Gheranda Samhita is one of three important texts on classical hatha yoga, along with Hatha Yoga Pradipika and Siva Samhita. The treatise was written in Sanskrit at the end of the 17th century and is considered the most complete of the three texts.
What is Gheranda Samhita
This book is considered a kind of encyclopedia. At the beginning of the treatise, Chanda asks the author to tell him about the yoga of the body, which is a way of knowing the Higher Reality. Thanks to his consent, the book received its name. The title of the treatise is translated as "Collection of [verses] Gheranda." It is he who is considered the author of this book.
It is different from other hatha yoga books. First, the author of Gheranda Samhita uses the name ghata yoga or ghatastha yoga, not hatha yoga. The usual meaning of the word “ghata” is “pot”, but here it refers to the body, or rather to the person, since the methods taught by the author work both for the body and for the mind. Secondly, the uniqueness lies in the path presented here to the perfection of the individual, consisting of seven steps. To some extent, the texts of Hatha Yoga echo the classic description of Patanjali Yoga, but there are numerous other variations.
For example, in Hatha Yoga Pradipika, four chapters correspond to its four stages, while Goraksha Samhita, repeating several earlier tantric texts, describes its yoga as six stages.
Structure
The seven chapters of the instructions of “Gheranda Samhita" correspond to the same number of means of improving a person. Each of them offers a group of techniques that, when mastered, will lead to one of the seven remedies listed in verse 1.9.
The first chapter describes six types of cleaning methods. This is the first means by which a person can achieve perfection. The second chapter describes thirty-two asanas through which power is achieved, this is the second means. In the third part, Gheranda presents twenty-five mudras that lead to sustainability. This is considered a third remedy. The fourth chapter describes five techniques for pratyahara (techniques for distracting the senses from objects), which brings peace and is the fourth means of achieving perfection.
The fifth part of “Gheranda Samhita” begins with instructions on where the yogi should live, what he (or she) should eat, and what time of the year yoga practice should begin. The author then lists ten types of pranayama (life energy management), a practice that leads to ease, and is the fifth method. The sixth chapter describes the three types of dhyana (contemplation), using which the yogi can achieve self-awareness (sixth means).
Finally, in the seventh chapter, Gheranda describes six types of samadhi (a state that is achieved through meditation) that lead to abstraction. This is the last means of improving man.
Features
Like the other source texts of Hatha Yoga, "Gheranda Samhita" does not represent Yama and Niyama, the restrictions and observance that make up the first two steps of classical yoga. The treatise is unique in that it devotes an entire chapter to cleansing the body and describes relevant practices.
Content
The chapters on asanas and mudras also have no analogues in the number of practices presented. At the same time, the difference between asanas and mudras is not clarified. The first chapter says that asanas lead to strength, and wise to sustainability. Other texts nevertheless say that the purpose of the wise is to awaken the kundalini. Another unique aspect of this book is its presentation of chapters on pratyahara and pranayama.
In the classical system, the last six steps are arranged sequentially, providing a more subtle transition from the physical to the mental world. Pranayama, of course, is a more physical practice than tyahara, but it is said here that Pranayama Bhramari leads to samadhi; indeed, this is one of the six varieties of Raja Yoga or Samadhi presented in the last chapter. This may explain the position of the chapter on pranayama. Most of the remaining chapters are similar to other texts, except for teaching the mantra of Ajap Gayatri.
The chapter on dhyana teaches three consecutive subtle visualizations, starting with the crude dhyana of a yoga guru on a beautiful island, followed by a visualization of the light between the eyebrows and a visualization of kundalini.
In the final chapter, Geranda teaches six completely different ways of samadhi. Three mudras, shambhavi, khechari and yoni lead to three types of samadhi: dhyana, bliss through race (“taste” or “sensation”) and laya (absorption into the Higher Reality by lifting Kundalini up the sushumna or central channel).
About the creator
Unfortunately, nothing is known about Gherand and Chand. The name of the author of the treatise is not found anywhere else in Sanskrit. Like many other Hatha Yoga texts, the book is framed as a dialogue. Thus, it is assumed that he was eavesdropped and then recorded. Therefore, the identity of the author (or whoever overhears Gheranda) is not disclosed.
The full name of his interlocutor, Chandakapali, means “Bearing Skull”, the epithet of dripping, “carriers of skulls”. This, most likely, indicates a sect of kapaliks, followers of Shiva. Kapali and Kapalika are referred to as past masters of Hatha Yoga in the list given in verses 1.4-8 of Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
Writing history
Also, as there is no information about the author, there are no records about the place and date of writing the text, but there are signs that this is a relatively late work on hatha yoga, which appeared in north-eastern India.
Most of her manuscripts are in the north and east of India, and the oldest copy was made in Bengal in 1802. Moreover, the treatise itself was never mentioned by medieval commentators in their works on hatha yoga. Doctrinal divisions also set him apart from the rest of the body of Hatha Yoga. Tantric influences were greatly mitigated. One of the earliest prints of the book dates back to 1915. The translation of "Gheranda Samkhit" into Russian was first made in the 90s of the twentieth century.
Influence and Origins
The author attributes the teachings of Hatha Yoga to Shiva, but verses 5.77 and 7.18 suggest that he was a faithful follower of Vishnu. In addition, several verses indicate that the text was compiled by Vedantin and that no trace of Vedanta was found in the early texts of Hatha Yoga. Their doctrinal framework was tantric. The Vedantic influence in the text is explained by the fact that in the eighteenth century it became the dominant ideology. At this time, new Upanishads were compiled and some old ones were rewritten.
Unknown compiler (s) used verses from established hatha yoga works to create new texts. Based on the foregoing, and also taking into account the absence of quotes from this treatise in the 17th century, the comments and the whereabouts of most of his manuscripts in Bengal, it is assumed that the text of “Gheranda Samkhita” was compiled in Bengal around 1700.
It is also noted that some verses were borrowed from other works, in particular “Hatha Yoga Pradipika” and “Goraksha Samhita”. In particular, the section on the five elements of visualization in verses 3.59-63 was clearly borrowed directly from the second treatise, however, some verses were rewritten inconsistently and illiterate. In Goraksha Samhita, each element has a color, shape, location in the body and mantra, but this information is confused and omitted in Gheranda Samhita.
For example, in verse 3.62 the element of the wind is called black, smoky, and white, while in Goraksha Samhita it is simply black. Almost all of the manuscripts of Gheranda Samhita are an equally incoherent description of Dharana. All this is surprising and points to two possible scenarios. Either both treatises come from the same manuscript, or the Gheranda compiler used the Goraksha manuscript to write the text.