हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

INTRODUCTION xvii
exhorting them in the last chapter of the Īśvaragītā:
‘I have now fully explained the different subjects
respecting which your minds were perplexed with
doubt; but know further, that this Nārāyaṇa and myself
are one and the same, and that there is no difference
between us. He, like me, is incorporeal, imperishable,
the supreme and universal soul. Those, however,
who behold diversity in this universe, consider us
to be distinct deities, naming him Viṣṇu, and me
Maheśvara; but those who know that we are in essence
one and the same shall be free from the pains of re-
birth.’
As a further illustration of the excellence of the
Haṭha-yoga, which we have attempted to establish
by the above few quotations drawn out of an over-
whelming number of ancient authorities, we would
invite the reader’s attention to the familiar, but never-
theless undeniable, analogy introduced in a work of
very ancient repute, known as Śaivāgama, in which
Ādinātha (the God Śiva) urges even the most perfect
Yogin not to give up his practice of Āsana, Prāṇāyāma,
Kumbhaka, etc. for the purpose of keeping his body in
perfect good health even as all human beings are
required to keep their dwelling houses in perfect sanitary
condition.
In view of the combined advantage of the two
systems, and for the enlightenment of men thirsting
for knowledge, the great Yogin Svātmārāma compiled
the Haṭhayogapradīpikā, of which we have in these
pages attempted to give, with the original text and its