Chapter Five

Meditation

The glorious Goddess said, “If you love me, O Lord Shankara, tell me what obstacles to understanding the Ultimate Reality are faced by people.”

The Lord said, “Listen, O Goddess! I shall tell you the obstacles that are always present. The greatest hindrance to liberation for people is enjoyment.

Women, lying about on beds, clothes, money, kissing on the mouth, chewing pan,1 drinking, kingship, heroism, wealth, gold, silver, copper, gems, fragrant aloe wood, cows, scholarship, Vedic treatises, dancing, singing, jewelry, flutes, lutes, drums, riding on elephants and tall horses, wives, children, and sensuality: these are said to be obstacles.

These obstacles take the form of enjoyment. Now hear about the following, which take the form of religion: ritual bathing, worship, lunar days, making fire offerings, propriety with regard to purity, vows, fasting, rules, silence, restraining the senses, the object of meditation, meditation, mantra, charity, widespread fame; the building of pools, wells, tanks, other water sources, mansions, and pleasure gardens; sacrifice, the Chandrayana penance,2 and the various pilgrimage sites.

These obstacles are met with in the form of religion. I shall now tell you how knowledge can become an obstacle, O beautiful one.

Practicing Gomukha and other asanas after cleansing oneself internally by means of Dhauti, the science of the paths of the nadis, restraint by means of pratyahara, moving the belly from side to side, inserting milk into the urethra, eating anything according to the operations of the nadis: these are said to be the obstacles which take the form of knowledge.³

There is Mantra Yoga and Hatha Yoga. Laya Yoga is the third. The fourth is Raja Yoga. It is free from duality.

Know aspirants to be of four kinds: weak, middling, good, and outstanding. The latter is the best and can jump across the ocean of existence.

Lazy, very ignorant, sickly, offensive to his guru, greedy, evil-minded, gluttonous, lecherous, fickle, cowardly, diseased, servile, nasty, badly behaved, and feeble: the weak man is to be known thus.

He attains perfection after twelve years of striving. A guru should certainly consider him to be entitled to practice Mantra Yoga.

He who is objective, patient, desirous of merit, affable, not too impetuous, confused by worldly existence, of normal valor and strength, level headed, of average diligence, and straight backed is middling on the paths of Yoga, like those who have reached middle age.

He should be known to be of middling keenness, middling health, and middling valor. For these aspirants, Yoga becomes established in eight years.

He who is of middling merit and middling valor and who is fair in all he does is assuredly a middling aspirant. Recognizing this, gurus should decide to give him Laya Yoga.

Determined, experienced in laya, self-reliant, strong, high-minded, compassionate, forgiving, resolute, brave, in the prime of life, faithful, worshipful of his guru’s lotus feet, and devoted to the practice of Yoga: the good aspirant is to be known thus.

He can achieve perfection in six years by means of his practice. Wise teachers give him Hatha Yoga in its entirety.

Endowed with great strength, energetic, charming, intrepid, learned, diligent, clearheaded, calm, in the bloom of youth, restrained in his diet, his senses subjugated, fearless, pure, talented, generous, a refuge for all, stable, steadfast, wise, content, patient, good-natured, dutiful, discreet, agreeable, having faith in the sacred texts, worshipful of gods and teachers, averse to company, free from serious illness, and experienced in the observances of the good aspirant: thus is the practitioner of all Yogas.

He is sure to achieve perfection in three years. He is entitled to practice all Yogas. In this there is no doubt.

The yogi should practice worship of the image, which gives the reward of knowledge of present and future lives. It purifies merely by being seen. In this there is no doubt.

When in bright sunshine a man gazes wide-eyed at the Lord in his shadow and then looks into the sky, he sees at that very moment an image of himself in the firmament.

He who looks at his own image in the firmament every day becomes long-lived and wise. He can never die.

When he sees a complete image of himself in the firmament, he is victorious, conquers the air, and travels through it.

He who regularly carries out this practice discovers the higher self, the one completely blissful supreme spirit, through the grace of his own image.

When the yogi is on pilgrimage, getting married, engaged in an auspicious activity, in trouble, losing sins, or gaining merit, he should worship his image.

