हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

xiv HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ
of different degrees of merit acquired in past lives
come under the first two categories. We shall now
speak of the Kaniṣṭha Adhikārin-s who have to begin
their Yoga in the present life. For these no course
of Yoga is possible save the Haṭha-yoga, which they
should patiently follow, guided by a competent Guru.
For, says Śrī Śaṃkarācārya in his treatise on Rāja-
yoga, called Aparokṣānubhūti: ‘The practice of Haṭha-
yoga is intended for those whose nature requires to
be purged of all impurities.’ Now, since the majority
of men are not free from the infirmities of their lower
nature, it follows that the majority of students are in
need of a first training which would fit them for the
pursuit of the higher system of Rāja-yoga: a training
which no system is so well adapted to secure as Haṭha-
yoga.
The misconceptions produced in the minds of
some who, not having impartially viewed the philo-
sophies of Sāṃkhya and Yoga—terms synonymous
with Rāja- and Haṭha-Yoga-s—jump to the conclusion
that the two are distinct sciences, each having a dis-
tinct bearing upon the knowledge of Self, has been
made evident in the Bhagavadgītā, (V. 4 and 5), where
Śrī Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna:
सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः ।
एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ॥
यत्सांख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते ।
एकं सांख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