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Gheranda Samhita

Introduction

Chapter 1: Kriya

Following a general introduction, 20 internal hygiene techniques are described.

CHAPTER 1
Introduction (verses 1 – 11)
1:1

Chanda Kapali went to the hut of Gheranda and greeted him with devout reverence.

1:2

He said, “Oh, Master of Yoga, best of Yogins, I wish to learn the discipline of hatha yoga, which leads to the knowledge of the truth .”

1:3

Master Gheranda replied, “Because you have asked correctly, Chanda Kapali, I will teach what you have asked. But you must attend to it most diligently.”

1:4

[Gheranda explains the need for diligence.]

There is no bondage like maya [illusion].
There is no strength like yoga [discipline, integrity].
There is no friend greater than jnana [knowledge].
And there is no enemy worse than ahamkara [the “I-maker,” or individual ego].

[Ahamkara, the “I-maker,” is not just ones “ego” as commonly thought of in the West. It is our individual sense of self as separate from others… that which each one of us normally thinks of as “me”… that sense of separation which keeps us estranged from the universal nature that is our birthright.

What Gheranda is saying here is that everything we presently think about ourselves is fundamentally wrong, because it is misunderstood; and our fundamental misunderstanding is due to the masking influence of maya.

Maya is normally rendered simply as illusion, but the word is actually composed of two Sanskrit roots: ma which means “to measure,” and ya which denotes error. The word maya, therefore, literally means “an error in measurement.” We fail to see our true spiritual identity because we are mislead by our senses, our perceptions, and by our constant state of cultural hypnosis.

Jnana and yoga (knowledge and discipline) are the means of overcoming our misdirected sense of self and the world around us.]

1:5

[Gheranda next introduces a simile to further clarify the four axioms given in the last verse.]

As by first learning the alphabet [one can go on to learn language and grammar, and] eventually master all of the sciences [vidyas], in a similar way by first learning hatha yoga, one can obtain knowledge of the Truth that frees the soul from bondage.

[By first learning the discipline of hatha yoga, one can obtain the knowledge that frees the soul.

Jesus said the same thing: “Know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free.” (John 8:32) In the next verse, Jesus explains that because of bad deeds (“sins”) no one is free.]

1:6

[Gheranda explains the circle of life, and then gives another simile.]

Based on good deeds and bad deeds, the bodies of all living beings are created; these bodies produce actions [karmas] which are the cause of rebirth; and the cycle continues like the endless cycles of a ox-drawn water wheel, drawing water from a well.

1:7

As the action of a ox-drawn wheel moves the buckets up and down, pulled by the bullock, [filling and emptying the buckets time after time] so a jivatman [a living soul] is propelled by its karma.

1:8

But the body soon decays in the world, like an unbaked clay pot thrown into the water; therefore, to purify and strengthen the body, harden it [“temper it” or “bake it”] in the fires of yoga self-training [yogah atmasath].

[The sense here is that hatha yoga training uses the kriyas (taught in this chapter) to purify the internal organs of the body, and the asanas (taught in chapter two) to fire up the body and strengthen it.]

[Gheranda will now introduce the seven stages (saptanga) that he will teach, which together lead the practitioner to the pinnacle of raja yoga. Compared to Patanjali’s eight limbs (ashtanga) yama and niyama are omitted because by the time Gheranda is teaching, they are already presupposed as being necessary and fundamental to any spiritual undertaking; they are replaced by the kriyas and the mudras (which includes the bandhas). Dharana (focus or concentration) is omitted because it is considered to be merely a transitional phase between pratyahara (the focused internalization of the senses) and dhyanam (meditation).]

1:9

There are seven parts to this training of the physical body:

purification [kriya]
strengthening [driddhata]
steadiness [sthirata]
courage / [dhirata]
kindness and lightness / [laghima]
clear perception [pratyak-satva]
isolation [nirliptata]
[Next Gheranda associates these with the lessons he is about to give.]

1:10-11

purification is acquired through the shat kriyas
strengthening is acquired through the asanas
steadiness is acquired through the mudras
calmness is acquired through Pratyahara
kindness and lightness are acquired through pranayama
clear perception is acquired through dhyanam
isolation is acquired through samadhi

Chapter 1 – Shat Karmas
The 6 Kriyas (or 6 Purifying Practices)
Part 1 – The 10 Dhautis (verses 12 – 44)