Through regular practice he is sure to see it internally. Then the yogi whose mind is controlled achieves liberation.

When the yogi restrains the wind by tightly closing his ears with his thumbs, his eyes with his index fingers, his nostrils with his middle fingers, and his mouth with his ring fingers, and intently carries out this practice, then he immediately sees himself in the form of light.

He who clearly sees that light for just an instant is freed from all sins and goes to the ultimate destination.

Through regular practice the yogi is freed from sin, forgets his body and everything else, and automatically becomes separate from them.

The yogi who practices it regularly in secret becomes absorbed in Brahman even if he is intent on sinful acts.

This Yoga is to be carefully guarded. It quickly proves itself, bestows nirvana in this life, and is dear to me.

And moreover, through its practice nada gradually arises. The first sound is like that of a line of drunken bees or a lute.

After practicing thus there is a sound which is like the ringing of a bell and destroys the darkness of samsara. Then there is a sound like thunder.

When the yogi concentrates on that sound and remains deeply immersed in it, there arises success in laya, which is dear to me.

When the mind of the yogi is completely at rest in that nada, he forgets everything outside him and finds peace together with the nada.

When by using this practice the yogi duly overcomes the many attributes, he gives up all activity and is absorbed into the ether of consciousness.

There is no asana like Siddha, no force like breath retention, no mudra like Khechari, and no laya like nada.

Now I shall describe the great experience of the liberated man, on knowing which even the sinful aspirant attains liberation.

After duly worshiping the Lord, the wise yogi should make himself comfortable, propitiate his guru and, sitting at his side, receive the highest Yoga.

The wise obtain this Yoga after giving their lives and everything else they own to a guru who knows Yoga, and by making great efforts to please him.

After propitiating Brahmins, the wise man should receive this auspicious Yoga inside a temple of mine while attended by various lucky signs and in a state of purity.

Having used this method to cast off his old body and so forth and to receive a divine body, the yogi should do what I am about to describe.

Seated in Padmasana and away from human company, he should block the two vijñana nadis with his fingers.

Perfection then manifests itself, blissful and pure. One can become an adept by means of this, so great effort should be put into it.

Success is not far off for the man who practices it regularly. He is sure to gradually attain mastery of the air.

The yogi who does it once is sure to get rid of all his sins. His wind is sure to go into the middle.

The yogi who practices it regularly is worshipped by the gods, obtains the powers of becoming infinitesimal and so forth, and wanders freely about the three worlds.

This occurs in the body of him whose practice is unswerving. The wise man abides in himself; moreover, he has a lot of fun.

This great Yoga is to be kept secret and not given to all and sundry. It must only be told to him who is like one’s own lifebreath.

When the yogi sits in Padmasana, concentrates on his Adam’s apple, and puts his tongue at the base of his palate, he feels neither hunger nor thirst.

In the place below the Adam’s apple is the lovely Kurma nadi. When the yogi concentrates on it, his mind becomes completely still.

When the yogi visualizes the eye of Shiva as an aperture in his skull, then there arises a shining light as brilliant as a ball of lightning.

Merely by visualizing it, sins are destroyed. Even a wicked man attains the ultimate state.

Then, when the wise man continually performs this visualization, he is sure to see and speak with the adepts.

If the yogi meditates on emptiness day and night—while standing still, moving, sleeping, and eating—he becomes ethereal and is absorbed in the ether of consciousness.

This meditation should be done regularly by the yogi desirous of perfection. Through constant practice, he is sure to become my equal.

By the power of this meditation the yogi becomes dear to everyone. After conquering all the elements, he is free from desire and acquisitiveness.

When the yogi sits in Padmasana and looks at the tip of his nose, his mind dies and he successfully becomes an ethereal being.

The lord of yogis sees a bright light like a white mountain. Through the power of practicing on it, he himself becomes its guardian.

To remove his fatigue quickly, the wise yogi should lie on his back on the ground and meditate without pause on that light.

When the rear part of the head is meditated upon, death is conquered. The unrivaled reward produced merely by looking between the eyebrows has been taught.

The chyle produced from the four types of food4 is divided into three types. Of those, the most essential part nourishes the subtle body.

The next one nourishes the physical body, which is made of seven constituents. The third leaves the body in the form of urine and feces.

