4. Haṭha-yoga

[The following conversation took place at Sringeri, in May 1975. There was a prelude to it. I submitted to Acharyal that while at Madras I had, on successive nights, dreams of Acharyal gracing me by teaching me Bhagavatpāda's bhāṣya on the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā . The class in one dream had continued in the next. Till that time, I had not studied Bhagavatpāda's Gītā-bhāṣya. Acharyal asked, “Do you recall the clarifications that you heard?” “By Acharyal’s grace, I remember them fully as also the words of the bhāṣya on the verses dealing with the practice and fruit of meditation,” I replied. Acharyal sent for the Gītā-bhāṣya. He then asked me to recount the commentary on the “śanaiśśanairuparamet…” and “yato yato niścarati...” verses. I obeyed. Acharyal read out a passage from Bhagavatpāda's introduction to the chapter and asked me to explain it. Without making any comment on my response, He instructed me to resolve, according to what I had heard, an apparent contradiction in a verse. Finally, He asked me in which of two senses a word had been used in the bhāṣya. When I finished replying, Acharyal was all smiles. Patting me on my shoulder, He said, “Your answers fully conform to what I would have told you if I were teaching you the bhāṣya now. There is no doubt that God graced you by teaching you through those dreams. Because of your devotion to Me you see Me having effected them but I am just an ordinary man. I can particularly appreciate your experience because I had a similar one when I was young.” This is what preceded the conversation given below.]

Acharyal: Parameśvara (Śiva) instructed Me about yoga through seven dreams that occurred on successive nights. Each dream was a continuation of the preceding one. Do you want to hear about them?

I: Very much.

Acharyal: I was exhausted when I retired for the night on the day I was initiated into saṁnyāsa. As was usual, I fell asleep almost the moment I shut My eyes. That night I had a dream that I can vividly recall even now. In it, I found Myself on the amazingly scenic summit of a tall, ice-clad mountain.

I: What was Acharyal clad in in the dream?

Acharyal: An ochre upper and lower garment like the one I am wearing now. Unlike the dress that I was wearing during the day, this had no zarī border. May be the dream reflected My personal preference for a simple ochre attire rather than the costly one that I was required to wear. Two days before taking saṁnyāsa, I had thought, “Dreams are not under My control. Mistakes committed in them do not result in sin. Nevertheless, My renunciation should be so sincere and firm that after being initiated into saṁnyāsa, I should not see Myself in any dream as clad in white as I am now. I love chanting the Gāyatrī-mantra. Yet, as Gāyatrī-japa is disallowed for paramahaṁsa-saṁnyāsins, I should not engage in it even in My dreams from the day after tomorrow.” By God’s grace, till today, this has come to pass.

Though the mountain was icy, I felt no cold. In front of Me, at a distance of about twenty feet, I saw a huge, crystal Śivaliṅga. A torrent of water was falling on it in a column from above. I could not see the source of the water. I could hear the chanting in chorus of the Rudra (praśna) but no chanter was visible. Suddenly, there was a great flash of light and from the Liṅga, Lord Śiva manifested.

{Here, Acharyal fell silent. He closed His eyes and remained motionless for some time. On opening His eyes, He took in and let out a deep breath. He then continued with His narration.}

As I saw Him then, the Lord had one face and two arms. He was extremely fair and radiant. His hair was matted and was tawny in hue. On beholding Him, I was so struck with awe that I stood unmoving. He smilingly looked at Me and raised His right hand in a gesture of blessing. I felt a great power entering into Me. Automatically, I began to chant the Praṇava mentally. He gestured to Me to sit down. A seat of deer skin with an ochre cloth spread on it appeared where I was standing. I did namaskāra and, in obedience to Him, sat down, even though He was standing.

He came near Me. A big tiger skin appeared on the ground and He sat on it. He positioned His legs in the padmāsana and told Me to do the same. While I knew how to adopt the padmāsana, His approach was particularly graceful and I imitated it as best as I could. Then He assumed the siddhāsana. In response to His directive, I copied Him. With His hands, He corrected My posture.

