Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c20: Chapter Sixteen: Chief Aims and Methods
Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs c20
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Chapter Sixteen: Chief Aims and Methods
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The Kuṇḍalinī Yoga makes large use of the doctrine of the union of Śiva and Śakti; that is, it swings around the idealization of the experience of the ecstasy that arises in creative union. From the lowest centre (the mūlādhāra) to the place of final bliss (in the sahasrāra), each level, conceived of as a place of enjoyment, is symbolically the station of a god and a goddess; and at each of the stages in her ascent, the Śakti drinks the nectar of the crescent moon. Back and above this dual concept is that of the ardhanārī. The discipline of the Yoga, in so far as it concerns the lifting of Kuṇḍalinī from her place in the mūlādhāra to the region of the bindu, the nectar of the moon, which lies in the hollow above the throat, may be described as a series of manipulations of bodily functions, physical exercises and with accompanying mental concentrations, whose physical and psychical reactions are interpreted in supernatural terms as enjoyment of the Lord (Śiva) by Śakti. The thrills, or ecstasies, engendered by excitations all along the suṣumṇā, are regarded as religious experiences.¹ In this aspect of the system the female creative energy is raised to higher and higher levels in the body and experiences of union in succeeding cakras become more and more subtle.
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¹ In this chapter descriptions of the various processes are limited to the more important details, sufficient only to illustrate the method and the results of Haṭha Yoga.
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Since the analogy is that of the union of Śakti with Śiva, the physical union of man and woman, when the former, at least, is a Yogī of advanced powers, becomes of great significance. The disciplines of the Haṭha Yoga enable the adept to reverse the process of nature, so as to detain the bindu in its original receptacle, or to draw it back, along with rajas, after the actual union. The former aspect of the case is illustrated by the following statement.
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By whom the hollow in the top of the throat is sealed by Khecari, his bindu, even (though he be) embraced by a woman, does not fall.¹
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¹ GŚ, 69.
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And the other aspect of the discipline may be considered from the point of view of vajrolī and similar practices as described below. There is here either a stoppage of the natural function or its ultimate reversal.
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So, while there is a discipline which concerns itself simply with the body of the adept, there is also the method of some aspect or other of the vāmacāra. The union of male and female may be of equal significance with the more subtle discipline for the ends of the Yoga, and may symbolize the union of Śiva and Śakti. But, in this case, adepts are careful to point out that for the truly prepared alone is this form of the ritual profitable for the highest experience; for they only are able to retain the bindu or to draw up the bindu-rajas so that the act of coition becomes not a procreative act but an experience in the seat of Śiva. As will appear later, special disciplines look to this reversal of nature. In other words, this discipline is for those only who are ripe for release, for men of great attainments, useful and deserving.² Furthermore, so exacting is this process, that it is impossible for the Yogī to work out the whole of the discipline in a single incarnation. Consequently, those who are actually carrying out the practices are adepts who have already arrived at its final stages through the practice of Haṭha Yoga in a series of lives lived under conditions favourable to ultimate success in Yoga.³ Undisciplined, untaught men perform these acts to their own degradation and ultimate destruction.
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² PC, 9.
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³ HYP, p. ii. In the Garuḍa Purāṇa it is stated that the stages in the development of the Yoga are: being born a woman; then, as a Śūdra, a Vaiśya and a Brāhman devoid of mercy; then, gradual improvement to the stage of Yogī and jñānī.—Iyangar, HYP, p. 73.
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Āsana, mudrā and bandha may be looked upon as types of physical exercise whose aim is a healthful development of the body and the proper stimulation of the seminal (or ovarian)
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glands. Always it must be rememberd that loss of the bindu leads to disease, old age and death. It is claimed that these disciplines contribute to the retention and assimilation of bindu, yielding both vitality and victory over death itself.
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The system rests, further, upon the conception of the female principle, or power, as ultimately the formative, or creative, energy of the universe; and upon the interpretation of physical and psychical experiences as the realization of the divine creative union. The trance, or unconsciousness, which is the outcome of prolonged effort, is the samādhi which transcends duality. The ecstasy bordering on samādhi is often sheerly sensual. In fact, there is plenty of authority for the statement that physical union is the way to release.
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In the accounts in the text-books of the Haṭha Yoga, the two aspects of the discipline, that which deals wholly with matters within the physical frame, and that which involves two individuals are so interwoven, and the shifting from one to the other is so frequent and abrupt, that it is sometimes difficult to separate them.
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In the terminology of the Haṭha Yoga, the two elements whose union is sought are the sleeping, female serpent (Kuṇḍalinī) resting with her head in the aperture of the male organ and the bindu lodged in the hollow of the throat. She drinks the nectar where she is, or is to be, drawn upwards (by means of prāṇāyāma and other disciplines) through this, the brahmadvāra, to higher centres, finally to the seat of bindu. She may enjoy the nectar at any of the stations along the suṣumṇā although the aim is union in the highest place. But, in all cases she drinks the nectar of the moon. In order that Kuṇḍalinī may appropriate the bindu she must be aroused and moved, and, for this purpose, āsana, prāṇāyāma, mudrā, bandha and the other exercises are employed.
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It is further to be noted that behind all this is the age-long Indian view of the misery of the world, involved in all creation, which is to be removed in the final achievement of samādhi.¹
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¹ J. Ghosh, in *A Study of Yoga*, p. 330, says: ‘The Yogī seeks elimination of misery and that alone.’ Does he not seek *bliss* also?
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And again, as the various levels of union are reached, as Kuṇḍalinī is lifted, supernormal powers of differing kinds are attained. But the higher and more subtle forms both of power and of experience are the aim of the adept.
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Before proceeding with details of the discipline, it may be well to state in another form its aims and methods:
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A. Aims:
(1) Immobility of body and of mental processes by āsana, mudrā, bhanda and prāṇāyāma.
(2) Retention of the breath.
(3) Retention of the bindu.
(4) The ecstatic experiences of the union of rajas (Kuṇḍalinī) and bindu (Śiva) at various levels in the body.