The lower two are said to be nadis, and all nadis propel wind about the body from the soles of the feet to the head.

Only when the wind moves through all these nadis is the chyle in equilibrium here in the body.

Fourteen of the nadis are taught to be preeminent on account of their functions in the body. Those movers of prana are complete and not deficient.

Two fingers above the anus and one finger below the penis is a single flat bulb four fingers across.

Facing backwards in the space between the anus and the penis is a yoni. The bulb is said to be there. Kundalini resides there at all times.

She is found at the opening of Sushumna. She encircles all the nadis, is coiled three and one-half times, and has inserted her tail into her mouth.

She is like a sleeping serpent and sparkles with her own light. Made of links like a snake, she is the goddess of speech and is called bija.5

Know her to be the Shakti of Vishnu, spotless and brilliantly golden. She is made to expand by the three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas.

The seed syllable of Kama is said to be there, looking like a bandhuka flower. With the addition of kalahamsa it takes the form of the syllable that is used.

Clinging tightly to Sushumna, the precious bija is found there, a light resembling the autumn moon. This is the foremost triad.6

As bright as ten million suns and as cool as ten million moons, when this triad comes together it makes the goddess Tripurabhairavi.

Only that great light is said to be called the bija. Joined with the action and consciousness shaktis, it wanders all around.

That great light looks like an upright lotus fiber, is subtle, joined with a red flame, and found at the yoni and the self-born linga.

The latter is the Adhara lotus, at the bulb of which is a yoni. It is brilliant, contains the four syllables starting with va and ending in sa,7 and has four petals.

It is called Kula, is golden, and is known as the self-born linga. In it are the adept Dviranda and the goddess Dakini.

Within that lotus is the yoni where Kundalini is found. Above her is a sparkling light taught to be the wandering bija of Kama.

The wise man who regularly meditates upon the Muladhara gradually attains Darduri siddhi, the ability to leave the ground like a frog.

His body becomes extremely beautiful and his digestive fire increases. He does not fall ill and his faculties become sharp.

He knows what has really happened and what is to happen in the future, and he understands the speech of everyone. He is certain to recite sacred texts which he hasn’t even heard, together with their secret doctrines.

The goddess Sarasvati forever dances with abandon in his mouth. Through repetition he is sure to attain perfection of the mantra.

The word of the guru destroys old age, death, and a host of sorrows. This great meditation is to be performed regularly by the practitioner of pranayama. Merely through meditation the master yogi is sure to be freed from every sin.

When the yogi meditates upon the Muladhara lotus, which is called the self-born linga, he is sure to destroy all his sins immediately.

He obtains whatever reward he desires in his mind. Through constant practice he sees the giver of liberation.

The internal meditation is better than the external and should be carefully cultivated. This is the very best meditation in the tantra. I approve of no other.

He who rejects the internal Shiva and worships the external casts aside the food in his hand to wander in search of sustenance.

Complete perfection arises for him who tirelessly worships his internal linga every day. This is not to be doubted.

Through constant practice the yogi attains perfection within six months. His breath is sure to enter Sushumna.

He conquers his mind, checks his breath and bindu, and attains perfection both in this world and the next. In this there is no doubt.

The second lotus, which is found at the base of the penis, contains six syllables,8 starting with ba and ending in la, and has six shining petals.

That lotus is called Svadhishthana and is red. The adept called Bala and the goddess Rakini reside in it.

All beautiful women become besotted with and adore the man who regularly meditates upon the eternal Svadhishthana lotus.

And he is sure to proclaim unhesitatingly various sacred texts that he has not heard before. Free from all disease, he wanders about the world fearlessly.

He devours death and nothing devours him. He gets the ultimate perfection, which bestows the powers of becoming infinitesimal and so forth.

Breath flows in his body and his fluids are sure to increase. The nectar flowing from the lotus in the ether also increases.

The third lotus is at the navel and is called Manipuraka. It has ten spokes, contains the syllables from ḍa to pha,9 has the color gold, and is beautiful.

The adept there is called Bhujanga and the goddess is Lakini.

When the yogi regularly meditates on Manipuraka, he gets Patala siddhi,10 the bringer of unceasing bliss.