I: What was the change?

{Acharyal demonstrated the way He had positioned His legs at first and the change made by the Lord. The correction consisted in adjusting the left heel to be in better contact with the perineum. About this, the authoritative text Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā says:

Having placed the (left) heel firmly against the region between the anus and the penis…}

Acharyal: Seated in the siddhāsana, the Lord demonstrated how to perform prāṇāyāma. Exhaling the air within, He began to smoothly inhale through the left nostril. On the completion of pūraka (inhalation), He blocked both His nostrils with His fingers and lowered His chin to His chest to form the jālandhara-bandha. At the close of kumbhaka (retention), I saw Him deeply pull in and upward His abdomen to adopt the uḍḍīyāna-bandha. His body smoothly rose to about a foot above the ground. Raising His head, He exhaled smoothly through the right nostril. As He did so, His body gradually returned to the ground. He then repeated the process by inhaling through the right nostril and exhaling through the left nostril.

{The Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā defines the jālandhara and uḍḍīyāna bandhas thus:

Having contracted the throat, the chin should be held firmly at the chest. This is the bandha called jālandhara. It destroys old age and death.

The abdomen above and below the navel should be drawn against the back. This is the uḍḍīyāna-bandha. It is the lion that kills the elephant of death.

About when the jālandhara and uḍḍīyāna bandhas should be practised during prāṇāyāma, the Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā says:

The bandha named jālandhara should be practised at the close of inhalation. The uḍḍīyāna should be practised at the end of retention and before the start of exhalation.

The commentary Jyotsnā on this verse clarifies:

Uḍḍīyāna should be practised at the 'end of kumbhaka', that is a little before the conclusion of kumbhaka, and prior to recaka.

The Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā’s description of these bandhas and the specification of when they are to be practised during prāṇāyāma tally with those contained in the Upaniṣads, such as the Dhyānabindu, Yogaśikhā and Yogakuṇḍalī.}

I: Did Bhagavān mention the names of the bandhas?

Acharyal: No. The Lord did not refer to the padmāsana and siddhāsana by name either.

I: Did the Lord speak of the relative duration of pūraka, kumbhaka and recaka?

Acharyal: No. What need was there for Him to do so for I was able to time them Myself? By seeing the position of His fingers on His nostrils and by observing His midriff, I could judge when He was engaged in pūraka, kumbhaka and recaka. As I had told you, following the Lord’s blessing, I had spontaneously begun chanting the Praṇava. With the number of Praṇavas as basis, I determined that the Lord’s kumbhaka lasted four times His pūraka, while His recaka was twice His pūraka. I made this determination during His second round of prāṇāyāma. Having demonstrated the practice of prāṇāyāma in the siddhāsana, the Lord did it in the padmāsana.

When I first taught you prāṇāyāma, I felt that I should do so in imitation of what I had seen in this dream. That is why, I first performed prāṇāyāma, with the bandhas, twice in siddhāsana and then twice in padmāsana. The timings of My inhalation, retention and exhalation were the same as those noted by Me in this dream. Where I deviated from the dream was when I told you that you could skip the uḍḍīyāna-bandha and instead just pull in the abdomen to the extent that I then showed you. Can you tell Me what I said at that time about the role of prāṇāyāma?

I: cale vāte calaṁ cittaṁ niścale niścalaṁ bhavet ।⁶ (Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā II.2ab)

(When breath is active, so is the mind. When the breath is still, the mind is calm.)

