Yoga in the Purāṇas: Paths to Liberation

Yoga is the inner discipline that leads the self to mokṣa (liberation). The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa gives a long teaching on yoga, spread over Chapters 34 to 40, given by Dattātreya to King Alarka. It is not a detached piece of philosophy. It is a practical answer to a real crisis: Alarka’s kingdom has been taken, his armies destroyed and his treasury emptied, and he has nowhere left to turn. Dattātreya teaches the yoga of liberation as the answer to every kind of worldly suffering.

This teaching covers the body as a city, the enemies within, the four stages of prāṇāyāma (breath control), the five great vows, the discipline of the tri-daṇḍī, the signs that death is near, and Oṃkāra (the sacred syllable Oṃ) as the highest means of liberation. Several other Purāṇas also teach yoga, each with its own emphasis: the Agni, Liṅga, Bhāgavata, Nārada and Viṣṇu Purāṇas. Their teachings are described below.

Dattātreya’s Teaching to Alarka (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa)

Setting: Crisis as the Door to Yoga

Alarka does not come to Dattātreya as a student looking for book learning. He comes as a king whose world has fallen apart. His brother Subāhu and the king of Kāśī have taken his kingdom, his armies are gone, and his treasury is empty. He has read the message in the golden ring left to him by his mother Madālasā, and it has turned his attention inward. Dattātreya’s teaching starts from exactly this condition. The suffering that comes from mamakāra (the feeling of “mine”) is the root of all bondage, and the way out lies in the yoga of inner freedom, not in outer victory.

The Body as a City

Dattātreya describes the human body as a city with nine gates (nava-dvāra-nagarī). The ruler of this city is the caitanya-puruṣa, the conscious self. This ruler has two ministers, manas (the mind) and buddhi (the intellect), who are always at odds with each other. Enemies surround the city on every side: the army of rāga (desire) and its helpers. Practising yoga means establishing the true rule of the conscious self over this city.

The Tree of Ahaṃkāra

From ahaṃkāra (the ego) grows the great tree of avidyā (ignorance). From the seed of ahaṃkāra sprouts the trunk of mamakāra (possessiveness). This trunk branches out into particular attachments: to children, wife, house, wealth and fields. These branches bear the fruit of sorrow (duḥkha). The yogī who has seen how this works must use the axe of jñāna (knowledge), sharpened on the whetstone of sat-saṅga (the company of those who know the truth), to cut down this tree and enter the brahma-vana, the forest of Brahman that lies beyond it.

The Four Stages of Prāṇāyāma

Dattātreya teaches that prāṇāyāma moves through four stages:

Dhvasti: the stage at which the whole store of results from past actions, both good and bad, is dissolved, and the impurities of the citta (mind) are removed
Prāpti: the stage of attainment, in which the yogī gains access to levels of reality closed to ordinary perception
Saṃvit: the stage of pure knowing, a direct awareness that no longer depends on a split between knower and known
Prasāda: the stage of grace, a bright and peaceful clarity that is the doorway to liberation

These are the steps by which steady prāṇāyāma carries the sādhaka (practitioner) toward mokṣa.

The Five Great Vows (Mahāvratas)

The yogī’s five great vows are:

Asteya: not stealing; never taking what has not been given
Brahmacarya: celibacy and control of all sense urges
Tyāga: renunciation; readiness to give up all attachment
Alobha: freedom from greed
Ahiṃsā: not harming, in thought, word and deed

They are called parama-vratas, the highest vows, without which yoga cannot go forward.

The Five Daily Niyamas

Along with the great vows, the yogī must keep five daily niyamas (fixed practices):

Krodha-śūnyatā: freedom from anger
Guru-śuśrūṣā: devoted service to the teacher
Śauca: inner and outer purity
Alpāhāra: eating little
Nitya Vedādhyayana: daily recitation of the Vedas

These five form the regular discipline that keeps the yogī’s life pure.

The Tri-Daṇḍī

One who has mastered the three “staffs” of control, vāk-daṇḍa (control of speech), karma-daṇḍa (control of action) and mano-daṇḍa (control of thought), is called a tri-daṇḍī and a mahāyati (great renunciant). These three kinds of control are the full outward sign of inner freedom.