He gets what he wants here in this world, he gets rid of suffering and disease, he can cheat death, and he can enter another’s body.

He can create gold and suchlike, see the adepts, find elixirs, and discover buried treasures.

In the heart is the fourth lotus, known as Anahata. The syllables from ka to ha11 are found there and it has twelve spokes.

It is bright red and said to be the location of the palace of Kamaraja. The great light in the lotus is called the banalinga.¹²

Merely by thinking of it, the reward of knowing one’s past and future lives arises. The adept there is Pinaki and the goddess is Kakini.

When a man meditates constantly upon this lotus in the heart, divine maidens are excited by his beauty and fall in love.

He gets a matchless knowledge of the past, present, and future, long-distance hearing and sight, and he can move through the air at will.

He can see adepts and yoginis, and he gets Khechara siddhi and mastery over the khecharas.13

He who regularly meditates on the second great banalinga is sure to get Khechari and Bhuchari siddhis.

The power of this great meditation is indescribable. Brahma and all the other gods keep it secret.

The fifth lotus is in the throat and called Vishuddha. It is golden, contains gods, and is adorned with sixteen syllables.

The adept there is Chagalanda and the presiding goddess is Shakini. He who regularly meditates on it is a wise man amongst master yogis.

What need of anything else for the yogi who meditates on the Vishuddha lotus? The four Vedas become manifest in him, as do the secrets of fate.

When the yogi is meditating on that region and becomes angry, all the three worlds are sure to tremble.

When his mind happens to become absorbed in this place, the yogi rejects what is outside him and dwells happily within himself for a long time.

Through its power, his body is harder than diamond and does not deteriorate even in a thousand years.

When the expert master yogi stops this meditation, he reckons thousands of years here on earth to be an instant.

The Ajna lotus is between the eyebrows. It contains the syllables ham and ksha and has two petals. It is white, its adept is Mahakala, and the goddess there is Hakini.

A syllabic seed syllable is found there which looks like the autumn moon. The man who knows it is a paramahamsa and never perishes.

This same great light is discussed in all the tantras. By contemplating it, the yogi is sure to attain the supreme perfection.

That third linga is the highest mental state; it is I, the giver of liberation. Merely by meditating on it, the master yogi is sure to become like me.

Ida is called Varana, Pingala is called Asi. Between them is Varanasi. Vishvanatha is said to be there.14

The importance of his domain has been declared many times in the sacred texts by sages who know the ultimate truth. It is well described as the Ultimate Reality.

Sushumna goes by way of Meru to the aperture of Brahman and comes back from there via the right side of the Ajna lotus to the left nostril. She is celebrated as Ganga.

The lotus situated in the aperture of Brahman is the Sahasrara. In the bulb there is a yoni, in which is situated the moon.

The yoni is triangular and nectar constantly flows from it. The moon makes the nectar of immortality there flow directly into Ida.

She constantly carries that nectar of immortality in the form of a stream. She goes to the left nostril and is called Ganga by yogis.

Ida goes from the right side of the Ajna lotus to the left nostril. There she flows upwards and is called Varana.15

Pingala has the same form on the left of the Ajna lotus. It goes to the right nostril and I call it Asi. Thus one should visualize those two in that place, which is called Varanasi.

In the bulb in the Muladhara, which is the lotus with four petals, is a yoni, in which is situated the sun.

From the orb of the sun a terrible poison drips constantly. The sun offers the poison to Pingala there.

The channel which constantly conveys the poison there in the form of a stream goes to the right nostril and is fashioned like the one before.

Pingala also goes from the left side of the Ajna lotus to the right nostril, flowing upwards. It was earlier said to be called Asi.

The place where the god Maheshvara is found is called the Ajna lotus, and above that, those who know Yoga have declared there to be a triad of sacred abodes, namely bindu, nada, and shakti, situated on the surface of the forehead.

He who regularly practices the secret meditation on the Ajna lotus will remember with ease what he has done in former lives.

When the resolute yogi meditates unceasingly upon it, he holds a meaningful conversation with the image.

Yakshas, rakshasas, gandharvas, apsarases, ganas, and kinnaras wait at his feet and are all under his control.

After practicing the meditation which dispels fear, the yogi turns back his tongue and inserts it into the cavities above the uvula.