(5) Supernormal powers.
(6) Final release.
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B. And to these ends:
(1) Cleansing of the nāḍis.
(2) Breath control.
(3) Āsana, mudrā and bhanda.
(4) Miscellaneous practices.
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In the first place, the strenuous (haṭha) physical exercises of this system aim at health and vigour of body, without which the Yogī would be unable to carry out the whole of the difficult discipline and arrive at success. Consequently, attention is given to food and environment. Diet should be sparing.¹ Food should be very soft, sweet, good tasting,² and the Yogī should drink milk and abstain from bitter, acid and salty food.³ He should limit his meal to three-fourths of a stomach-full, leaving one-fourth of the space for the passing of the prāṇa (in the exercise of prāṇāyāma). The books go into considerable detail about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food. The former should be well-cooked with ghi, rice, wheat, barley, sugar, butter, white-honey, ginger-root and some fruits and vegetables. On the other hand foods to be avoided are those highly spiced, some green vegetables, fermented and oily food, those mixed with till and rape seed, intoxicating liquors, fish, meat, curds, chassa, pulses, plums, oil-cake, asafœtida, garlic, onions and so forth;¹ also foods heated a second time, dry foods, minor grains and vegetables that cause a burning sensation.²
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¹ P, 54.
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² P, 55.
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³ P, 53.
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¹ HYP, 1: 61. ² HYP, 1: 62. ³ HYP, 1: 62, 63. ⁴ HYP, 1: 63. ⁵ HYP, 1: 63. Further details concerning things to use and to avoid are found in Śiva Saṃhitā, 3: 33, 35. ⁶ GŚ, 11, 12. In the former, the Śiva Saṃhitā suggests pressure upon the yoni and liṅga respectively.
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The Yogī should choose a small room, in a solitary place, comfortable and clean, ‘in a secluded place, in a country governed by a dutiful rāja, in a land of plenty and free from disturbance.’
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He must be chaste and a renouncer of worldly pleasures; fire, women, travelling, and so forth should be shunned;³ likewise the society of evil men.⁴ He should avoid also early rising, the cold bath, fasting and bodily exertion;⁵ and he must have a guru, or spiritual guide. As the Śiva Saṃhitā puts it, only the instruction imparted by a guru by word of mouth is of use (3: 11).
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In considering the details of this Yoga it is necessary to note in all cases the bearing of the practices upon physical and mental excitements and upon the reactions to them. The immobility of mind and body is sought through high tension.
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The chief postures (āsanas) are kamalāsana (padmāsana) and siddhāsana. The second is often spoken of as the best, the only necessary one, and is as its name implies, ‘the perfect’ āsana. Of these the first two are described in turn as follows:
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(The [Yogī] should press firmly the heel of the (left) foot against the perineum (and) the (right) heel just above the male organ, keeping the body fixedly erect, immovable; the senses under control; and with motionless gaze should look at the spot between the eyebrows. This (posture), which is the opener of the door of release, is called siddhāsana.
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And having placed the right foot upon the left thigh and likewise the left (foot) upon the right thigh, and having grasped firmly the great toes with the hands crossed from behind (and) fixing the chin on the chest (the Yogī) should gaze at the tip of his nose. This (posture), the destroyer of disease and mental and physical disturbances, is called padmāsana.⁶
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This latter is described in the Haṭhayogapradīpika as follows:
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Having placed the feet, bottoms up, firmly upon the thighs, and similarly having the hands, palms upwards, between the thighs; having the eyes directed to the tip of the nose, the [Yogi] should press the roots of the upper front teeth with the tongue; and, having rested the chin upon the chest, he should expel the breath slowly. This, styled the padmāsana, is the destroyer of all diseases. It is difficult to master, (but) may be perfected in (this) world by a wise man (by a man properly taught).¹
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¹ HYP, 1: 47, 48, 49.
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An interesting list of āsanas is given in the Haṭhayoga-prādīpika,² and there their bearing upon health and the eradication of disease is recorded. One of these, because of its reference to Gorakhnāth, may be of special inteterest:
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² 1: 21-34.
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[The Yogi] should place the ankles (heels) on either side of the seam below the scrotum, the left heel on the left, the right on the right. (He should) hold the feet firmly with the hands, immovable. This is the bhadrāsana, eradicator of all diseases. Adepts denominate this one Gorakṣāsana. By merely taking this posture, the eminent Yogī becomes fatigue-free.³
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³ HYP, 1: 55-57.
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The bearing of these practices upon the awakening of Kuṇḍalinī is perfectly plain when ancillary means are noted, such as that in the padmāsana, where the left heel is placed upon the meḍhra, and the right upon the left.⁴ This is called the ‘thunder-bolt’ (vajra) āsana, and also the ‘liberating’ and the ‘secret’ āsana.⁵ Gorakhnāth was, to begin with, a Vajrāyāna Buddhist. The word vajra has an esoteric meaning. And it is maintained further that other postures are of no use when success has been achieved in this. Elements of āsana are found in mudrā and bandha,⁶ and are combined with forms of prāṇāyāma.
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⁴ HYP, 1: 38.
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⁵ HYP, 1: 39.
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⁶ The Tantra suggests special seats for certain āsanas; skulls for the muṇḍāsana, the funeral pyre for the citāsana, a corpse for the savāsana, with the purpose of acquiring fearlessness and indifference. These āsanas are not included in the lists given above.
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There is an intimate relation between āsana and prāṇāyāma. But, in order that the breath, which is the jīva, may be controlled, it is necessary that the prāṇa and apāna move freely through the iḍā-piṅgalā system, and in turn that Kuṇḍalinī be moved upward. Consequently, the paths of such movements, the nāḍīs, which are conceived of as obstructed with impurities and secretions, must be cleansed by drying up and removing the substances accumulated in them. Moreover, with the purification of the nāḍis, the breath can be held for longer periods of time. While prāṇāyāma is a general means serving for this purpose, special devices, known as the six duties, or acts (saṭkarmāni), are employed. They are: dhāutī, basti, neti, trātaka, nāuli and kapāla bhāti. Gajkaraṇi may be added. These serve also for the acquisition and the preservation of health.