Acharyal cited this half-verse. Acharyal then said that when the mind is agitated, breathing is not slow and rhythmic. On the other hand, the breathing is gentle and rhythmic when the mind is calm. This common observation suggests that there is a relationship between one’s mental state and breathing. Not only does one’s mental state influence one’s breathing, the converse is also true. Breathing is a gross manifestation of the activity of prāṇa. The correlation is fundamentally between the activities of the mind and prāṇa. By controlling prāṇa, the mind can be controlled. Through the control of breath, the practitioner of prāṇāyāma checks the activity of prāṇa and thereby that of the mind.

dhāraṇāsu ca yogyatā manasaḥ ।⁷ (Yogasūtrā II.53) (Then, the mind becomes fit for fixed attention.)

Quoting this sūtrā, Acharyal said that prāṇāyāma facilitates the practice of meditation.

(Just as the impurities of ores are burnt by the furnace-blast, the faults of the organs are singed by the restraint of prāṇa.)

Then, having cited this verse, Acharyal freely translated it into Tamil and said that prāṇāyāma is a great purifier.

Acharyal: Do you know why I asked you to recount what I had told you then?

I: I think it is because that teaching found a place in Acharyal’s dream.

Acharyal: Your understanding is correct. After demonstrating the practice of prāṇāyāma in siddhāsana and padmāsana, Bhagavān cited the “cale vāte …” passage. By His grace, even without His saying anything, the explanation that I gave you started to register in My mind. Till it did so, He was silent. Thereafter, He mentioned the Yogasūtrā and the Śruti passage.

Next, He demonstrated how prāṇāyāma can be done with breathing being suspended after exhalation rather than after inhalation. Finally, He showed Me the various kinds of restraint of prāṇa like sūryabhedana, ujjāyī, sītkārī, śītalī and bhastrikā in such a way that I could clearly understand and distinguish them.

{About sūryabhedana, ujjāyī, sītkārī, śītalī and bhastrikā, the Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā says:

Now, sūryabhedana is spoken of. Seated in a firm āsana on a comfortable seat, the yogin should slowly draw in air from outside through the right nostril. He should retain it to the limit till he feels it right from the hair on his head to the tips of his nails. Then, he should slowly exhale the breath through the left nostril.

Now, ujjāyī is described. Having closed the mouth, one should draw in air slowly through both the nostrils such that it is felt to be sonorous from the throat to the heart. Then, the breath should be retained as in sūryabhedana and exhaled through the left nostril. This eradicates the defect of phlegm in the throat and intensifies the fire of digestion.

Now, sītkārī is presented. One should inhale through the mouth, making a hissing sound (by placing the tongue between the teeth). Exhalation should be only through the nostril. By practising thus, one becomes attractive like the god of love.

Now śītalī is spoken of. One should inhale air through the tongue (kept protruding and curled to resemble a bird’s beak). Kumbhaka should be done as in sūryabhedana. Then, the wise one should slowly exhale the air through the two nostrils.

Now bhastrikā is spoken of. Having properly adopted the padmāsana and kept the body and the neck erect, the wise man should close his mouth and forcefully exhale through the nostril such that there is sound from the heart and throat to the skull. Then, he should rapidly inhale air up to the region of the heart. He should repeatedly exhale and inhale in this fashion.}

(Acharyal:) With this, the dream ended and I awakened. The time was about two o’clock in the night. My mental chanting of the Praṇava, which began when the Lord blessed Me, persisted throughout the dream, inclusive of when I heard the passages voiced by the Lord. On waking up, I noticed that I spontaneously continued to recite in My mind the Praṇava.

Impelled by some force, I stood up, with My legs somewhat apart. I slightly bent forward and gripped My thighs with My hands. Then, I gradually exhaled and pulled My abdomen towards My back and upwards to adopt the uḍḍīyāna-bandha in a standing posture. Though I could not understand why I was doing all this in the middle of the night, I felt amazed to see the extent to which a deep cavity had formed in the region of My abdomen. After some moments, I gradually exhaled and straightened up.

Directed further by the force, I sat down in the siddhāsana and started to perform prāṇāyāma. I inhaled for a shorter duration than had the Lord. This simplified the practice; however, it was not the result of any decision of Mine. At the end of pūraka, I adopted not only the jālandhara-bandha but also the mūla-bandha. I had not identified the Lord’s performance of the mūla-bandha in My dream and was unfamiliar with it.

