose removal, or drying up, or conservation is desired. They are seven in number, the skin, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and seed. They include the five elements which co-operate to uphold the body. ### [c19.126](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.126) The union of bindu and rajas is the aim of the Yoga; and, although it is difficult to achieve, its realization is the highest state. The place of union is of the highest importance. Bindu is of two kinds, pale-white and blood-red,² and is the root or cause of the body.³ Its conservation is both the protection and the preservation of the body. Primarily bindu as pale-white is the semen virile,⁴ the circular image of the moon, nectar, white as cow's milk, curds and silver. It is the product of the moon and is distilled to the left of the space between the eyebrows. Its seat is in the hollow above the throat, the \*Vyoma\* cakra, also described as the hole at the upper end of the suṣumṇā.⁵ Thence it naturally proceeds down through the suṣumṇā to the place of fire, in the mūlādhāra, or in the nābhiṣṭhana, where it is consumed. For this reason the khecarīmudrā (see next chapter) is performed to hold the bindu in its native station; and other devices are used to cause it to return after it has actually gone down. It is Śiva. The conservation and control of the bindu is of great importance. ### [c19.127](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.127) ² P, 72. ### [c19.128](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.128) ³ P, 68. ### [c19.129](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.129) ⁴ P, 72. ### [c19.130](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.130) ⁵ HYP, 3: 51. ### [c19.131](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.131) Rajas is the menstrual fluid. Its source, or station, is in the place of the sun, the circle of the sun full of a mass of flame, very bright, in the navel. It is Śakti.⁶ It is rajas that drinks the soma (= bindu) falling from the moon. The symbolism of the descriptions represents the creative act according to the philosophy of the Śāktas, and the energy of the soul in the various levels or cakras, where the two principles are brought together. ### [c19.132](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.132) ⁶ P, 71, 73, 74, 76, 99. ### [c19.133](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.133) \*Kutilāṅgī\* (crooked-bodied), \*Kuṇḍalinī\* (coiled), \*Bhujaṅgī\* (she-serpent), \*Śakti\*, \*Īśvarī\*, \*Kuṇḍalī\* (coiled), and \*Arundhatī\*—these words are synonymous.¹ ### [c19.134](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.134) ¹ HYP, 3 : 97. ### [c19.135](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.135) All the Yoga practice refers to \*Kuṇḍalinī\*.² She is described as coiled eight times around the liṅga, like a serpent, asleep, with her head (mouth) closing its aperture completely: Iyanger says three and one-half times. She is \*Śakti\*, Parameśvarī, the Infant Widow and \*Tapasvinī\* (female ascetic). Her place is between the guda and the liṅga. She is in all the mantras, \*e.g.\*, in all the letters, in all the lotuses, since the letters are her manifestations. She is the supreme \*Śakti\* active in both man and in the universe as \*prakṛti\*. She is best described in connection with her functions in the practice of Yoga which are set forth in the next chapter. ### [c19.136](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.136) ² HYP, 3 : 1. ### [c19.137](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.137) Importance is attached to the knots (\*granthi\*) the chief of which are the plaitings of the nāḍis in the kanda and in the ājñā. The total number is fourteen. The cakras contain some of them, Brahmā in the anāhata and Rudra in the ājñā. The knot in the ājñā is called \*triveṇī\*. ### [c19.138](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.138) Five sheaths (\*vyoman\*) are also mentioned. They are \*ākāśa\*, \*prākāśa\*, \*mahākāśa\*, \*sattvākāśa\*, and \*sūryakāśa\*. They refer to realms of experience. The commentary on verse thirteen of the Poona edition points out that the Yogī should know and meditate upon these. They are described in turns as freedom from impurities, like great darkness, like destroying fire, one’s real form, and the sun shining like a thousand suns. They are also described from above down through the cakras to the mūlādhāra. In this case the first is white, the second red, the third like fire, the fourth is blue and the fifth like lightning. By looking at these (\*vyoman\*) one becomes like the sky. \*Ākāśa\* in the viśuddha is the sheath of liberation. They (\*vyoman\*) are the substances of the cakras. ### [c19.139](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.139) In recent times efforts have been made to relate the physiology of the Haṭha Yoga to that of present-day science. Notably, Dr. Brajendranath Seal, in his \*The Primitive Science of the Ancients\*,³ has attempted, in the chapter on ‘Hindu Physiology and Biology,’ to identify the cakras with the plexuses of the human body. Previous to that¹ Major B. D. Basu, I.M.S., worked on the same problem. A recent, elaborate comparison of Haṭha Yoga physiology with modern anatomical science is found in the little book, \*The Mysterious Kundalini\*, by Dr. Vasant G. Rele.