Food Allowed for the Yogī

The foods allowed for the yogī in this Purāṇa are: yavāgū (thin gruel), takra (buttermilk), kṣīra (milk), kodrava (a kind of millet), broken rice, tila-piṣṭa (sesame flour) and saktu (flour of roasted grain). These are described as pure and helpful for yoga.

The yogī should go for bhikṣā (alms) to a householder’s home only after the family has eaten and when there is no more smoke, which shows that the cooking fire has gone out. He goes in a way that invites being slighted, and does not return to the same house every day.

Oṃkāra Yoga

The highest means of liberation is Oṃkāra. Dattātreya teaches: prāṇa (the breath) is the bow, the ātmā (self) is the arrow, and Brahman is the target. The yogī who shoots the arrow of the self from the bow of the breath into the target of Brahman reaches Brahman.

Oṃkāra has four mātrās (measures):

the first, hrasva (short)
the second, dīrgha (long)
the third, pluta (drawn out), which is cit-śakti (the power of consciousness)
the fourth, the para-pada (the supreme state)

The yogī who reaches the fourth mātrā has reached the state after which there is no more birth.

The Signs That Death Is Near

Dattātreya gives a whole chapter (Chapter 40, Mṛtyu-Samaya Lakṣaṇa) to the signs by which the yogī can know that death is coming. They include:

not being able to see the pole star, Venus or the moon
not being able to see one’s own shadow
sudden changes in body weight (becoming very fat and then thin, or the other way round)
not being able to smell the scent of a flame
seeing one’s body without a head in a mirror
a smell like that of a corpse coming from the body
certain dreams, such as a woman in red leading one to the south, or a naked Buddhist monk walking away laughing

The yogī who sees these signs should at once enter deep yoga-niṣṭhā (steady absorption in yoga) and finish the inner work before death arrives.

Liberation

When yoga is perfected, the yogī directly perceives the viśvarūpa-parātmā: the Supreme Self whose form is the universe, who rules the universe and sustains it. Liberation (mokṣa) is the permanent ending of the chain of actions and their results (karma-phala). The yogī who reaches it will not be born again, even after a hundred lifetimes.

Aṣṭāṅga Yoga in the Agni Purāṇa

In five chapters (372 to 376) of the Agni Purāṇa, Agni-deva teaches Vasiṣṭha Ṛṣi a complete aṣṭāṅga yoga (eight-limbed yoga) as the path to realising Brahman. The teaching begins by declaring that jñāna is what makes Brahman directly known; that yoga is the stilling of all citta-vṛttis (movements of the mind); and that the highest yoga is fixing the mind on the jīvātman (individual self) and the paramātman (Supreme Self) at the same time.

Yama and Niyama (Chapter 372)

The five yamas (restraints) are ahiṃsā, satya, asteya, brahmacarya and aparigraha.

Ahiṃsā (not harming) is the highest dharma. Just as every footprint fits inside the footprint of an elephant, all dharmas are contained in ahiṃsā. Hiṃsā (harm) takes ten forms:

causing agitation (udvega) in others
causing distress (santāpa)
causing disease (roga)
drawing blood from the body
carrying tales
blocking another’s welfare
revealing another’s secrets
preventing another’s happiness
imprisoning without cause
killing

Not doing any of these ten is ahiṃsā.

Satya (truthfulness) is speech that brings the most life and good to beings. One must speak what is true, and one must speak what is pleasant. Even if something is true, one should not say it if it is unpleasant (apriya). Even if something is pleasant, one should not say it if it is untrue or harmful (apathya). This is sanātana dharma, the eternal way.

Brahmacarya is giving up maithuna (sexual union). Maithuna has eight forms:

smaraṇa: thinking about it
kīrtana: talking about it
parigraha (in this list): accepting another’s touch
darśana: looking with desire
rahasyālāpa: secret conversation
saṅkalpa: making up one’s mind to it
adhyavasāya: making an effort toward it
kriyā-nirvṛtti: the act itself

Brahmacarya is the root of all sādhanā (spiritual practice); actions without it bear no fruit. The Agni Purāṇa notes that even great elders, rich in years and tapas, such as Vasiṣṭha, Candra, Bṛhaspati, Śukra and Pitāmaha (Brahmā), were at times overcome by temptation. This is said not to discourage the student but to show how much watchfulness is needed.