{The Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā describes the mūla-bandha thus:

Pressing the perineum with the heel, one should contract the anus and draw up apāna. This is called mūla-bandha.}

(Acharyal:) My having practised the uḍḍīyāna-bandha in a standing posture facilitated My doing it during prāṇāyāma. Though My pūraka was shorter than the Lord’s, as in His case, My kumbhaka and recaka lasted four times and twice the pūraka. Having performed two prāṇāyāmas in the siddhāsana, I did the same in the padmāsana. Throughout, there was no planning on My part and the mental chanting of the Praṇava proceeded without any interruption. After doing prāṇāyāma in the padmāsana, I lay down and fell asleep. I awoke very fresh, well before sunrise.

The dream and the events that followed were crystal clear in My mind. I had no words to express My gratitude to Bhagavān for having extraordinarily graced Me in spite of My being so unworthy and that too on the very day of My new life. I did not have an iota of doubt that the Lord would ever take care of and guide Me. All I needed to do was to not give room to egoism. After spending some minutes practising the different kinds of restraint of prāṇa, such as śītalī, I went for My ablutions. No one knew about My having done prāṇāyāma at night or before daybreak.

I: Did the mental chanting of the Praṇava persist spontaneously after Acharyal woke up?

Acharyal: No. The Lord had, by His blessing, initiated the chanting and given Me an understanding of how natural, uninterrupted and delightful it can be. I felt that the Lord intended that I should practise such chanting to the extent of it becoming effortless. Accordingly, I began to engage voluntarily in mental Praṇava-japa within a minute of My awakening. By Bhagavān's grace, within a year, such japa became as effortless and uninterrupted as in the special dream. It continued even in dreams and while I conversed.

I: Did Acharyal report the events to Paramacharyal that day?

Acharyal: No. On that and the next several days, Acharyal spared time to personally familiarise Me with My āhnika and other duties. He also initiated Me into mantras such as the Śrīvidyā. I regarded it as inappropriate to take any more of His time by reporting My experiences to Him.

The following night I had a dream in which the Lord continued His teaching. He first gave a demonstration of kevala-kumbhaka. His breathing stopped all of a sudden and He remained motionless for some time, with His eyes closed. I began to experience tremendous peace. I think that My breathing too stopped without any reference to the preceding state of inhalation or exhalation. Gradually, the Lord started to breathe again and opened His eyes. As He did so, I realised that this kumbhaka is superior to and is the fruit of the practice of restraint that considers pūraka and recaka. {Mahaṛṣi Patañjali describes kevala-kumbhaka thus in his Yogasūtrās:

The fourth (kevala-kumbhaka) is that which follows when the spheres of the external and internal are transcended.

After detailing the practice of prāṇāyāma in which kumbhaka and recaka are respectively four and two times the pūraka, the Yogatattva-upaniṣad presents and eulogises kevala-kumbhaka thus:

Thereafter, he acquires the capacity to restrain his breath for as long as he wishes. From such stoppage of breath, there accrues the attainment of kevala-kumbhaka. On his attaining kevala-kumbhaka, which is not associated with inhalation and exhalation, nothing in the three worlds is difficult for him to achieve.}

(Acharyal:) Then, during that dream and the ones on the succeeding nights, the Lord demonstrated numerous yogāsanas and kriyās such as nauli. There were no repetitions. He performed the āsanas very swiftly but with unmatchable grace and with each step unmistakably clear. No human adept could have performed even a quarter of the number of āsanas in the same time. Bhagavān did not name any āsana. Also, He did not direct Me to do any āsana before His passing on to the next. However, whenever He performed one, I automatically understood whether this was just for My information or for My practice later. Purely by His grace, to this day, I can vividly recall His demonstration of any āsana that I wish to see.

