Hatha Yoga Pradipika

This affordable, definitive edition of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika contains the original Sanskrit, a new English translation, and full-page photographs of all the asanas. The chakras, kundalini, mudras, shakti, nadis, bandhas, and many other topics are explained. This is the first edition of the classic manual on Hatha Yoga to meet high academic, literary, and production standards. It’s for people who practice Yoga, and for anyone with an interest in heath and fitness, philosophy, religion, spirituality, mysticism, or meditation.

From the Introduction:

Over the last half millennium, one book has established itself as the classic work on Hatha Yoga—the book you are holding in your hands. An Indian yogi named Svatmarama wrote the Hatha Yoga Pradipika in the fifteenth century C.E. Drawing on his own experience and older works now lost, he wrote this book for the student of Yoga. He wrote this book for you.

Sample Verses:

Yoga succeeds by these six: enthusiasm, openness, courage, knowledge of the truth, determination, and solitude.

Success is achieved neither by wearing the right clothes nor by talking about it. Practice alone brings success. This is the truth, without a doubt.

When the breath is unsteady, the mind is unsteady. When the breath is steady, the mind is steady, and the yogi becomes steady. Therefore one should restrain the breath.

As salt and water become one when mixed, so the unity of self and mind is called samadhi.

He who binds the breath, binds the mind. He who binds the mind, binds the breath.

Center the self in space and space in the self. Make everything space, then don’t think of anything.

Empty within, empty without, empty like a pot in space. Full within, full without, full like a pot in the ocean.

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

Reviews:

“Beautifully printed and translated. Wonderful pictures, too.”

—Dominik Wujastyk, Indology

“Accurate and accompanied by clear pictures, this translation of an informative Sanskrit text is a very useful addition to the growing literature on Yoga in Western languages.”

—Ashok Aklujkar, University of British Columbia

“Written over five-hundred years ago, the text is considered by many a seminal work on the practice of Hatha Yoga.”

—Chris Meehan, Kalamazoo Gazette

“His style is straightforward, clear, and elegant. . . . the people at YogaVidya.com are to be complimented for bringing this text to the general public and for doing so in a most attractive manner. This is the book you want after you have finished with the popular texts.”

—Dennis Littrell, Amazon

“There is a certain magic at work here—it is as if an Indian yogi named Svatmarama has projected himself through time, expressing himself through Akers. . . . Part of the charm of Akers’s translation is that he breathes life into the ancient text by retaining its esoteric barriers and anachronisms, while at the same time clearly and simply presenting useful postures for students of Yoga. The book is well illustrated with photographs that depict a model demonstrating the postures. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is a must for serious students of Yoga, and for those of us not so serious, it is informative and entertainingly readable.”

—Michael Perkins, Woodstock Times

“Ably translated into English by Brian Dana Akers, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is the classic source book on Hatha Yoga. . . . This faithful reproduction of the crucial text features the original Sanskrit side-by-side with the exacting English translation. . . . an impressive and highly recommended reference for students and devoted practitioners of Hatha Yoga.”

—Midwest Book Review

“One of the key texts that we recommend to all of our students and graduates.”

—Train Yoga Instructor Courses

“Your introduction and translation of the text is a delight to read. I’m eager to teach it.”

—Christian Lee Novetzke, University of Washington

“One of the key texts of Yoga - I love this translation - it’s so readable and simple.”

—Sarah Raspin, Oak Tree Yoga

“A new, crisp, no-nonsense translation of this great classic on the practice of Hatha Yoga. . . . If one, like me, holds that the work of the translator is to be as discreet as possible, then this very faithful translation is probably the best available. . . . The publisher, YogaVidya.com, also produces a version of the Gheranda Samhita, and, I am told, is working on the Shiva Samhita. Serious Yoga students watch out—these are serious translations of serious classics.”

—Christophe Mouze, Online Yoga Magazine

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Asanas

Pranayama

Mudras

Samadhi