Asteya (not stealing): whoever takes by force even a little of another’s property, or eats the havis (offering) of a homa that does not belong to him, will surely be born as an animal (tiryag-jantu).

Aparigraha (not possessing): one should keep only a loincloth (kaupīna), a cloth to cover the body, a blanket against the cold, and sandals (pādukās). Nothing more should be gathered. What is needed to keep the body going may be accepted, and nothing beyond that.

The five niyamas (disciplines) give both bhukti (worldly enjoyment) and mukti (liberation). They are śauca, santoṣa, tapas, svādhyāya and Īśvara-pūjana.

Śauca (purity) is of two kinds: outer (bāhya), done by washing with earth and water, and inner (ābhyantara), the purifying of one’s feelings and intentions (bhāva). Only one who has both is truly pure (śuci).
Santoṣa (contentment) is taking delight in whatever comes.
Tapas (austerity) has three forms: of speech (vācika, repeating mantras), of the mind (mānasa, dispassion) and of the body (śārīra, pūjā of the devas and religious observances). Together these three give every kind of success (sarva-siddhi-prada).
Svādhyāya (sacred study) reaches its peak in contemplation of the Praṇava (Oṃ). The Agni Purāṇa teaches at length that Oṃkāra is the basis of svādhyāya. All the Vedas begin with the Praṇava, and all speech has the Praṇava as its form. Oṃkāra has three mātrās, the sounds a, u and m (the last as a half-measure). These match the three Vedas, the three worlds (Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ), the three guṇas, the three states of awareness (waking, dreaming and deep sleep) and the three forms of the Divine (Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara). The fourth mātrā, called gāndhārī, is the turīya-pada (the fourth state), the supreme light of Brahman itself. Repeating the Praṇava twelve thousand times a day brings the dawn of the knowledge of Brahman within twelve months.
Īśvara-pūjana (pūjā of Īśvara) completes the niyamas. Only one who has the highest bhakti (devotion) for the devatā he worships, and the same bhakti for the guru, will fully grasp these teachings.

Āsana, Prāṇāyāma and Pratyāhāra (Chapter 373)

Āsana (posture): The sādhaka sits in padmāsana (the lotus posture) or a similar posture, on a clean seat that is neither too high nor too low, covered with cloth, deerskin (ajina) and kuśa grass. He holds his body, head and neck straight and still. He looks at the tip of his own nose without glancing to the sides. He rests the back of the right hand in the cupped left hand on his thighs, lifts the face a little, and then begins dhyāna (meditation).

Prāṇāyāma is the control of the prāṇa-vāyu, the life-breath that lives in the body. It has three phases:

Recaka (breathing out): pressing one nostril with a finger and sending the inner air out and upward through the other
Pūraka (breathing in): filling the body with outer air, as one fills a bellows
Kumbhaka (holding): staying completely still, neither letting the inner air out nor drawing outer air in, like a full, sealed pot

The shortest length for one round is twelve mātrās (one udghāta). Twenty-four mātrās is the middle level (madhyama), and thirty-six is the excellent level (uttama). The kind that brings sweating, trembling and a striking sensation (sveda, kampa and abhighāta) is the very best (uttamottama). One should not attempt a stage beyond one’s adhikāra (fitness).

The fruits of prāṇāyāma are: cleansing of pāpa (wrongdoing); the near-removal of bodily impurities; good health; quick movement; enthusiasm; a sweet voice; strength; a clear complexion; and the destruction of all faults and impurities. Prāṇāyāma joined with japa (repeating a mantra) and dhyāna is called sagarbha; without them it is agarbha. One who wishes to conquer the senses must practise sagarbha prāṇāyāma. A hundred years of tapas, drinking only a drop of water from the tip of a blade once a month, gives the same fruit as prāṇāyāma. One who conquers the senses by knowledge, dispassion and prāṇāyāma together has conquered everything.

The text gives an image. The body is the chariot, the senses are the horses, the mind is the charioteer (sārathi), prāṇāyāma is the whip, and māyā (illusion) is the quicksand. The mind is kept under control with the reins of vairāgya (dispassion).

Pratyāhāra is drawing the senses back from their objects: pulling inward the senses that have been wandering in the ocean of sense-objects (viṣayas). A person who is drowning must save himself. In the same way, the sādhaka who has been swept away by the river of enjoyment (bhoga) must grab the tree of knowledge and pull himself free.