All the sins of the yogi whose mind remains fixed on this place for half an instant are instantly destroyed.

By meditating on it all the rewards which have here been said to be found in the first five lotuses arise to a greater degree.

The wise man who regularly carries out the practice on the Ajna lotus casts aside the great bondage of past impressions and is blissful.

At the time of his lifebreath leaving, the wise and dutiful man who is thinking of that lotus as he casts it off is absorbed into the supreme self.

The man who practices this meditation while sitting, walking, sleeping, and eating, does not sink into sin even if he performs bad acts.

Through meditating on this, the yogi is sure to earn the right to practice Raja Yoga and be freed from dualities by means of his own personal splendor.

The importance of meditation on the lotus with two petals cannot be put into words. Even Brahma and the other gods learn a little of it from me.

Above it, at the root of the palate, is the Sahasrara16 lotus, in which is situated the opening where the Sushumna starts.

At the root of the palate is Sushumna. She faces downwards. All nadis go via the Muladhara and end at the yoni. They are born of seed syllables, are extremely delicate, and show the way to Brahman.

In the bulb of the lotus at the root of the palate, which has already been taught to be the Sahasrara, there is understood to be a single backwards-facing yoni.

In its middle is situated the opening where the Sushumna starts. That is called the aperture of Brahman and goes as far as the Muladhara lotus, in the aperture of whose fine stem its shakti, Kundalini, is constantly sleeping.

In the Sushumna is found the Chitra nadi, which is dear to me. In my doctrine, the aperture of Brahman and so forth are to be conceived of as being situated in her.

Merely by thinking of her, omniscience arises, sins are destroyed, and the yogi is never again born as a man.

The yogi should insert her tail into her mouth and keep it there. As a result, the wind that moves in the body completely ceases to flow there.

Consequently, the yogi does not go around forever on this wheel of samsara. That is why yogis practice breath retention.

Only as a result of this—and not otherwise—are all the nadis closed off, and does this Kundalini shakti, with her eight coverings, leave the opening.

When the breath in all the nadis is restrained, then, as a result of shaking off its shackles, the mouth of Kundalini emerges from the opening.

The prana breath always flows in Sushumna. The yoni is situated with its left and right corners at the root lotus.

The Sushumna is between Ida and Pingala, in the middle of the yoni, and the aperture of Brahman is right there, in the region of the base of the Sushumna. The wise man who knows this is freed from the bondage of karma.

The confluence of these three is without doubt at the mouth of the aperture of Brahman. Those who bathe in it are sure to get liberation.

It is Sarasvati who flows in the middle of Ganga and Yamuna. The lucky man who bathes in their confluence goes to the ultimate destination.

Ida has already been said to be Ganga, and Pingala the daughter of the sun.17 The one in the middle is said to be Sarasvati. Their confluence is extremely hard to find.

He who mentally bathes in the white and black confluence¹⁸ is freed from all sins and goes to the eternal Brahman.

He who performs ancestor rituals at the Triveni confluence¹⁹ brings about salvation for all his ancestors and goes to the ultimate destination.

He who mentally performs the obligatory, occasional, and optional rites every day obtains an everlasting reward.

The pure-minded yogi who bathes in it once, automatically burns up all his sins and enjoys pleasure in heaven.

Impure, pure, or in any condition, merely by bathing in it he becomes purified, and not otherwise.

At the time of death, the man who imagines his body bathed in the waters of Triveni before casting off his life-breath always obtains liberation.

No greater secret than this is to be found in the three worlds. It is to be guarded carefully and never told.

If a man puts his mind at the aperture of Brahman and remains there for half an instant, he is freed from all sins and goes to the ultimate destination.

The yogi whose mind is absorbed in it is absorbed in me. That finest of men freely enjoys the powers of becoming infinitesimal and so forth.

Merely by meditating on this aperture a man here in the world of samsara overcomes sin, becomes dear to me, and earns the right to journey on the path to liberation. I shall give him knowledge and quickly make him cross to the other side.

This aperture of Brahman of which I have spoken is inaccessible to four-faced Brahma and the other gods, dear to yogis, and to be carefully kept secret.