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A wetted cloth four fingers wide and fifteen cubits long should be swallowed slowly, under the direction of a teacher, and then drawn back. This is called dhāuti karma. The novice begins by swallowing a cubit the first day, two the second, and so on, until he can manage the whole strip. After swallowing the whole of the tape, he should give his stomach a rotary motion from left to right and then draw the cloth slowly up. Without doubt cough, asthma, enlargement of the spleen, leprosy, and the twenty diseases are cured by the practice of dhāuti karma.¹
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¹ HYP, 2: 24, 25 and note in HYP, to verse 24. ² HYP, 2: 26–28. ³ HYP, 2: 29, 30. ⁴ HYP, 2: 31, 32.
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Squatting in water reaching to the navel, with a tube inserted in the anus, one should contract the ādhāra (anus). (This) washing is the basti karma.
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This is explained as the use of a half-inch tube about six inches long by means of which the bowels are flushed through contraction and expansion of the abdominal muscles.
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Enlargement of the spleen and dropsy and also all of the disorders arising from wind, bile and phlegm are brought to an end. The basti karma, performed with water makes calm the (these) humours, the sensory and motor faculties and the seat of thought and feeling; gives glow and lustre (to the body) and good digestion. All accumulations of vitiated humours are destroyed.²
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A very soft cord, about nine inches long, should be drawn (up) through the nostril and taken out through the mouth. By adepts this is called neti. This is indeed the cleanser of the skull (cranial passages) and the giver of divine sight. The multitude of diseases which arise in the upper portion of the chest is quickly destroyed.³
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Having the thoughts fixed (in meditation), one should look fixedly at a small object (mark) until the eyes are suffused with tears. (This) by adepts is called trātaka. It destroys the diseases of the eyes and also removes exhaustion. Trātaka is a (door) that should be guarded (kept secret) as a gold (treasure) casket.⁴
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With shoulders bent, one should rotate the belly with an active, violent turning from left to right. This adepts call nāuli. This nāuli, excellent Haṭha exercise, removes dyspepsia, restores digestion and so forth and ever causes joy. It dries up all disorders.¹
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¹ HYP, 2: 33, 34. ² HYP, 2: 35. ³ HYP, 2: 38. ⁴ HYP, 2: 41, 42. A state of mind in which there is no movement of thought. ⁵ P. 95. ⁶ HYP, 2: 37. An interesting statement about the functions of iḍā and piṅglā for prognostication may be found in The Secrets of the Kāula Circle, by Elizabeth Sharp, 1936, pp. 76 ff. ⁷ P, 96. ⁸ HYP, 97.
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The performance of inhalation and exhalation, agitatedly like a blacksmith's bellows, is known as kapāla bhāti. It dries up phlegm disorders.²
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Lifting the lower air (apāna) one vomits the contents of the stomach. By degrees the nāḍis and cakras are brought under control. (This act) is called gajkarṇi by those who know the Haṭha (Yoga).³
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The Gheranda Saṃhitā gives a more elaborate and differently analyzed account of the elements of dhāuti.
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It seems clear that the physical reactions to these practices may be interpreted in terms of religious experience. Physical and psychical effects of these exercises are inevitable.
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The (system) of nāḍis and cakras having been cleansed by the control of the prāṇa according to rule (then) the air (mārutā), having opened the door of the suṣumṇā, enters (it) with ease. When the air moves in the middle (suṣumṇā), fixity of mind is induced. The mind (thus) fixed is verily in the condition of manonmani.⁴
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When the whole group of nāḍis, full of secretions, is purified, certainly then, the Yogī becomes capable of constraining the prāṇa.⁵
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Chief reliance for the cleansing of the channels is placed, however, upon prāṇāyāma; and it is said that this is the only means needed.⁶ Moreover, this control serves to arouse Kuṇḍalinī, and to lift her from centre (cakra) to centre. By using iḍā and piṅglā in the breathing process prāṇa, jīva, Kuṇḍalinī, may be directed into the suṣumṇā.
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Some methods of prāṇāyāma are as follows:
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Assuming the lotus posture (padmāsana), the Yogī should fill in the prāṇa through the left nostril; then, having held it as long as possible he should expel it through the right nostril.⁷
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Iḍā is the left nostril, piṅglā the right.
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Having meditated on the circular image of the moon, nectar as white as curds (and) cow's milk (or) the colour of purest silver, one practising prāṇāyāma should find peace.⁸
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Having filled in the breath through the right nostril, one should fill the abdomen slowly; having held it according to the rules, he should expel (it slowly) through the left nostril. Having meditated on the circle of the sun, full of a mass of flame of fire burning very brightly in the navel, the Yogī who practises prāṇāyāma should find peace.¹
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¹ GŚ, 98, 99.
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Meditating in turn on the two images, moon and sun, (a Yogī) should draw in the breath through the left nostril; he should expel it again through the other, according to the limit (of the times already explained). Then, having drawn in the breath through the right nostril, and having held it, he should expel it through the left nostril. After three months the group of nāḍīs of the practitioner become pure.²
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² GŚ, 100.
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Naturally, the breathing process, as has been pointed out, involves the use of mantra (haṃsa) which adds to its own effectiveness. In the practice of prāṇāyāma, inhaling and exhaling of the breath are important, but the chief aim is the holding of ‘the breath filled in,’ kumbhaka. And it may be held for longer and longer periods. This process is regulated by the use of mantra also, oṃ being recited in a triple form ā-u-ṃ. The commentator on verse sixty-one of the Gorakṣa-śataka says that with the drawing in of the prāṇa (pūraka) oṃ should be recited mentally twelve times, sixteen times while it is being held (kumbhaka) and ten times during its expulsion (recaka). This is the lowest class of prāṇāyāma. In the middle class, the times are twenty-four, thirty-two and twenty; and in the highest thirty-six, forty-eight and thirty. This is a strenuous exercise. In the lowest level there is great perspiration; in the middle, trembling; and in the highest the Yogī ‘rises up.’ Reference here is probably to the sense of lightness. This exercise is joined with the mahāmudrā.³
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³ For this mudrā, see below.