Dhyāna (Chapter 374)

The word dhyāna comes from the root dhyai, “to think deeply.” Dhyāna is the repeated, unwavering contemplation of Viṣṇu by a mind free from distraction (vikṣepa). It is the self, free of all limiting conditions (upādhis) and calm, staying fixed in thought of Brahman. It is also the mind that rests on the object of meditation and holds only the same impression again and again, with no outside thought arising.

Dhyāna has four parts:

dhyātā: the one who meditates
dhyāna: the act of meditating
dhyeya: the object of meditation
dhyāna-prayojana: the fruit of meditation

Whoever meditates on Hari with śraddhā (faith) for even a muhūrta (about 48 minutes), or half a muhūrta, reaches a state that even all the great yajñas cannot give.

The object of meditation: In the seat of the heart, at the centre of the space inside the body, the sādhaka installs Keśava (Viṣṇu) and honours him through dhyāna yoga. He contemplates Viṣṇu seated on the lotus of the navel. This is a divine eight-petalled lotus, twelve aṅgulas (finger-widths) across, rising on a stalk ten aṅgulas long. Its eight petals are the eight divine powers (aiśvarya-guṇas), its centre (karṇikā) is knowledge, its stalk is dispassion, and its root is Viṣṇu-dharma.

In the centre of the lotus one contemplates Parameśvara, the Supreme: pure as the flame of a lamp, the size of a thumb (aṅguṣṭha-mātra), the colour of the kanda flower, round like a star, and in the form of Oṃkāra. Or one may contemplate on this lotus the four-armed Viṣṇu holding the conch (śaṅkha), discus (cakra), mace (gadā) and lotus (padma), or the eight-armed form who also holds the bow Śārṅga, a rosary (akṣa-valaya), a noose (pāśa) and a goad (aṅkuśa). This form is golden or white, dressed in yellow silk (pītāmbara), and adorned with the Śrīvatsa mark, the Kaustubha jewel, the Vanamālā garland, a golden necklace, earrings shaped like makaras (sea creatures) and a jewelled crown. One then meditates: “I am the Brahman whose self is light; I am the deva whose form is Oṃkāra; I am the liberated one.”

When tired of dhyāna, one does japa; when tired of japa, one returns to dhyāna. By going back and forth like this, Viṣṇu becomes pleased (prasanna). All yajñas together are not equal to even one-sixteenth of the japa-yajña (the offering of mantra repetition).

Dhāraṇā (Chapter 375)

Dhāraṇā is fixing the mind, without movement, on the object of meditation, whether an outer object or an inner centre, for a set length of time. Twelve units (āyāmas) of dhāraṇā make one dhyāna, and twelve dhyānas make one samādhi. One who leaves the body while practising dhāraṇā frees twenty-one generations of his family and reaches svarga (the heavenly world).

The Agni Purāṇa teaches four dhāraṇās of Viṣṇu:

Āgneyī (of fire): The sādhaka pictures a great blaze of rays filling the body from the tips of the toes to the crown of the head, racing up and down, until the whole body seems burned to ash inside. Then the dhāraṇā is withdrawn. This destroys illnesses of cold and kapha (phlegm), as well as pāpa.
Vāruṇī (of water): One pictures an endless flood of water drops arising and joining together, becoming a cascade of cool water like amṛta (nectar) that floods the whole world. Then one draws this through the suṣumnā nāḍī (the central subtle channel) from the brahma-randhra (the opening at the crown) down to the mūlādhāra (the base centre), bathing all the cakras (energy centres).
Ailālikā: One pictures the lotus in the space of the heart filling with the grace (prasāda) of Viṣṇu, then spreading out into an all-pervading form of Īśvara, peaceful, spotless (nirañjana) and shaped like a half-moon. One keeps up meditation and japa on this.
Amṛtamayī (of nectar): One fixes the mind at the centre of the channel at the crown of the head and pictures a full moon, and then one single moon in the sky equal to ten thousand moons, full of blessed waves, until one sees one’s own body living inside that moon.