Below the yoni, in the Sahasrara lotus, which has already been described by me, is the moon. The wise practice meditation on it.

Merely by thinking of it, the lord of yogis becomes worthy here on earth of worship by the gods, and is held in esteem by the adepts.

The yogi should visualize an ocean of milk in the space in the skull. Remaining there, he should imagine the moon in the Sahasrara lotus.

It is in the space in the skull, has sixteen digits, is known as the moonswan, has rays made of nectar, and will make the pure yogi cross to the other side.

Through constant practice, within three days the aspirant is sure to have a revelation and, merely by that vision, he burns up a mass of sins.

As soon as he does so, the future becomes manifest, his mind is purified, and he burns up the five great sins.20

The planets become favorable, all disasters are no more, problems cease, and he is victorious in battle.

From seeing the moon in the milk, Khechari and Bhuchari siddhis arise. Through visualization alone all this arises. This is not to be doubted.

Through constant application of the practice a man becomes perfected. Truly, truly, and again truly, the yogi is sure to become equal to me. That which is cherished in the texts of Yoga bestows perfection upon yogis.

Above there, outside the body which is called the egg of Brahma, is the divinely beautiful Sahasrara lotus which bestows liberation.

It is called Kailasa, and Mahesha lives there under the name Akula. He is imperishable, free from decay or growth.

Just by knowing this place, men are not born again here in samsara. Through regular application of the practice, the power to create and destroy all living beings arises in its entirety.

With his mind fixed on this great place, which is the abode of the swan and is called Kailasa, the yogi is freed from disease, casts off illness and affliction, and lives for a long time, liberated from death.

When the operation of the mind is focused on Parameshvara, under the name of Akula, then the yogi has perfected samadhi and becomes unchanging.

When the yogi practices the meditation constantly, he becomes oblivious to the world, and then he is sure to get various wonderful powers.

Having brought about the death of death and quickly overcome the Kula lotus, the yogi should constantly drink the nectar which drips from there.

Here Kundalini shakti, which is called Kula, obtains absorption. Then the fourfold creation is absorbed into the supreme self.

On reaching there, the operations of the mind find an object and become absorbed. The disinterested yogi strives for this.

When the operations of the mind are absorbed in the object, one assuredly becomes a yogi. Then the pure essence, which has the form of unbroken knowledge, is triumphant.

The yogi should visualize his own image outside the egg of Brahma as described previously, insert it into the great void, and meditate freely upon it.

It has no beginning, middle, or end, is as bright as ten million suns, and has the splendor of ten million moons. After carrying out the practice on it, the yogi attains success.

He should practice this meditation tirelessly every day. After a year he will get complete success. In this there is no doubt.

All the sins of he whose mind is fixed there without moving for half a moment are instantly destroyed.

After seeing it, the yogi does not meet his end on the road of death and transmigration. He should zealously carry out that practice via the path of the Svadhishthana.

I cannot explain the importance of this meditation. He who masters it understands and is held in respect by me.

Only through meditation does the yogi recognize the various things that arise momentarily and is he sure to obtain the powers of becoming infinitesimal and so forth.

I have taught the Raja Yoga which is concealed in all the tantras. Now I shall teach in brief the Rajadhiraja Yoga.21

In a pleasant hermitage where there are no other living beings, the yogi should assume Svastikasana, carefully worship his guru, and practice this meditation.

After obtaining knowledge through the reasoning of Vedanta, the jiva becomes freestanding. The wise man should make his mind freestanding and not think of anything.

Great success is sure to arise as a result of this meditation. Having made the mind free of fluctuations, the yogi automatically becomes complete.

The yogi who practices constantly becomes desireless. There is no ‘I.’ At all times, only the self exists in him.

What is bondage? Who is liberated? The yogi always sees unity. He who does this continually is liberated. In this there is no doubt. He alone is a yogi, devoted to me, worshipped in all the worlds.

When the yogi identifies himself with the individual and supreme selves he should abandon the pair ‘I’ and ‘that’ and meditate on that which is undivided.

Free from all attachment, the yogi should take refuge in that seed in which all things vanish by means of realizing that they have been incorrectly understood and dismissing them.

Having cast aside that which is knowable, complete consciousness, and bliss, those confused by misunderstanding make the unknowable the knowable, and wander about at a loss.