On the seventh night, towards the close of His teaching, He threw light on the khecarī-mudrā. Sitting in the padmāsana, He stretched out His tongue. In moments, the membrane connecting it with the lower part of the mouth began to give way gradually as if it were being cut with a knife. Simultaneously, the tongue became thinner and longer. Soon, it resembled that of a dog. The Lord turned it upwards. It reached up to the head. I automatically understood that the normal procedure involved cutting the fraenum, little by little, over a long period and elongating the tongue by shaking and pulling it.

Having transformed His tongue into a thin long one, Bhagavān directed His gaze to between the brows. He then turned His tongue backwards and inserted it into the cavity at the back of the throat that leads to the nose. Thereafter, the Lord remained motionless and with no perceptible signs of breathing. At that time, My breathing too stopped. I felt something cool and very pleasant to taste descend into the back of My mouth. It greatly invigorated Me. The understanding dawned that this fluid obviates hunger, thirst, weakness and dullness. As the Lord lowered His tongue, My experience ended. The next moment, His tongue became normal.

{The khecarī-mudrā has been described and eulogised in the Upaniṣads such as the Yogakuṇḍalī and in haṭha-yoga texts. The Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā says:

The tongue should be gradually lengthened by cutting, shaking and stretching till it reaches the middle of the eyebrows. Then khecarī is successfully accomplished.

Turning back the tongue, it should be put into the path of the three nādīs (that is, into the cavity in the roof of the palate). This is the khecarī-mudrā that is also known as vyomacakra.

He who knows the khecarī-mudrā is free from disease, death, dullness, sleep, hunger, thirst and clouding of the mind.}

(Acharyal:) Finally, Parameśvara taught Me nāda-anusandhāna (contemplation on the internal sound). With His fingers, He closed His nose, mouth and ears. Then He concentrated on the ocean-like sound heard in the right ear. I comprehended that He was doing so because, without any effort of Mine, My attention locked on to such sound in My right ear. I also got the feeling that with practice one can focus on this sound even without closing the ears. Soon, I heard different sounds in succession. Finally, all sounds ceased and I was overwhelmed with bliss. The next moment, My experience ended. I saw the Lord taking His hands away from His face.

The Lord raised His right hand in a gesture of blessing and got up. I promptly prostrated before Him, placing My head on His lotus feet. As I rose, He walked towards the crystal Liṅga from which He had manifested. A flash of light preceded His disappearance into that Liṅga. At this point, My dream ended. The Lord had not left His seat at the close of the preceding six extraordinary dreams. So, when I woke up at My usual time, I knew that this was the last of this series of dreams.

I: How many āsanas did the Lord teach?

Acharyal: Hundreds. These included all those described in the authoritative works such as Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā and numerous others that I have not come across in any book. I do not think even an expert with a highly supple body can do more than a few of the many āsanas of the latter kind.

I: After the first dream, Acharyal had been able to straightaway perform the siddhāsana and padmāsana and, while so seated, do prāṇāyāma with the jālandhara, uḍḍīyāna and mūla-bandhas. Was there any need for practice to accomplish the other āsanas and all the kriyās?

Acharyal: While I was able to perform the simple āsanas such as śīrsāsana in the first attempt, the tougher ones such as gheraṇḍāsana and mukhottānāsana needed effort and practice. Among the kriyās, Bhagavān did not teach Me vasti and I did not practise it. I have, however, witnessed its performance and know how to do it. Mastering the other kriyās was easy. I practised dhauti, neti and nauli regularly.

{The six kriyās are dhauti, vasti, neti, trāṭaka, nauli and kapālabhāti. These serve to purify the body. The Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā describes their practice thus:

One should slowly swallow, as taught by the Guru, a wet cloth that has the width of four fingers and is fifteen spans long. One should then draw out the cloth. This is the dhauti-kriyā.

One should sit in utkaṭāsana in water reaching up to one’s navel with a tube inserted into the anus. Then, one should contract the anus (draw in water and expel it). Such washing is the vasti-kriyā.