Samādhi (Chapter 376)

Samādhi is the state in which consciousness (caitanya) becomes as still as a calm ocean. No object other than the self appears; the self alone shines. In samādhi the yogī does not smell, taste, feel, hear or see. He stays like a piece of wood (kāṣṭha-vat), absorbed in Īśvara, like a lamp in a windless place that does not flicker.

As the yogī nears this state, many divine obstacles (divya-vighnas) arise as signs that siddhi (spiritual power) is near:

the yogī feels pressed down from above
there is pain in the ears
various colours appear
devatās offer divine pleasures
kings offer lands
the texts of the Vedas and śāstras rise up by themselves in his mind
poetry composes itself
divine elixirs (rasāyanas), healing herbs (auṣadhis) and all the arts come to him
apsarās (heavenly dancers) approach him

One who throws all these aside like blades of grass receives Viṣṇu’s grace.

The Agni Purāṇa then describes the paths that lead out from the heart. The ray of the self that rises straight up pierces the orb of the sun and goes even beyond Brahmaloka. This is the highest path (uttama-gati), the path of the northern course (uttarāyaṇa), the devayāna (path of the devas). A hundred other rays rising upward lead to the various worlds of the devas. The rays that go downward lead to rebirth in this world, to use up karma.

Those who leave the body after a life of Vedic study, yajña, brahmacarya and tapas go by the path of fire → day → the bright fortnight → the northern course → the world of the devas → the orb of the sun → the world of the devatā of lightning → the mānasa-puruṣa (the being born of mind) → Brahmaloka. They do not return.
Those who leave the body having given dāna (charity) and performed yajña for the sake of svarga go by the path of smoke → night → the dark fortnight → the southern course (dakṣiṇāyana) → the world of the ancestors (pitṛloka) → the world of the moon, and they return to rebirth.

The final teaching on knowledge and yoga: just as one sky seems different inside different pots, and one sun seems to be many when reflected in many pools of water, so one self seems to be many because of ajñāna (ignorance). Space, air, fire, water, earth, the elements of the body, all the worlds, and all moving and unmoving beings are of the nature of Brahman. The self shapes its instruments (karaṇas) and creates itself in each kind of birth. Through karma, faults and delusion it becomes bound. Through knowledge it is set free.

Yoga in the Liṅga Purāṇa

In Chapter 8, the Liṅga Purāṇa presents aṣṭāṅga yoga from a Śaiva point of view, as a path of upāsanā (worship) of Parameśvara, Śiva. The chapter opens by declaring: “Yoga is Parameśvara, whose nature is bliss beyond compare (niratiśaya ānanda). To reach that bliss, knowledge of Śiva is the foundation. Upāsanā of Śiva rooted in knowledge arises through Śiva’s grace.”

The chapter names two main centres of yoga (yoga-sthānas) in the body:

the hṛdaya-sthāna (heart centre), from below the throat to above the navel, which is the highest (uttama)
the bhrūmadhya-sthāna (the point between the eyebrows), which is the middle one (madhyama)

Practising yoga at these centres, by Śiva’s grace, gives sarvārtha-jñāna, knowledge of all things.

The Eight Limbs in the Liṅga Purāṇa

Yama: giving up the drive to act for Vedic or worldly rewards; rooted in ahiṃsā. Ahiṃsā means actively wishing all creatures well, just as one wishes oneself well.

Niyama: satya (truth), asteya (not stealing), brahmacarya (celibacy) and aparigraha (not accepting gifts).

Satya: saying accurately, and without causing harm, what one has seen, heard, inferred or experienced. Never speaking indecently (nāślīlaṃ kīrtayet). Never revealing other people’s faults.
Brahmacarya: for renunciants and students, no sexual contact in mind, speech or body. For householders, no desire for any woman other than one’s wife, and relations only with one’s own wife at the proper times; this too counts as brahmacarya.

Āsana: a steady posture from which awareness can be turned inward without distraction.

Prāṇāyāma: control of the life-breath that lives in the body.

Pratyāhāra: drawing the five senses of knowledge (jñānendriyas) back from their objects and turning them inward.

Dhāraṇā: fixing the mind on the object of meditation at a chosen centre for a set time, without movement.

Dhyāna: steady, unbroken contemplation of Parameśvara at the chosen centre of yoga.

Samādhi: complete absorption in Parameśvara. The mind becomes still like an ocean without waves, and the yogī’s separate sense of self dissolves into the supreme consciousness of Śiva.