One who acts on this movable and immovable universe, which is unknowable—and casts aside the supreme Brahman, which is knowable—he is absorbed in the unknowable.

In order that knowledge produced by the organs of knowledge does not arise excessively, the yogi should carry out the practice free from attachment.

Restraining their senses from all objects of the senses, wise men live as if in deep sleep, free from all attachment.

An inner illumination shines forth from the yogi who regularly practices thus. The guru’s words yield their meaning in the mind of the listener and then exist no more. Through the power of this practice, a unique knowledge develops automatically.

Through application of the practice, that pure knowledge is sure to shine forth automatically, from which words, in the company of the mind, turn back, having been unable to reach it.

Without Hatha, Raja Yoga does not succeed, nor does Hatha succeed without Raja Yoga. So the yogi should practice both until they are complete. Hence he undertakes Hatha following the path of a good guru.

He who does not now quickly die in his body while it is unchanging and alive, lives for the enjoyment of the objects of the senses. In this there is no doubt.

Until the practice is complete, the yogi should resort to a restricted diet. Without doing so, a wise man is unable to carry out the practice in this life.

The clever man should not talk too much with the good men in the assembly. He should do enough to take care of his person, avoiding excessive chatter.

The yogi must, but must, abandon company. He has to do it completely and utterly, otherwise he will not get liberation. Truly, I have spoken the truth.

The practice is to be performed indoors at home, shunning company. Company is to be kept outdoors for the sake of everyday business, without attachment.

All those who are the products of action are busy with their own particular actions. There is never anything wrong with an action whose cause is only occasional.

He who realizes this and conducts himself intelligently is sure to obtain perfection, even if he is a householder.

He who is free from sin and merit and has foregone bodily contact is liberated, even if he always lives in a house as a householder.

The householder who constantly applies himself to Yoga does not incur sin or merit, even if he performs sinful deeds when carrying out his duties for the good of the world.

Now I shall teach the best mantra practice, by means of which the pleasures of this world and the next are sure to arise.

When this best of mantras is known, success in Yoga, which bestows absolute dominion and pleasure, will indeed arise for the yogi who is the best of practitioners.

In the middle of the lotus with four petals in the Muladhara is the Vagbhava seed syllable, flashing like a bolt of lightning.

In the heart is the Kamaraja, which looks like a bandhuka flower. In the Ajna lotus is the seed syllable called Shakti which looks like ten million moons.

This triad of seed syllables grants the rewards of both worldly enjoyment and liberation. The yogi striving to achieve perfection should master these three mantras.

After receiving this mantra from his guru, the yogi should repeat all of its syllables in sequence, neither quickly nor slowly, his mind free from doubt.

Absorbed in it, his mind one-pointed, the wise yogi should make one lakh oblations before the goddess in the manner described in the sacred texts and then repeat the mantra three lakh times.

At the end of the repetition, the wise and clever yogi should offer an oblation of oleander blossom mixed with jaggery, milk, and ghee into a fire pit in the shape of a yoni.

When this observance has been performed, the goddess Tripurabhairavi, created by the earlier worship, appears and grants wishes.

Having duly pleased his guru and obtained this finest of mantras, even an unlucky yogi can achieve success by means of this technique.

At the sight of the practitioner who repeats it one lakh times with his senses subdued, women tremble and become sick with love. They fall shameless and without fear before the practitioner.

Repeated two lakh times, it makes men living in the region come as if to a place of pilgrimage, abandoning their families and possessions. They give him all their property and are under his power.

And when it is repeated three lakh times, all the district governors are sure to be subjugated, together with their districts. With six lakh repetitions, the king is subjugated, together with his dependents, his troops, and his vehicles.

With twelve lakh repetitions, yakshas, rakshasas, and great snakes all come under his control and do his bidding forever.

When it is repeated fifteen lakh times, adepts and sorcerers, together with gandharvas, apsarases, and ganas, are sure to come under the control of the wise master practitioner. Long-distance hearing, clairvoyance, and omniscience arise.

And with eighteen lakh repetitions, using this body the practitioner leaves the ground and rises up. He gets a divine body, wanders freely about the universe, and sees the earth in its perfect entirety.

