हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

x HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ
of the thinking principle,¹ an object attainable
through different methods, none of which is practi-
cable without controlling the prāṇa or breath, which
is intimately connected with the mind. This connec-
tion is proved by our daily experience of life; when we
are absorbed in deep thought, the process of breathing
becomes slow. The suspension of the mental activity
increases in proportion to the slowness of the breath;
and in cases of asphyxia, mental activity ceases alto-
gether until respiration is revived, and complete dis-
appearance of mental activity takes place with the
death of the body. These considerations prove that
mind and prāṇa, another term for the vital breath, are
interdependent, each unable to act independently of
the other.
It has been said in the Śivagītā that the vehicle
of mind is prāṇa, and therefore mind is present where
prāṇa is. In other words mind has been described as
the rider and prāṇa as the horse. In the Yogavāsiṣṭha
¹ When initiating Rāmacandra, his Guru Vasiṣṭha said :
चित्तं कारणमर्थानां तस्मिन् सति जगत्त्रयम् ।
तस्मिन् क्षीणे जगत् क्षीणं तच्चिकित्स्यं प्रयत्नतः ॥
एक एव मनो देवो ज्ञेयः सर्वार्थसिद्धिदः ।
अन्यत्र विफलः क्लेशः सर्वेषां तज्जयं विना ॥
The happiness and misery experienced in this world are
caused by the working of the mind. Three worlds are created
by the mind. Suspension of the mental activity will cause the
three worlds with their misery to disappear. By controlling the
mind all occult powers are acquired. If the mind is not controlled,
all else becomes useless and painful.