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[The Yogī] should practice holdings of the breath kumbhakān four times a day; at dawn, in the middle of the day, at evening and at midnight, gradually up to eighty times (320 for the twenty-four hours).⁴
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⁴ HYP, 2 : 11.
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But there are many variations in the use of mudrā, āsana, bandha and other exercises with the prāṇāyāma.⁵
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⁵ HYP, see chap. two.
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When the adept is able to deal with kumbhaka without infilling or expelling the air, he has reached the point of mastery where ‘there is nothing whatsoever in the three worlds difficult for him to attain, for he is able to keep the breath (vāyu) confined at will.¹ In the process the mind is caused to swoon.² This leads to anāhata nāda (certain internal sounds), and success may be achieved within a year.³ The air is directed into the suṣumṇā and steadiness of mind is a result of the free movement of the prāṇa in the middle path (suṣumṇā). That is the manonmanī state which is attained when the mental processes are brought to a standstill.⁴ Prāṇa is also bindu and jīva; and its relation to Kuṇḍalinī is referred to its origin in the svādhiṣṭhāna and in the mantra haṃsa.
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¹ HYP, 2: 74.
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² HYP, 2: 69.
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³ HYP, 1: 59.
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⁴ Dr. Singh (p. 51) calls the unmani, the state of self-transcendence.
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The lifting of Kuṇḍalinī involves the understanding of the functions of the various cakras; that is, a knowledge of the peculiar kinds of experience referred to each of them. Since they are all strung on the suṣumṇā, they all lie in the path of Kuṇḍalinī. The same control of the breath, prāṇāyāma, which retards the bindu, arouses Kuṇḍalinī, and thus opens the door to release. When the skill in raising her is perfected and she is led to enjoy bindu, or Śiva, in the brahmarandhra, release is achieved. Each cakra symbolizes a type of reality and specific experiences; and the fixation of the attention upon each in turn secures reactions which are interpreted in terms of degrees of the realization of union of the individual with the Supreme Soul. Kuṇḍalinī enjoys Śiva in each cakra in her form peculiar to that lotus, and finally reaches the eternal One in the sahasra. In the ājñā she is Śakti on the mental plane; in the sahasra, on the spiritual plane. From this high place she should be brought back to the mūlādhāra. In fact she returns again and again in spite of the Yogi's efforts, and it is only after long practice that she takes up her more prolonged abode in the sahasra.
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It is not necessary, apparently, that the Yogi follow the whole course through, since short-cuts to the end are suggested. And, further, he may seek such ends as are afforded by particular centres. In the mūlādhāra reside physical powers, and here is found the sleeping Kuṇḍalinī. Here, also, is enjoyment on the physical plane. Knowledge and powers of experience are joined here. Meditation upon the svādhiṣṭhana yields power over the hindrances to success in Yoga, sexual feelings are aroused and mysterious, or divine, sounds are heard. In the maṇipūraka reside powers of destruction and recreation. Some describe the powers here obtained as twelve-fold. The cakra lies on the dividing line of the body and the adept who is able to raise Kuṇḍalinī above this centre passes into more subtle types of experience. Here insight arises. Anāhata (the heart) is the seat of desire, of the egoising faculty, of manas (mind), and of the records of deeds. Consequently the soul finds freedom here. While meditating upon this lotus, with the use of the praṇava (oṃ) the mind (and the prāṇa) is brought to complete rest, like unto the state of the flame of a wick in a windless place. There arise, also, supernormal powers, such as ability of the soul to enter other bodies, to wander, the power to identify the self with the gods (both as to function and power) who create, preserve and destroy. Mystic light arises also as Kuṇḍalinī is established here. An illustration of the method of meditation on the cakra is to be found in the śāmbhavīmudrā.
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The aim (attention) inward (Iyangar, *HYP*, says, ‘in any cakra’), the sight outward without winking—this is the śāmbhavīmudrā, hidden in the Vedas and Śāstras. When the Yogī remains with the prāṇa and citta (breath and thoughts) unmoving, the attention inward, the gaze immovable, looking outside, below, (yet) seeing nothing, the śāmbhavīmudrā, learned by the favour of a guru, is (performed) and the state of emancipation that is without marks of distinction, that which in reality is the highest Śiva, bursts forth.¹
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¹ *HYP*, 4: 35-36.
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Its result is similar to that secured by the khecarīmudrā which is performed in the viśuddha. This last named cakra is the place of ambrosia and concentration here enables the Yogī to become a great sage, eloquent, wise, peaceful, a benefactor of all, free from disease, long-lived. Divine sounds, subtle tones, are heard. With the breath confined here, the Yogī, in his wrath, could move the three worlds. He becomes invincible. Thus, the union of bindu and rajas in the throat yields supernatural powers. This is the gateway to the great liberation, which is opened by the khecarīmudrā. Still higher, as the jīva reaches the ājñā, it beholds light in the form of a lustrous flame, and becomes immortal. Here is the final approach to the highest bliss of the union in the sahasrāra. Between ājñā and sahasrāra are gradations of subtle experience, or ecstasy, approaching more and more to the bliss of union in the highest or final sense. The mind is dissolved, unconsciousness follows. At the last, after repeated experiences of this bliss, final release is reached. The sahasrāra is said to be the satya-loka, the true, or real, world, and to exude the stream of nectar which has its origin in the blissful Union. Here is the fountain head of all creation, where Kuṇḍalinī enjoys Paramātman, both being One, and pain, misery, birth and death are dissolved. It is the place of Brahmānanda, the Bliss of the Absolute.
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It is to be noted that as Kuṇḍalinī moves upward, from cakra to cakra, the bodily regions below each successive stage become cold. In hypnotic trance, or in the trance of hybernation (as induced in khecarīmudrā, for example), only the region at the top of the head remains warm; and the Yogī in this state has to be guarded lest he be taken for dead and be buried.
