What is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika?
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is a Sanskrit manual of hatha yoga written by Svātmārāma in the early fifteenth century. Its four chapters cover postures, breath control with six cleansing practices, mudrās (seals and locks), and absorption through inner sound. A critical edition based on over 200 manuscripts appeared online in 2024.
- Svātmārāma wrote it as “a stairway” to rāja yoga: the physical work serves meditation.
- Chapter 1 has fifteen postures, none of them standing poses.
- Chapter 2 gives the six cleansing acts (ṣaṭkarma) and eight kinds of breath retention (kumbhaka).
- Its health claims are the text’s own. Read them as history, not as medical advice.
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is one of the best-known classical texts on hatha yoga, composed by Svātmārāma in the early fifteenth century, and it is on our list of yoga books every yogi should read. It is short, but few people read it through. This guide takes you chapter by chapter: what the text says, what it claims, and where you are likely to meet each practice in a modern Hatha teacher training.
What the Hatha Yoga Pradipika is
The author, Svātmārāma, opens by saluting Śiva, “who taught the Hathayoga-vidya, which is as a stairway for those who wish to attain the lofty Raja-yoga” (1.1). He then names the earlier masters of the tradition, among them Matsyendra and Gorakṣa, and says he teaches hatha “solely for the attainment of Raja-yoga” (1.2). That framing matters. The postures, breathing and cleansing are not the goal. They prepare the body and breath for meditation.
Scholars now date the text to the early fifteenth century, about 1400 CE. In 2024 a team from Oxford (James Mallinson and Jason Birch) and Marburg (Jürgen Hanneder, Mitsuyo Demoto and Nils Jacob Liersch) published a new critical edition under the shorter title Haṭhapradīpikā. It is based on over 200 manuscripts, the oldest dated 1496 CE, according to SOAS YogaStudies Online. The Light on Haṭha Yoga project notes that earlier translations rested on far fewer manuscripts, and that a printed edition with an introduction and annotated translation will follow. The digital edition can be read online on the project site.
The four chapters at a glance
Svātmārāma gives the order of practice himself: “Asana-s, the varieties of Kumbhaka, the positions called Mudra, then concentration upon the nada (inner sound) comprise the sequence of practice in Hatha-yoga” (1.56). The four chapters follow that sequence. The last column below is general. It describes where these practices usually appear in a 200-hour Hatha teacher training today, which varies from school to school.
| Chapter | What the text covers | Where you meet it in a modern Hatha TTC |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Āsanaposture | The place to practise, what helps and harms practice, diet, and fifteen postures, with Siddhāsana and Padmāsana given most weight | Daily asana classes, especially seated poses, forward folds and twists; sitting posture for pranayama and meditation |
| 2. Prāṇāyāma and ṣaṭkarmabreath and cleansing | Alternate-nostril breathing to purify the channels, the six cleansing acts, and eight kinds of breath retention | Pranayama classes (alternate-nostril breathing, ujjayi, bhramari, bhastrika); neti and kapalabhati taught as cleansing practices under supervision |
| 3. Mudrāseals and locks | Ten mudrās, including the three bandhas, to awaken kuṇḍalinī | The bandhas in pranayama and asana; inversions; most other mudrās studied in theory |
| 4. Samādhi and nādaabsorption and inner sound | Rāja yoga, absorption of the mind, listening to the inner sound, and four stages of progress | Meditation and philosophy classes on what the practice is for |
Chapter 1: posture, place and lifestyle
The first chapter starts with the setting: a small, clean hermitage (maṭha) with a small door, no windows and no holes, in a prosperous place free of disturbances (1.12–13). It lists what makes yoga fail: over-eating, over-exertion, too much talk, unsuitable austerities, the wrong company and unsteadiness (1.15). Then come the postures. Āsanas, it says, “make one firm, free from maladies and light of limb” (1.17).
There are fifteen in all, among them Svastikāsana, Gomukhāsana, Matsyendrāsana, Paścimottānāsana, Mayūrāsana and Śavāsana. Four are singled out as the best, Siddha, Padma, Siṃha and Bhadra, and Siddhāsana as the most comfortable (1.34). Notice what is missing. None of the fifteen is a standing pose, and there is no sun salutation. Much of what fills a modern class was added later. The text’s posture chapter is mainly about learning to sit, steadily, for breath and meditation.