With twenty-eight lakh repetitions, the practitioner becomes the lord of the sorcerers, wise, able to assume any form he wishes, and very powerful.

And with thirty lakh repetitions, he becomes equal to Brahma and Vishnu. With sixty lakh, he attains the state of Rudra. With eighty, he becomes the principle of Shakti.

With one crore repetitions, the great yogi is absorbed into the Absolute. The practitioner becomes a yogi of great rarity in the three worlds.

O Tripura! That wise man is sure to obtain the one Shiva Tripura, the supreme cause, that imperishable, peaceful, immeasurable, healthy abode—everything that is desired.

Shiva’s magical science is a great magical science and has been kept secret from the outset, O Great Goddess. Therefore, this treatise that I have spoken should be kept secret by the wise.

The magical science of Hatha is to be very well guarded by the yogi desirous of success. Guarded, it becomes powerful; made public, it becomes powerless.

The wise man who regularly reads this treatise from beginning to end is sure gradually to obtain success in Yoga.

The wise man who regularly worships this treatise obtains liberation, and he should recite it to all good men who seek liberation.

Success arises for he who is intent upon the practice. How can it arise for he who does not practice? Thus the finest yogis should carry out the practice according to the rules.

The householder who is content with whatever he happens to obtain, who has given up inner attachment, and who has completed all the practices becomes liberated by means of the techniques of Yoga.

Householders intent on the practice of Yoga achieve perfection through worshiping the Lord, so a householder should engage himself in the struggle.

Living in a house filled with children and a wife and so forth, internally abandoning attachment, and then seeing the mark of success on the path of Yoga, the householder has fun having mastered my teaching.”

Thus ends the fifth chapter in the glorious Shiva Samhita, a treatise on Yoga in the form of a dialogue between the Lord and Parvati.

1 Pan is a mixture of spices, sweets, and betel nuts.

² The Chandrayana penance is a month-long fast beginning on the day of the full moon, on which fifteen mouthfuls of food are eaten. Each day, one less mouthful is taken until the dark of the moon, when nothing is eaten. Then one more mouthful is eaten each day, leading up to fifteen mouthfuls again on the full moon.

³ All the manuscripts have three verses after 5.11 which are clearly a later addition to the text and very corrupt. I have omitted them.

⁴ Food is divided into four types according to whether it is chewed, drunk, licked, or sucked.

⁵ A bija, literally “seed,” is a seed syllable, i.e., a monosyllabic mantra.

⁶ The members of this triad are not clear, but are perhaps the three syllables bija, kamabija, and kalahamsa.

⁷ The four syllables starting with va and ending in sa are va, śa, ṣa, and sa.

⁸ The six syllables are ba, bha, ma, ya, ra, and la.

⁹ The syllables are ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, and pha.

¹⁰ Patala siddhi is the ability to journey to the underworlds.

¹¹ These syllables are ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ca, cha, ja, jha, ña, ṭa, and ṭha.

¹² Banalinga is another name for a narmadeshvara, a stone found in the river Narmada and worshipped as a natural lingam.

¹³ A khechara is a divine being, literally one who moves (-chara) in the ether (khe-).

¹⁴ Varana and Asi are two rivers which join the Ganga, or Ganges, in Varanasi. The most important temple to Shiva in Varanasi is that of Vishvanatha.

¹⁵ Udagvaha, which has been translated as “flows upwards” can also mean “flows in the north.” In Varanasi, the Varana is found on the north side of the city.

¹⁶ Sahasrara literally means “thousand-spoked,” i.e., “thousand-petaled.”

¹⁷ ”Daughter of the sun” is another name for the Yamuna river.

¹⁸ The waters of the Yamuna have a dark hue; those of the Ganga are light.

¹⁹ Triveni means “having three braids” and is the name of the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna (and Sarasvati) at Prayag, modern-day Allahabad.

²⁰ The five sins are killing a Brahmin, drinking alcohol, stealing, sleeping with one’s guru’s wife, and associating with anyone guilty of these crimes.

²¹ Raja Yoga literally means “King Yoga,” i.e., the king of Yogas, and Rajadhiraja Yoga is the “king of kings” amongst Yogas.