INTRODUCTION

to bodily purification and in the number of purificatory practices it describes. The chapters on physical postures original: āsanas and seals original: mudrās; gestures or locks used to direct internal energy are similarly unparalleled in the number of practices taught. The difference between physical postures and seals is not made clear by Gheranda—several of the seals seem to be no more than physical postures. We are told in the first chapter that physical postures lead to strength and seals to steadiness. In other texts, however, the purpose of seals is said to be the awakening of the serpent power original: Kuṇḍalinī; the dormant spiritual energy at the base of the spine. In five of the twenty-five seals listed this aim is made explicit, but awakening of the Goddess another name for the Kundalini energy is also given as one of the fruits of breath control original: prāṇāyāma in verse 5.57.

A further unique aspect of this book lies in its positioning of the chapter on sensory withdrawal original: pratyāhāra before that on breath control. In the classical system, the last six limbs are successively more subtle, moving from the physical realm to the mental. Breath control is, of course, a more physical practice than sensory withdrawal, but here the bee breath original: bhramarī prāṇāyāma; a practice involving a humming sound is said to lead to deep absorption original: samādhi; indeed, it is one of the six varieties of the royal path original: Rāja Yoga or deep absorption given in the final chapter. This may account for the position of the chapter on breath control. Most of the rest of the chapter is similar to other texts, apart from the teaching of the unuttered sacred chant original: Ajapa Gāyatrī, the prayer constantly but involuntarily repeated by all living beings. The sounds of the in- and out-breaths are said to be sa and ham, whose implicit combination is the philosophical dictum original: Vedāntic so’ham, “I am that.”

The chapter on meditation original: dhyāna teaches three successively more subtle visualizations, starting with a gross meditation of the yogi’s teacher original: guru on a beautiful island, followed by a luminous meditation, visualization of a light between the eyebrows, and a