² This author, who is interested in explaining the effects or accomplishments of Yoga from the standpoint of modern physiology, identifies the prāṇas with the nervous energies, the five chief airs being the five important subsidiary nerve centres in the brain and spinal cord; the cakras with the plexuses, involving both spinal and cerebro-spinal automatic nervous systems; suṣumṇā, iḍā and piṅglā with the sympathetic system; the nectar from the moon (bindu) with the cerebro-spinal fluid; the śaktis of the various cakras with the fibres connecting them with the spinal nervous system; and brahmarandhra with the cavity in the skull. Particularly does he connect the plexuses with the cerebro-cranial automatic nervous system and the Kuṇḍalinī with the right vagus nerve.³ His position is that by means of the Yogic methods, prāṇāyāma, bandha and mudrā, the Yogī gains control of the automatic nervous system, especially that portion of it which controls the involuntary vital activities related to the plexuses. In this way does the author explain the voluntary control which the Yogī exercises over consciousness and his ability to produce trance and self-hybernation. Ecstatic experiences which occur, as plexus after plexus comes under control of the Yogī, are described by Dr. Rele as follows:⁴ ### [c19.140](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.140) ³ London, 1915. ### [c19.141](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.141) ¹ See \*Guy's Hospital Gazetteer\*, London, 1889, and Foreword to SBH, vol. XV, pt. 4, 1915. ### [c19.142](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.142) ² Bombay, 1927 (Third Edition, 1931). ### [c19.143](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.143) ³ Pp. 39, 47, 101, 110. Dr. Dasgupta (\*DHIP\*, vol. II, p. 356) says: ‘\*Kundalini\* itself cannot be called a nerve and it is distinctly wrong to call it the vagus nerve, as Mr. Rele does.’ Quoted by permission of Macmillan and Company, Publishers. ### [c19.144](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.144) ⁴ Pp. 39, 47, 101, 110. ### [c19.145](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.145) A Yogī when he develops his automatic nervous system, becomes so engrossed in it that the somatic functions of his Suṣumṇā nāḍi and the knowledge of the relation with the eternal world are held in abeyance and he sees his own self which pervades the whole universe and becomes one with it. . . . When this Kulakuṇḍalinī is awakened or made active, it forces a passage through the different ### [c19.146](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19.146) cakras and excites them to action, and as it rises step by step, the mind becomes opened and all visions and wonderful powers come to the Yogi, when it reaches the brain. The Yogi then is perfectly detached from the body and the mind, and the soul finds itself free in all respects . . . When a Yogi becomes a perfect adept in the control of Kundalinī . . . the soul is free to move out of the Brahmarandhra, in which it was kept in captivity, and occupies a bigger cavity surrounding the brain and the spinal cord known as Ākāśa, and becomes absorbed in the infinite intelligence from which it emanated. The Yogi, when in this state of Nirvikalpa-samādhi, identifies himself with that which he contemplates, and acquires certain supernatural powers. . . . I would, therefore, define Kundalinī-Yoga as a science of physical and mental exercises of a particular form by which an individual establishes a conscious control over his automatic nervous system, to be in tune with the Infinite. ## Linked texts (7) - [Ānandakanda](https://indike.org/pramana/in.med.rasa.siddha.anandakanda) — Sanskrit - [Śivasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.sampradaya.saiva.trika.natha.hathayoga.sivasamhita) — Sanskrit - [Haṭhapradīpikā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.sampradaya.saiva.trika.natha.hathayoga.hathapradipika) — Svātmārāma, Sanskrit - [Gorakṣaśataka](https://indike.org/pramana/in.sampradaya.saiva.trika.natha.hathayoga.goraksasataka) — Gorakṣanātha, Sanskrit - [Yogasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darsana.yoga.yogasutra) — Patañjali (author of the Yogasūtra), Sanskrit - [Upaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad) — Sanskrit - [Gāruḍa Upapurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.upa.garudaupapurana) — Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.briggs-1938.c19) · Pramāṇa