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Under excitation in the mūlādhāra simple, gross desire is experienced. Within the yonisthāna there is union of bindu and rajas. The bindu descends from its place of origin; and the true Yoga requires that it be returned thither. Adepts, it is claimed, are able to do this at will, even drawing up after the act of coition both rajas and bindu. This is essential to the highest bliss.
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Methods for the recovery of the bindu are set forth in the Haṭhayogapradīpikā and in the Gorakṣa Paddhati. One of these is the vajrolī.
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Even a Yogī who lives as he pleases (and) neglects the restraints prescribed by the Yoga, if he practises vajrolī, (is) a Yogī indeed and fit for beatitude (siddhi). For this (vajrolī) a couple of things difficult for the average man to obtain is prescribed. The first is milk and the second an obedient woman. One should draw back up again (should practice drawing back . . . ) with the meḍhra slowly (the bindu discharged in maithunā). Whether a man or a woman, one should attain mastery of vajrolī. Carefully, with (through)
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a proper tube¹ inserted) in the passage of the meḍhra (the Yogī) should blow air very slowly. By practice the bindu fallen into the yoni may be drawn back. Having drawn up his own discharged bindu [the Yogī] can preserve (it). The adept (the one skilled or physically able in Yoga), who can thus save his bindu, conquers death. By the loss of bindu (comes) death, from its retention, life. Through the preservation of the bindu a pleasant odour arises in the body of the Yogī. Where is the fear of death so long as the bindu remains in the body? The bindu of man (is) dependent upon mind (and) life upon bindu. Therefore both bindu and manas are to be protected in every way.
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¹ At Devī Pātan they said that this tube should be of silver and that milk should be used.
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Sahajolī and amarolī are of one and the same kind as vajrolī. Ashes of burnt cow-dung should be mingled with water. After vajrolī-maithunā, seated comfortably, pervaded with freedom (thoroughly relaxed) the pair should both rub it on their bodies. This sahajolī is ever proclaimed by Yogīs as worthy of confidence. This fortune-granting practice (Yoga) gives both release (mukti) and enjoyment (bhoga) at the same time. This is the Yoga of merit-endowed, resolute, really perceiving men, who are without passion. But it can not be accomplished by the lust-filled.
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According to the teaching of the Kāpālikas, amarolī is the enjoyment (sexually) of the passionless midstream; the first, excessive in bile and the last, the water stream, neglected are rejected. He who drinks amarolī constantly and snuffs it daily and practises vajrolī is said to be actually practising amarolī.
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[The Yogī] should mix with the ashes of cow-dung the bindu (cāndrī) discharged in this practice. It should be rubbed on the most honorable parts of the body. Magic sight (seeing things divine) arises.²
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² HYP, 3: 82-96. The translator of the Śiva Saṃhitā omits the section on ‘Vajroṇḍī’ as ‘an obscene practice indulged in by low-class Tāntrists’; p. 51.
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Sahajolī gives both bhoga (enjoyment) and mokṣa (release).
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Another practice based upon the same physiological concepts is as follows: Two men, cela and guru, pupil and teacher, retire to a secret place. The guru inserts a lead wire into the passage of the male organ to a distance of twenty-three fingers. It penetrates the suṣumṇā. Great powers are supposed to arise through this practice.
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It may be noted that not only do the books speak of these matters, but also that the Yogīs themselves are familiar with them. At Devī Pātan these practices were described to the author by Yogīs.
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The relation of prāṇāyāma to these devices is in the fact that the stabilizing of the bindu depends also upon the holding of the breath.
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There are other exercises for holding the bindu in its place of origin, such as the jālandharabandha and the khecarī-mudrā, which will be described below.
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If the bindu, on the one hand, is to be kept secure in its original position, the Kuṇḍalinī, on the other, is to be aroused and caused to move upwards. This is called Śakticālana. For the union of these two is essential to ecstatic experience or bliss in varying degrees to final beatitude. For this reason the playing of one breath (prāṇa) against the other (apāna) is resorted to and pressure and mudrā are enjoined. For example, from the pressure of the heels in padmāsana and the alternate in filling of prāṇa and apāna for a considerable time both morning and evening, the Kuṇḍalinī begins to move. Likewise kumbhaka, the holding of the breath, incites her to motion. She then moves upwards through the channel (suṣumṇā) which extends from the aperture of the liṅga to the hollow above the throat.
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The mudrās and bandhas are similar to āsanas in their action and efficacy. The Gheraṇḍa names twenty-five, including vajrolī and Śakticālana among them.
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The gazing taught in some of these induces hypnotic sleep; and the bandhas, by closing all the exits of air, produce a tension within the system, generating thereby a sort of electric current, or force, called Kuṇḍalinī Śakti. It is this Śakti which is the helpmate of the Yogis in performing their wonders.¹
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¹ SBH, No. 68, p. iv.
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The description of the mahāmudrā is as follows :
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That Yogī is ready for release who knows mahāmudrā, nabho-mudrā, uḍḍiyāna, jālandhara and mūlābanda. The purification of the collection of the nāḍis, the moving of both the moon and sun, and also the drying up of the liquids of the body, is called mahāmudrā. Having rested the chin on the chest, and pressing for a long time the yoni with the left great toe, with the two hands grasping the extended right foot, having filled with breath both sides of the abdomen and having held it, [the Yogī] should expel it slowly. This is said to be the very great (mahāmudrā), the destroyer of the diseases of men.²
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² GŚ, 57, 59.