One should insert into a nostril, a smooth thread that is a span (or more) long and draw it out through the mouth. The siddhas call this neti.

One should gaze steadily with a focused mind at a minute object till tears fall. Teachers regard this to be trāṭaka.

With shoulders lowered, one should rotate the abdomen to the left and right with the speed of a swift eddy. Siddhas reveal this to be nauli.

One should draw in and push out air rapidly like the bellows of a blacksmith. This is called kapālabhāti. It destroys phlegmatic defects.

About His mastering dhauti, Acharyal told me in 1973, “I took a long thin piece of muslin cloth, and swallowed some of it. Then, I gently pulled it out. I did this two or three times. The next day, I swallowed a much greater length. By the fourth day, I could comfortably put as much of the cloth as I wanted into the throat and stomach and slowly pull it out. I found that this kriyā helped to clear any phlegm in the throat.”

Describing His practice of neti, He said on the same occasion, “I used My index finger to push a soft cloth or thread into a nostril as far as I could. Closing the other nostril, I inhaled in jerks and exhaled through the mouth. By the suction and the guiding force from outside, the thread went well into the nostril and came down to the back of the mouth. In the initial stages of practice, I found the thread going slightly into the wind pipe or gullet and producing a funny sensation. However, I soon learnt the remedy.

“When the inserted material appeared at the back of My throat, I cleared My throat with a sound. At the same time, I inserted My index finger and thumb into the throat and, grasping the thread, pulled it to make it protrude from the mouth. The pulling should be done slowly to avoid damage to the nasal tissues. Thereafter, I oscillated the cloth or thread by pulling and releasing its opposite ends. This too should be done slowly. After this, I pulled out the thread through the nostril and repeated the whole process through the other nostril. I found this kriyā to be quite useful in clearing the phlegm blocking the nostrils.”

After speaking of neti, Acharyal demonstrated how He did nauli. He stood with His legs separated and His palms pressed against His thighs. Having fully expelled air from the lungs, He deeply pulled in His abdomen. He then controlled His muscles to make the abdominal region resemble a cavity with a vertical tube in the middle. He then made the tube swing from side to side and execute a churning motion. Finally, He restored His abdomen to its normal form and said, “This used to be My favourite kriyā.”}

I: How many of the āsanas demonstrated by Śiva but not mentioned in books did Acharyal master?

Acharyal: Six. Close the door. I will show you one of them and you can see how tough it is.

{The conversation took place in the hall extending from east to west in the upper storey of Sacchidananda Vilas. As directed, I shut the door on the eastern side that led to the stairs. By the time I returned to Acharyal, He had removed His upper garment and was spreading His dhoti on the ground to serve as a mat. He was attired in just an ochre loin cloth. I watched thoroughly spellbound as, step by step, Acharyal assumed an extremely complex, inverted pose. Such was the tight knot into which He tied Himself that it appeared that His body was made of highly elastic rubber and comprised no bones. Having held the final pose for about a minute, Acharyal gradually unwound Himself and put on His lower and upper garments.}

(Acharyal:) The first two times that I tried to do this, I failed. The third time I succeeded only partially. On My next attempt, I somehow managed to adopt the final position but became stuck in it. I found that I was just unable to release the knot that bound My hands and legs. I called to mind Bhagavān's performance of this āsana. In imitation of what He had done, I emptied My lungs and used My middle fingers to release Myself a little. The rest was manageable. From the fifth try onwards, I had no difficulty.

I: When teaching me āsanas, Acharyal had told me, “When I was young, I asked Kasi Swamigal if I could watch him perform āsanas in order to do them Myself. In those days, bairāgīs (wandering renunciants) used to come to Sringeri, stay for a time and go away. I saw them practising various āsanas. My curiosity was aroused and I carefully noted how they performed them. As My body was supple, I did not have difficulty in mastering the āsanas and kriyās that I had observed Kasi Swamigal and the bairāgīs do. Further, I enjoyed doing them and so the learning process was expedited. I used to get clarifications whenever necessary to ascertain that what I was doing was right.”