Chapter 2: breath and the six cleansing acts
The second chapter is about prāṇāyāma. It begins with alternate-nostril breathing, seated in Padmāsana, to purify the channels (nāḍīs) (2.7–10). It also warns about pace: “As the lion, elephant or tiger is tamed gradually, even so should Prana be brought under control. Else it will kill the practitioner” (2.15). The text claims that correct practice frees you from disease and wrong practice causes hiccups, asthma and pains in the head, ears and eyes (2.16–17). Those are its claims, not established medicine, but the advice to go gradually holds.
The text does not prescribe the six acts for everyone. Only those who are “flabby and phlegmatic” should do them first. Others, whose humours are in balance, need not (2.21). Its neti uses a smooth thread passed through the nose and out of the mouth (2.29). Most people today meet neti as jala neti, with salt water and a pot, which we explain in our guide to jal neti.
Several of these are still taught under the same names. Ujjayi, Sitali, Bhastrika and Bhramari are commonly taught today, often with short or no retention for beginners, and our post on the benefits of pranayama covers how they are practised today. The text also pairs retention with the locks: the chin lock at the end of the in-breath, and the abdominal lock before the out-breath (2.45).
Chapter 3: mudrās, the seals and locks
The third chapter lists ten mudrās: Mahāmudrā, Mahābandha, Mahāvedha, Khecarī, Uḍḍīyāna, Mūlabandha, Jālandhara, Viparītakaraṇī, Vajrolī and Śakticālana (3.6–7). Their stated purpose is to awaken kuṇḍalinī, the power pictured as sleeping at the mouth of the central channel, suṣumnā (3.5). The text claims they “destroy old age and death” (3.7). Read that as the language of a fifteenth-century manual, not a promise.
The three bandhas, at the root, abdomen and throat, are the part of this chapter you are most likely to practise. Hand gestures such as Jnana mudra are not on the list, and we explain them in our guide to yoga mudras. For the wider map of channels and centres that later texts built on, see the chakra system.
Chapter 4: samādhi and the inner sound
The last chapter is the destination the first three point to. It promises to “expound the excellent process of Samadhi” (4.2), the absorption of the mind. Its main method is nādānusandhāna, attending to an inner sound heard in stillness, with the ears closed. It names four stages that apply to all yogic practice, ārambha, ghaṭa, paricaya and niṣpatti (4.69), each marked by its own inner sounds, from tinkling and a kettledrum to a drum and a flute (4.70–76).
This is the chapter that explains the rest. Svātmārāma says plainly that there is no success in rāja yoga without hatha yoga, and no success in hatha yoga without rāja yoga (2.76). The physical techniques, in other words, are means. A modern class that stops at postures has kept the first chapter and left out the point of the book.
How to read the Hatha Yoga Pradipika today
- Use a translation with commentary. The verses are short and assume a teacher. The Adyar Library translation (with Brahmānanda’s commentary) is free online, and Swami Muktibodhananda’s edition from the Bihar School of Yoga is widely used.
- Look at the critical edition. The 2024 digital edition is built from far more manuscripts than the older translations used.
- Read the claims as history. The text promises freedom from disease and even from death. It tells you what its author believed, not what modern medicine has found.
- Practise with a teacher. Breath retention, bandhas and the cleansing acts are learned in person, step by step.
If you want to meet the text in practice, our Hatha and Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher training in Goa runs for 21 days near Mandrem beach in North Goa and is Yoga Alliance certified (RYS 200). Its syllabus lists the Shat Kriyas, with the theory and practice of the six purification techniques, and separately an introduction to mudras, bandhas and kriyas, covering theory and practice, benefits and contraindications. We recommend 4–6 months of regular practice before you join. For how the two styles differ in a training, see our guide to Hatha and Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher training. If you are not sure you are ready, ask us.
Questions students ask
- Who wrote the Hatha Yoga Pradipika?
- It was written by Svātmārāma, who names Matsyendra and Gorakṣa among the masters before him. Scholars date it to the early fifteenth century, about 1400 CE.
- How many chapters does the Hatha Yoga Pradipika have?
- Four. The first covers postures, the second breath control and the six cleansing acts, the third mudrās and bandhas, and the fourth samādhi and the inner sound.
- Is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika suitable for beginners?
- It is readable for beginners if you use a translation with commentary, but it is not a do-it-yourself manual. Read it for understanding and learn the breathing, locks and cleansing practices from a qualified teacher.
- What is the new critical edition?
- A 2024 edition by scholars from Oxford and Marburg, based on over 200 manuscripts, the oldest dated 1496 CE. It can be read online, and a printed edition with an annotated translation is to follow.
- Are the health claims in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika true?
- They are the text’s own claims, made in the fifteenth century, and are not established by modern medicine. Some practices in it can be harmful if done wrongly. If you have a medical condition, ask your doctor before trying them.