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[The Yogī] should press the heel of the left foot against the yonisthānam, and then place the right foot upon the left thigh (and) having drawn in the breath (and) having pressed the chin upon the chest, and having held the breath, he should fix his attention in the middle (between the eyebrows). Having held it as long as possible, he should expel the breath slowly. Having been performed (thus) on the left side, it should be practised on the right. However, the opinion of some is that the closing of the throat may be neglected, since an excellent stoppage is made by pressing the tongue against the roots of the upper front teeth. Moreover, this stops the upward movement in all the nāḍīs; and, further, this mahābandha (great stoppage) bestows magical powers. Mahābandha is a clever means for loosening the snares of death. Triveni-union is given and the mind should reach Kedār (the seat of Śiva between the eyebrows).¹
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¹ HYP, 3: 19-24. Mahāmudrā, mahābandha and mahavedha (not described in this account) confer magic powers and perfection. HYP, 3: 30 (Iyangar).
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The effect of this exercise is to remove the sense and effect of differences.
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(There is) neither wholesome nor unwholesome (food). All tastes (are) indeed tasteless. Even deadly poison (food) (when) eaten is digested as if it were nectar.²
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² GS, 61.
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And it removes diseases.
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His diseases, consumption, leprosy, constipation, enlargement of the spleen and decrepitude go to destruction, who practises mahāmudrā.³
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³ GS, 62.
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The Yonimudrā is described as follows:
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Place left heel against the anus; the right heel on the left foot; sit erect with body, the neck and the head in a straight line. With the lips formed to resemble a crow’s beak, draw in the air and fill the belly. Close the ear-holes with the thumbs, the eyes with the index fingers; the nostrils with the middle fingers; the mouth with the remaining fingers. Hold the air, and with the senses controlled, meditate on the mantra haṁsa.⁴
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⁴ Based upon SCN, p. 87.
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According to Iyangar, yonimudrā is another name for vajroli (p. 52). In the Śiva Saṁhitā, page forty-one, it is described as the sacred drink of the Kāulas, the worshippers of Śakti according to the vāmacāra.
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The mūla-, uḍḍiyāna- and jālandhara- bandhas find their completion in the siṁhāsana which is described as follows:
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[The Yogi] should place the heels on the sides of the seam below the scrotum, the left heel on the right and the right heel on the left (of it); and having placed the hands on the knees, and having extended one’s fingers, with the mouth open, and with the mind intently fixed, he should gaze at the tip of the nose. This simhāsana should be held sacred by adepts.¹
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¹ HYP, 1: 52, 54a. ² GŚ, 81. ³ HYP, 3: 61-64. ⁴ Śiva Saṃhitā, 4: 42. ⁵ HYP, 3: 30, 31. ⁶ HYP, 3: 56, 59. ⁷ GŚ, 77. It overcomes death, the death-dealing elephant. Manas, like a wild elephant is hard to control.
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The mūlabandha is thus described:
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Having pressed the yoni with the back of the left heel [the Yogi] should contract the rectum; (and thus) draw the apāna upward. Thus is the mūlabandha performed.²
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Although its (normal) course is downward, the Yogī should draw the apāna up forcibly by contracting (the anus). This Yogīs call mūlabandha. And having pressed firmly the anus with the heel [the Yogi] should draw the air forcibly upward. Little by little the air (apāna) goes up. By means of the mūlabandha prāṇa and apāna, nāda and bindu becoming one, the end of the Yoga is surely attained. (With) the union of prāṇa and apāna (results) the diminution of fæces and urine. Even an old man always regains his virility by practising mūlabandha.³
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This brings about the ‘union’ of prāṇa and apāna as they enter the suṣumnā; it decreases certain secretions and invigorates the body. Minor sounds are heard. If the thoracic and yoni regions are simultaneously contracted prāṇa is forced down and apāna upwards, and vāyu enters the suṣumnā. This may become the yonimudrā.⁴
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Mahāmudrā and mahābandha (and mahāvedha) confer magic powers.
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This most sacred triad, destroyer of old age and death, increases the digestive fire, and even grants magic power such as becoming automatically small and so forth. They should be performed eight times a day, watch by watch. They ever add to the store of merit and deplete the stock of demerit at the same time. The practice of the three, under instruction, should be for short intervals at first.⁵
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The uḍḍiyāna is a well-known bandha.
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In the abdomen, above the navel [the Yogi] should make a contraction toward the spinal column. This is, verily, the uḍḍiyāna, a lion for the elephant of death. Of all the bandhas uḍḍiyāna is indeed the best. Stoppage (bandha) being fixed by the uḍḍiyāna, deliverance comes naturally (spontaneously).⁶ Even as a bird is able to fly without taking rest, so indeed uḍḍiyāna may become the lion which is the death of the elephant.⁷
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Again, the *jālandhara*: Because *jālandharabandha* closes the network of channels (all the *nāḍīs*) and stops the water from flowing down from the head, therefore, it destroys the host of disorders of the throat. The *jālandharabandha*, characterized as the closing of the throat, having been performed, the nectar does not fall into the fire, nor is the air disturbed.¹
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¹ *GŚ*, 79, 80.
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Having closed the passages with the *jālandhara*, at the end of an infilling of the breath [the Yogī] should expel it slowly. This is called *mūrchā* because it gives joy and swoon (*manomūrchā*).²
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² *HYP*, 2: 69.
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This *bandha* contracts the throat and prevents the nectar from falling into the fire, that is, *bindu* is restrained, and the air is not disturbed. The region of the heart is affected and the vital centres are stopped down.
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The two *bandhas* just described are of use in rousing Kuṇḍalinī and, at the same time, in stabilizing the *bindu*. Of the three *bandhas* just cited it is written:
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These three *bandhas*, the very best, have been practised by great adepts. These means of attaining the ends set forth in all the treatises on Haṭha Yoga are known to all (real) Yogīs.³
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³ *HYP*, 3: 75.
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The *khecarīmudrā* is one of the most famous of all. And this is in many ways the chief⁴ *mudrā* whose continued practice produces Yoga trance, the state resembling hybernation. Apparently this is the practice which is used in the exhibitions of suspended animation which have been reported to the West, for the practice of this *mudrā* results in the suppression of the breath and in insensibility, so that the Yogī may be buried in the ground without air, food or drink.