It is now clear to me that Bhagavān had taught Acharyal. I am, however, unclear as to how to reconcile this understanding with Acharyal’s earlier statement about Acharyal putting into practice what Acharyal had seen Kasi Swamigal and the bairāgīs do.

Acharyal: There is no āsana or Kriya that I ever performed that Śiva had not shown Me in the dreams. However, it is also a fact that I practised the āsanas and kriyās only after learning, as it were, a number of them from Kasi Swamigal and the bairāgīs. Further, I did come to know the names of āsanas from Kasi Swamigal and the bairāgīs and, later, from books.

{When interviewed in the 1980s, Kasi Swamigal said that when young Acharyal had approached him and watched him perform the uḍḍīyāna-bandha and āsanas, such as gorakṣa. Acharyal did not do the āsanas in his presence. Regarding the kriyās such as dhauti, the Swamigal stated that he did not practise them. Presumably, it was only the bairāgīs who did the kriyās that Acharyal referred to.}

I: What was the reason for Acharyal postponing doing āsanas and kriyās till having seemingly learnt many of them from humans?

Acharyal: I felt that this is what God wanted Me to do. Because of this, there was no scope for the Math staff and others to wonder how I was abruptly able to practice haṭha-yoga without having been taught. As for prāṇāyāma and the bandhas, I initially did them secretly at about three in the night and then went back to sleep. Subsequently, for some time, I did them privately during My āhnika. It is only after having supposedly learnt them from others that I practised them without being secretive. As for nāda-anusandhāna, I did it once a week along with My āhnika. I believe, I only did as God intended Me to when I started doing prāṇāyāma with the bandhas after the first dream and nāda-anusandhāna after the seventh dream.

I: Were there any āsanas and mudrās that are described in haṭha-yoga texts which Bhagavān did not teach Acharyal?

Acharyal: As far as I know, He did not omit any āsana. However, He skipped mudrās such as vajroli. I never did these.

{As described in the Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā, the practice of vajroli begins with gradually inserting a tube into the penis. Having cleared the passage by blowing, one learns to draw water through it. An aim is to be able to draw ejaculated semen back into the penis.}

I: How many āsanas did Acharyal perform every day and how many cycles of prāṇāyāma with the bandhas?

Acharyal: The number of āsanas varied. Within a few years after saṁnyāsa, I began to devote half an hour exclusively for āsanas and kriyās and half an hour for prāṇāyāma. I performed some āsanas, such as śīrsāsana, sarvāṅgāsana, matsyāsana, paścimottānāsana and ardha-matsyendrāsana, and kriyās such as nauli, on all days. Apart from these, to the extent that I could accommodate within the available time, I did other āsanas from My repertoire. I ended with five minutes of śavāsana. I required a week to complete one cycle of all the āsanas that I practised.

After śavāsana, I took up prāṇāyāma with the three bandhas. I did 16 cycles with pūraka, kumbhaka and recaka lasting for 16, 64 and 32 seconds or eight cycles with the timings being 32, 128 and 64 seconds. Over the course of every week, I also briefly accommodated the forms of restraint of prāṇa such as śītalī. After prāṇāyāma, I spent about 15 minutes on stamina and strength building exercises before going for My morning bath.

I: Did Acharyal straightaway start doing prāṇāyāma with the retention lasting for over two minutes?

Acharyal: No. Over the course of two weeks, I raised the retention time from about a minute to this. Within a month of practice, I could retain My breath comfortably for five minutes. However, the idea of performing prāṇāyāma regularly with so long a kumbhaka did not appeal to Me for, then, I could not have done even four cycles within My scheduled half an hour. Though it is many years since I casually retained My breath for five minutes, I shall demonstrate this to you now.

