घेरण्ड संहिता (महर्षि घेरण्ड - सप्ताङ्ग हठयोग सटीक)

xii INTRODUCTION
subtle dhyana, visualization of Kundalini. In the final chapter
Gheranda teaches six very different ways to samadhi. Three
mudras, Shambhavi, Khechari, and Yoni, lead to three
types of samadhi: dhyana, bliss through rasa (“taste” or
“sensation”), and laya (resorption into the Ultimate Reality
by means of Kundalini’s rise up the Sushumna, or central
channel). Bhramari pranayama, as noted above, leads to
samadhi through nada, the inner sound. The Murccha,
or “trance” pranayama also leads to samadhi. Finally, we
are told that samadhi can arise through bhakti, “devotion,”
and this is another feature that sets this book apart from all
other texts on Hatha Yoga.
Nothing is known about Gheranda and Chanda. The
name Gheranda is not found anywhere else in Sanskrit lit-
erature. Like many other works on Hatha Yoga, the work is
framed as a dialogue, suggesting that it has been overheard
and then written down. Thus the identity of the author (or
whoever overheard Gheranda) is not revealed. Chanda’s
full name, Chandakapali, means “fierce skullbearer.” The
epithet kapali, “skullbearer,” immediately brings to mind
the sect of the Kapalikas, skull-bearing followers of Shiva
infamous for antinomian practices. Kapali and Kapalika
are both mentioned as past masters of Hatha Yoga in the
list given in verses 1.4-8 of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. (In
fact, some manuscripts of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika prefix
the name Kapali with Chanda, rather than Khanda, the
more common reading.) However, as we shall see below, the
practices taught in this book are tame compared to some of
those taught in other works on Hatha Yoga, and Gheranda