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⁴ *HYP*, 1:45: ‘There is no *āsana* equal to the *siddhāsana*; no stoppage of the breath superior to the *kevala*; no *mudrā* equal to the *khecarī*; no *laya* (absorption) equal to the (*anāhata*) *nāda*.’
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By turning the tongue over backwards into the hollow above the throat, and by fixing the sight between the eyebrows, is the *khecarīmudrā* performed.⁵
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⁵ *GŚ*, 64.
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As fire cleaves to the wood and as a light to oil and wick, so the soul does not leave the body full of the drops of *soma* (*bindu*).⁶
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⁶ *HYP*, 3: 45.
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Preliminary to the practice, the frænum of the tongue has to be cut. This is done a little at a time with a bamboo sharp edge or some other sharp instrument. Then the tongue is kneaded and stretched so as to permanently increase its length. Then the practice can be carried out.
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[The Yogi] should stretch the tongue little by little, stretching and cutting the *frænum linguæ*. When it (the tip of the tongue) touches the space between the eyebrows (when it is folded back against the soft palate), khecarīmudrā is perfected. Having grasped a very sharp, smooth, clean instrument the shape of a *snuhi* (*Euphorbia*) leaf [the Yogi] should cut with it a hair’s breadth (at a time). Then he should rub it with powdered rocksalt and myrobolan (*Terminalia Chebula*). Again, on the seventh day, he should cut it a hair’s breadth. Thus over a period of six months he should do this regularly. By that time the whole of the *frænum linguæ* will be cut away. Having turned the tip of the tongue upward [the Yogi] closes the three passages (œsophagus, trachea and nostrils or (?) the three nāḍis). This is the khecarīmudrā and it is called the vyoma cakra. The Yogī, who remains even for a moment with his tongue turned upwards thus, is saved from poisons, diseases, death, old age, and so forth. He who knows the khecarīmudrā is without disease, death, lassitude, sleep, hunger, thirst or swooning. He who knows khecarīmudrā is neither beset by disease nor tainted by karma nor snared by death.
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This mudrā, khecarī by name, has been desired by adepts because, when it is practised, the mind goes to ākāśa (khe)—(when) the tongue reaches khe.¹
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¹ HYP, 3: 33-41. Iyangar records, p. 50, that the Yogīs are prohibited the use of salt. Salt can be used only before beginning the practice of the Haṭha Yoga. Afterwards, only the burnt powder of the wood (cassia, *khādira* = acacia catechu). Khe = ākāśa; car, to move. Khecarī = ‘whose movement is in space.’
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Above the throat is the space, ākāśa, or vacuum (khe), where limitation of sense is removed. It is here that bindu has its native seat and that union of Śiva and Śakti is on the subtle plane. The mudrā effectively binds bindu.
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By whom the hollow in the top of the throat is sealed by khecarī, his bindu, even (though he be) embraced by a woman, does not fall.²
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² GŚ, 69.
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Here, then, is ecstatic experience which is beyond the range of the senses and which does not entail death.
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While the bindu remains in the body, there is no fear of death. So long as the khecarīmudrā is continued, so long the bindu does not go down.³
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³ GŚ, 70.
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Karma is inoperative in this state. Mind and tongue reach ākāśa.⁴ Its unusual power and value are emphasized in the expression, The stream flowing visibly from soma (candra) is dear to Śiva. [The Yogi] should close (fill) the unequalled, divine suṣumṇā in the back of the mouth (by means of the khecarīmudrā).¹
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⁴ HYP, 3: 41. See just above.
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¹ HYP, 4:45. The Śiva Saṃhitā, 3: 57, says that prolonged holding of the breath is pratyāhāra; and Śrīśa Chandra Vidyārṇava, in his Introduction to this work (p. iv) insists that the trance of khecarīmudrā is not samādhi, but pratyāhāra. However, the exposition given above agrees with the other works cited.
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The Śāmbhavīmudrā differs from the khecarīmudrā only in the object looked at. Śiva (Śambhu) is viewed as formless; i.e., the Yogī is really seeing nothing.
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The exercise of this (khecarī) mudrā enables one to enjoy. In performing this mudrā it is possible to neglect the other cakras in the path and to lift Kuṇḍalinī directly by the back path to the place of bindu. This mudrā is prescribed with the vajrāsana.²
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² Śiva Saṃhitā, 4: 31.
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Asana, mudrā and bandha are clearly forms of exercise which contribute both to the increase of bodily health and to the stimulating and conservation of vital energy essential to success in Haṭha Yoga.
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A further word may be written about mantra. The repetition of sacred formulæ is of great importance³ and its results are essentially magical; it enhances the effectiveness of physical practice.
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³ From one point of view mantra is the background of Tāntra. This derives in part from the dhāraṇī or spell, which is a shortened scripture-text, essentially a string of words without meaning, in form designed for repetition as containing the whole of the original passage. It may be reduced to a pregnant syllable or bīja. When applied according to rule, the bīja is endowed with enormous power.
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Already the place of oṃ in the Yoga has been repeatedly illustrated; and its symbolical significance has been set forth in chapter eight.
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With the voice [the Yogi] should repeat that bīja; he should practise it with the body; with the mind he should remember it. That, oṃ, is the supreme light.⁴
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⁴ GS, 88.
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Haṃsa is related directly to the breath and has its rise in the place of origin of sexual desire; it is the chief mantra of jīva (life, or soul). It is the ajapa gāyatrī.
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Gāyatrī has a great reputation and has a very long history.
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Knowledge like this, repetition like this, insight like this neither was nor shall be.¹
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¹ GŚ, 45.
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Even the will to recite it gives freedom from sin. It originates in Kuṇḍalinī and from the restraint of the breath. Knowing (in the magical sense) this mantra renders one an adept.² Its repetition engenders hypnotic sleep. It serves to stop the breath. Its ajapa form is haṃsa.
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² P, 46.
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The secretions of the body, controlled by the prāṇāyāma and bandha methods, should be preserved.³ This is clear from the passages dealing with bindu, vajrolī, sahajolī and amarolī. Furthermore, the perspiration exuding from the exertion of the practice of prāṇāyāma should be rubbed into the body and not wiped off.