{A thought crossed my mind whether during such prolonged retention Acharyal would slow down His metabolism and lower His pulse rate. Immediately, Acharyal laughed and said, “You can note My pulse now and in the final minute.” I measured His pulse rate and found it to be 67 beats per minute. Then, Acharyal fully emptied His lungs, pressed His nostrils shut and performed the jālandhara-bandha. His eyes were open and there was a light smile on His face. At the end of the fourth minute, I began counting His pulse and did so till the end of the fifth minute. His pulse rate was just 29 beats per minute. As I withdrew my hand from Acharyal’s wrist, which He had held out to facilitate my measurement, He released the pressure on His nostrils and smoothly took a couple of deep breaths.}

I: When did Acharyal switch from the standard 1:4:2 ratio for the relative duration of pūraka, kumbhaka and recaka to the ratio 1:2:2 that Acharyal now favours?

Acharyal: That was after Acharyal’s return from Kalady (in early 1939). It was He who suggested the new ratio. I considered His hint a sacred directive and implemented it.

I: Were there other series of dreams of the kind that Acharyal just spoke of in which God taught Acharyal in depth about yoga?

Acharyal: Not a series but a single dream that occurred some months later. I shall tell you about it someday.

{After this, Acharyal went for His afternoon bath and āhnika. He later gave the following elucidation about guidance and directives received in dreams. It is certain that all that is seen in a dream is false.

(Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad IV.3.10)

There are no chariots, horses or paths there.

(Brahmasūtra III.2.3)

But the dream creation is a mere illusion on account of its nature of not being manifest with the totality of the attributes (found in the waking state, such as adequate space, time and circumstances and not being nullified).

Nevertheless, what is encountered in a dream may, uncommonly, form a basis for spiritual practice. In the Yoga-śāstra, it is said:

Alternatively, the mind reaches the state of steadiness by having as its object of focus a perception had in dream or sleep.

Explaining this, Vācaspati has said (in his gloss Tattvavaiśāradī) that a person may see in a dream an exquisite, well-decorated image of Śiva in a forest. After waking up, the person concerned can recall that image and meditate upon it.

Rarely, a person may have a dream in which he receives initiation from God or the Guru into a mantra. In the Mahābhārata [in chapters 80 and 81 of the Droṇa-parvan], there is an account of a dream in which Arjuna received instructions from Śiva. Having vowed to slay Jayadratha by sunset the next day, Arjuna was worried about how he could achieve success. When he fell asleep, he had a dream in which Kṛṣṇa came to him and led him on an aerial journey to the summit of the Kailāsa mountain. There, they beheld Śiva and eulogised Him. In response to Arjuna’s prayer, the Lord directed them to fetch His bow, pināka, and His pāśupata-astra from a celestial lake. When they did so, a brahmacārin emerged from Śiva’s side and taught Arjuna how to discharge the pāśupata arrow. The Lord also taught Arjuna the mantras for invoking the weapon. Arjuna’s memory of the instructions about the use of the pāśupata that he had received much earlier from Śiva was thereby restored. On waking up, he was in a position to invoke with mantras and employ the irresistible pāśupata, if needed.

A dream in which one sees the Guru or God is good and can be viewed as a sign of divine grace. However, one ought not to indiscriminately assume that whatever instruction one has received in the dream is indeed the directive of the Guru or God and blindly carry it out. For instance, it would be a grave error for one to harm another because of having dreamt of being commanded to do so. One should not implement what is contrary to one’s dharma nor give weight to a teaching that is discordant with the actual position of the scriptures and one’s Sadguru.

Rare are the dreams in which one is actually blessed with the instructions of God or the Sadguru. A sceptic who hears of a dream of this kind would, perhaps, dismiss it as a fabrication of the narrator or seek to explain it in some other way such as that the apparently new information acquired is actually based on knowledge unwittingly gained earlier. The extraordinary nature of such dreams and the appropriateness and worth of the guidance received through them are, however, generally unmistakable to the one who has them.}

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