The Liṅga Purāṇa stresses that yoga cannot be established without jitendriyatva, mastery of the senses. When yoga is established by Śiva’s grace, the supreme experience of Śiva’s bliss arises. It is so complete that even Brahmā cannot describe it in words; it can be known only by direct experience.

Kapila’s Aṣṭāṅga Yoga (Bhāgavata Purāṇa)

In the third Skandha (book) of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Chapter 28, Bhagavān Kapila teaches his mother Devahūti a complete aṣṭāṅga yoga. Its special feature is that the meditation is on the form of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, described in great detail. This makes it a practice full of bhakti rather than an abstract exercise of the mind.

The eight limbs are taught in their usual order: yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. But the limb Kapila explains most fully is dhyāna, the meditation on Viṣṇu’s form, part by part:

Feet: bearing the marks of the lotus (padma), thunderbolt (vajra) and flag (dhvaja)
Knees: served always by Śrī Lakṣmī herself
Thighs: resting on Garuḍa in flight, Bhagavān Viṣṇu’s great carrier
Nābhi (navel): the lotus from which Brahmā arose at the start of creation
Vakṣas (chest): bearing the Śrīvatsa mark and the shining Kaustubha jewel; the place where Śrī Lakṣmī’s praises are written
Arms: the four mighty arms that churned Mount Mandara at the churning of the great ocean
Kaumodakī gadā: the divine mace shining in one hand
Vanamālā: the forest garland on the chest, so fragrant that the bees grow drunk on it
Earrings: the magnificent earrings shaped like makaras, catching the light
Neck: adorned with a long, brilliant garland
Hāsa (smile): a smile that shows teeth like budding jasmine flowers
Nose: broad and pure
Hair: dark, curling and fragrant (nīla-kuñcita-keśa)
Apāṅga-dṛṣṭi: the sidelong glance of Bhagavān Viṣṇu’s eyes, which gives fearlessness to those who receive it

The instruction is to fix the mind fully on each part in turn, and then to rest on the whole form at once. One does not jump from part to part, but stays until the mind can hold the entire form together. When the difference between the one who meditates (dhyātā) and the object of meditation (dhyeya) disappears completely, that is samādhi.

This kind of dhyāna, on a particular, named and beloved form of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, joins bhakti and yoga completely. The discipline of yoga becomes the vehicle for deeper devotion, and devotion gives the motive and sweetness that keeps the discipline going.

Aṣṭāṅga Yoga in the Nārada Purāṇa

Chapter 33 of the Nārada Purāṇa, titled Yoga-nirūpaṇa (“explaining yoga”), gives a complete aṣṭāṅga yoga. It is taught by Sanaka Maharṣi to Nārada, in answer to the question of how the bondage of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) can be cut.

Nārāyaṇa Alone Gives Mokṣa

The teaching opens by stating the supremacy of Nārāyaṇa. Brahmā creates at Nārāyaṇa’s command, Viṣṇu sustains and Rudra destroys, but Śrī Nārāyaṇa alone gives mokṣa. Everything, from the principle of ego (ahaṃkāra-tattva) down to the most particular elements, arises only through Nārāyaṇa’s power (prabhāva). So only the yoga directed toward that unchanging (nirvikāra) Nārāyaṇa truly frees the jīva (individual soul).

Sanaka sets out the order. Mokṣa is the fruit of jñāna (knowledge); jñāna arises from bhakti; and bhakti is perfected through karma-yoga (the yoga of right action). After many thousands of births of dāna (charity), yajña and tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage), bhakti for Śrī Hari arises. Even a little bhakti brings the highest, never-ending dharma. With the highest śraddhā, all pāpa is destroyed. When pāpa is destroyed, a pure buddhi (intellect) remains, and that pure buddhi is itself jñāna. Jñāna alone brings mokṣa. Without jñāna, human beings are no better than animals.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga

Yoga is reached through the eight limbs:

Yama: there are seven yamas: ahiṃsā, satya, asteya, brahmacarya, aparigraha, akrodha (freedom from anger) and anasūyā (freedom from envy). Ahiṃsā, not causing distress to any being, is the very foundation of success in yoga; it is the most life-giving yama. Yoga is rooted in ahiṃsā, and all dharmas rest in it.

Niyama: the main niyamas are tapas; svādhyāya (including japa of the Praṇava, the twelve-syllable and eight-syllable mantras, and the Vedic mahāvākyas, the great sayings); santoṣa; śauca; Hari-pūjana (pūjā of Hari); and sandhyopāsana (the daily twilight rites). Outer purity (with earth and water) and inner purity (purity of feeling and intention) are both essential. Without inner purity, even crores of yajñas give no fruit, just as offerings poured onto ash do not feed the fire. Svādhyāya is so essential that without it the other three main niyamas cannot bring success in yoga, while svādhyāya alone can destroy pāpa even without the others.

Āsana: thirty āsanas (postures) are named: padmaka, svastika, pīṭha, saiṃha, kaukkuṭa, kauñjara, kaurma, vajrāsana, vārāha, mṛgaśaulika, nālika, sarvatobhadra, vārṣabha, nāga, mātsya, vaiyāghra, ardhacandraka, daṇḍa, vātāsana, śaila, svabhra, maudgara, mākara, traipatha, kauṣa, sthāṇu, vaikarṇika, bhauma and vīrāsana.

Prāṇāyāma: the control of the breath within the body.

Pratyāhāra: drawing the senses back from their objects into their inner source. One who achieves indriya-jaya (conquest of the senses), even without dhyāna, will reach the supreme state from which there is no return. One who tries dhyāna before conquering the senses is foolish, and his dhyāna will not succeed.

Dhāraṇā: when the sādhaka sees everything, all that he perceives and all that is within him, as the Self, and holds the senses drawn back in this way, that is dhāraṇā.

Dhyāna and samādhi: dhyāna is steady contemplation. When all activity of the senses has stopped and the yogī rests in supreme bliss (paramānanda), not hearing, seeing, smelling, touching or speaking, like a lamp in a windless place or like deep sleep, that is samādhi. In that state the self is known as spotless, pure, and of the nature of being, consciousness and bliss (saccidānanda), free of all limiting conditions.

Keśidhvaja’s Yoga Teaching (Viṣṇu Purāṇa)

The heart of the sixth part (Ṣaṣṭha Aṃśa) of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa is the yoga teaching given by King Keśidhvaja, a master of ātma-vidyā (knowledge of the self), to Khāṇḍikya as his guru-dakṣiṇā (the gift owed to a teacher). It has several special features: the difference between meditation on form and on the formless in dhāraṇā, a particular form of Bhagavān Viṣṇu for dhyāna, the three bhāvanās (inner orientations), and the example of the pot, water and fire to explain ignorance.

The Root of Bondage: The Pot and the Water

Keśidhvaja explains avidyā (ignorance) with a clear example. Water and fire do not touch each other directly. Yet through a pot (sthālī) placed between them, they act on each other and produce effects: boiling, sound and heat. In the same way, the self and prakṛti (material nature) have no real contact. Yet through the antaḥkaraṇa (the inner instrument, the mind), the self seems to go through the changes of saṃsāra, and the experiences of “I am” and “this is mine” arise. The suffering of the jīva is real as experience, but it is not real in the nature of the self. Yoga dissolves this false identification that the mind creates.

Yama and Niyama

Keśidhvaja teaches the usual five yamas: ahiṃsā, satya, asteya (not stealing), brahmacarya and aparigraha (not collecting possessions). The five niyamas are svādhyāya, śauca, santoṣa, tapas and turning one’s whole life toward Parameśvara. Through these the sādhaka purifies the mind and builds the moral ground without which yoga cannot advance.

Āsana and Prāṇāyāma

After yama and niyama come a steady āsana and then prāṇāyāma. Keśidhvaja names two kinds of prāṇāyāma:

Sādhāraṇa prāṇāyāma (ordinary breath control): the regular practice of controlling prāṇa and apāna, the upward-moving and downward-moving breaths, through breathing in (pūraka), holding (kumbhaka) and breathing out (recaka) in a set order. Slowly this brings the breath under the yogī’s control.
Nirbīja prāṇāyāma (“seedless” breath control): prāṇāyāma done free of all karma-vāsanās (the tendencies left by past actions). In this finer form, not only the physical breath but also the tendencies carried in the breath are dissolved. This form prepares one directly for liberation, not only for health and energy.

Pratyāhāra

Pratyāhāra is drawing the five senses of knowledge back from their objects and bringing them under the rule of the mind, instead of letting sense-objects pull them outward. Only when the senses are fully drawn back, made anucara (followers) of the mind rather than independent seekers, does dhāraṇā become possible. Without pratyāhāra, there can be no true dhāraṇā.

Dhāraṇā: With Form and Without Form

Dhāraṇā (steady concentration) has two objects, matching Viṣṇu’s two aspects.

Mūrta dhāraṇā (on the form): The whole visible world is Viṣṇu’s mūrta (formed) aspect. Hiraṇyagarbha, Vāsudeva, Prajāpati, the Maruts, the Vasus, the Rudras, the twelve Ādityas, all the stars and planets, gandharvas, yakṣas, daityas, all humans, animals, birds, serpents, mountains, oceans, rivers and trees, and every moving and unmoving being: all these make up Hari’s universal form (viśvarūpa). Meditating on this all-pervading form as Viṣṇu’s body is mūrta dhāraṇā.

Amūrta dhāraṇā (on the formless): The amūrta (formless) aspect is brahma-śakti, the supreme power of Viṣṇu. It cannot be seen by any sense, but it can be held in the yogī’s pure self-awareness (ātma-saṃvit). This power burns up all pāpa in the yogī’s mind, like a wind-driven fire burning dry grass. Meditating on this formless, all-pervading power is amūrta dhāraṇā.

The yogī who practises mūrta dhāraṇā is said to practise śuddha (pure) dhāraṇā, because the universal form, being Viṣṇu’s body, is a pure and blessed support (āśraya) for the mind.

Dhyāna: The Form to Meditate On

For dhyāna, Keśidhvaja describes this form of Bhagavān Viṣṇu:

eyes long like lotus petals; a broad, shining forehead
beautiful cheeks, with fine kuṇḍala earrings in the ears
a neck shaped like a conch; a broad chest with the Śrīvatsa mark
a deep navel, with three folds on the belly
eight long arms (or four) holding divine weapons (āyudhas)
well-shaped thighs, ankles and lotus feet
shining, pure yellow garments (pīta-vastra)

The practice moves forward in steps:

first, the fully adorned form, with conch, discus, crown and all ornaments
then the form holding only the akṣa-mālā (rosary), without the main ornaments
then the form without any ornaments
then meditation limb by limb, staying on each until the whole form is held firmly
finally, the whole body meditated on as one undivided presence

The test of dhāraṇā is this: if, whether walking, standing or at any moment, the mind holds the form without the object of meditation slipping away, dhāraṇā has been established.

The Three Bhāvanās

Keśidhvaja gives a teaching found in this story and nowhere else in the yoga teachings of the Purāṇas: all beings’ inner orientation falls into three bhāvanās:

Karma-bhāvanā: the orientation of beings bound by conditions, such as devas, humans and animals, who are busy with action and its fruits. Their minds are shaped mainly by action and its results.
Brahma-bhāvanā: the orientation of great siddhas (perfected beings) such as Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanatkumāra, who rest in pure awareness of Brahman, their minds filled with Brahman.
Karma-brahma-ubhaya-bhāvanā: the combined orientation of beings such as Hiraṇyagarbha, who hold both at once, acting on the scale of the whole universe while resting in awareness of Brahman.

In samādhi, all three bhāvanās dissolve. The two thoughts “this is the world” and “this is Brahman” both stop. What remains is pure self-awareness (ātma-saṃvit), which is one with Brahman. This is samādhi. This is mokṣa.

Samādhi

Samādhi is described as the dissolving of every kalpanā (mental projection), every “this is X” that the mind lays over reality. What remains is kevala saṃvit: pure, undivided awareness with no object. The one who meditates and the object of meditation both dissolve. The sādhaka becomes abhinna (not separate) from the Paramātman. Any seeming difference that remains is seen to be ajñāna-kṛta, made by ignorance, and never real. When this ignorance is fully dissolved, who could make a difference between the self and Brahman?

Sources

Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 34–40 (including Chapter 40, Mṛtyu-Samaya Lakṣaṇa)
Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 372–376
Liṅga Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 8–10
Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 28
Nārada Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 33
Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Ṣaṣṭha Aṃśa (Book 6), Chapter 7