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³ Śiva Saṃhitā, 3:40.
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Out of these various, strenuous practices come some effects which are noted as indicative of success in the Yoga. Amongst these are certain sounds and colours, some of which have been mentioned already.
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Great store is laid by anāhata nāda, or the sound (nāda) in the heart lotus.
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Anāhata nāda is awakened by the exercise of prāṇāyāma. A couple of week’s practice with eighty prāṇāyāmas in the morning and the same number in the evening will cause distinct sounds to be heard; and, as the practice goes on increasing, varied sounds become audible to the practiser. By hearing these sounds attentively (i.e., fixing the attention on them) one gets concentration of the mind, and thence sahaja samādhi. When Yoga-sleep is experienced, the student should give himself up to it and make no efforts to check it. By and by, these sounds become subtle and they become less and less intense, so the mind looses its waywardness and becomes calm and docile; and, on this practice becoming well-established, samādhi becomes a voluntary act. This is, however, the highest stage and is the lot of the favoured and fortunate few only.
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The following is the method for inducing trance, propounded by Gorakṣanātha:⁵
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⁵ HYP, 4 : 64.
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The Yogī, his mind single, sitting in muktāsana, having formed the śāmbhavimudrā, ought to hear in his right ear inner sound. The ears, eyes, nostrils and mouth should be closed.⁶
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⁴ HYP, (SBH) Introduction, p. iv.
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⁶ HYP, 4: 66, 67a.
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The effects are very definite.
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In the cleansed suṣumṇā-path pure, clear, sound is heard.¹
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¹ HYP, 4: 67b.
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Four states are recognized:
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Joy arises in the void (in the heart), (and) in the body various anāhata sounds, like the beating of a drum. [In the first (stage)] the Yogī becomes divine of body, radiant, fragrant of body and free from disease; and his whole heart (becomes) a void. In the second period the air moves in the middle channel (suṣumṇā), the posture becomes fixed and the Yogī becomes wise like a god. From the piercing of the Viṣṇu Knot (in the throat) in this manner, the highest bliss is experienced. And, in the hollow in the throat, a tumult like the beating of a kettle drum is heard. In the third, in the space between the eyebrows the sound of a drum is recognized. Then the air goes to the great void, the refuge of all the adepts. Then, having overcome the joys of the mind, without evil, misery, old-age, disease, hunger or sleep, joy itself (ultimate joy) is experienced. The Rudra Knot having been pierced and the air having gone to the seat of Śiva, a sound like that produced by a flute, arises. Then there is the unity of consciousness called Rāja Yoga. (And) the Yogī, equal to Śiva, becomes a creator and a destroyer. Whether there be release or not, here is indeed unbroken peace. This felicity arising from absorption (laya) is obtained in Rāja Yoga.²
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² HYP, 4: 69-77.
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Concerning colours it is said:
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During contemplation one sees, not with his eyes, as he does the objects of the world, various colours, which the writers on Yoga call the colours of the five elements.³ Sometimes stars are seen glittering, and lightning flashes in the sky. But these are all fleeting in their nature. At first these colours are seen in greatly agitated waves which show the unsteady condition of the mind; and, as the practice increases and the mind becomes calm, these colour-waves become steady and motionless and appear as one deep ocean of light. This is the ocean in which one should dive and forget the world and become one with his Lord—which is the condition of highest bliss.⁴
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³ See description of the cakras in the preceding chapter.
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⁴ HYP, (SBH) Introduction, p. iv. Fixing attention on these phenomena is the point.
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It may be well, now, to quote a verse, with its note, in Pañcam Sinhi edition as summarizing the effects of the use of the mudrās and as verifying what was said above, in chapter thirteen, about supernormal powers (aiśvarya).
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These, which bestow the eight magic powers, have been explained by Ādi Nātha, and are greatly prized by all adepts. (They) are difficult even for Mārutas (sons of Śiva) to acquire.
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The eight Aiśvaryas are: *Animā*, becoming small, like an atom; *Mahimā*, becoming great, like ākāś, by drawing in atoms of Prakṛti; *Garimā*, light things, like cotton becoming very heavy like mountains; *Prāpti*, coming within easy reach of everything, as touching the moon with the little finger, while standing on the earth; *Prākāmya*, non-resistance to the desires, as entering the earth like water; *Īśatā*, mastery over matter and objects made of it; *Vaśitvā*, controlling the animate and inanimate objects.¹
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¹ HYP, 3: 8.
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The signs of (success in) Haṭha Yoga are purification of the nāḍis, a lean body, tranquility in the face, manifestation of nāda (anāhata sounds), very clear eyes, freedom from disease, bindu under control (and) good digestion.²
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² HYP, 2: 78.
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The end of the Haṭha Yoga is the Rāja Yoga, ecstacy and trance of the experience of Brahma.
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I will now describe the best course (leading up) to samādhi (that which) destroys death, induces peace and produces brahmānanda.³
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³ HYP, 4: 2.
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Rāja Yoga, samādhi, unmanī, manonmanī, amaratvā, laya, tatva, śūnya, aśūnya, paramapada, amanaska, advaita, nirālamba, nirañjana, jīvanamukti, sahajā and turiyā denote the same state of being. Just as with salt in water all becomes salty, so the mingling of ātma and manas is denominated samādhi. When the breath (prāṇa) becomes exhausted and the mental processes (manas) are destroyed (*pralīyate*), then their being equal (union) is called samādhi. And this equality, (this) oneness of the two, the living self and the absolute self, when all desire (*sāṅkalpa*) is destroyed is called samādhi.⁴
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Linked texts (8)
- Haṭhapradīpikā — Svātmārāma, Sanskrit
- Śivasaṃhitā — Sanskrit
- Garuḍapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā — Sanskrit
- Gorakṣaśataka — Gorakṣanātha, Sanskrit
- Tantra — Sanskrit
- Yogasūtra — Patañjali (author of the Yogasūtra), Sanskrit
- Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit