हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

HAṬHAYOGAPRADĪPIKĀ 11
Our interest in the story lies in the fact that the sage patiently
waited for the natural unfoldment of the pupil's spiritual tendencies
and the purifying of his nature through his association and surround-
ings. He chose the right time and seeing into the nature of the
pupil as into a glass, brought about in a simple way results psychical
and spiritual, that persons, unacquainted with the rationale of
Yoga and without the guidance of a Master, labour years to obtain.
If these were understood and their importance fully realized,
there would be fewer victims and failures.
17. Āsana-s are treated of in the first place as
they form the first stage of Haṭha-yoga. Āsana-s
make one firm, free from maladies and light of limb.
Āsana is said to make one firm because it kills out the Rajo-
guṇa that causes fickleness of the mind. By removing diseases
it facilitates concentration; for Patañjali says: 'Disease, dullness,
doubt, inattention, sloth, worldly-mindedness, false notions, missing
the essential and instability are the causes of the distraction of the
mind and they are the obstacles.' Heaviness of body arises from
a preponderance of Tamas, and Āsana-s remove this. Though it
is impossible to explain clearly and realize the important truths
that underlie the various Āsana-s, till the human system is under-
stood in all its intricacy and detail, still it can be said that the
various postures bring about many important results, physical
and otherwise. For example, during some of them, various nerve
centres are activized; these effectively help to control the irregu-
larities in the body and what is more wonderful, but not less true,
is the purification of our mental nature, i.e. the suppression of
some of our animal passions. Several diseases brought on by an
excess of or irregularity in the humours of the body—wind, bile
and phlegm—are removed by the Āsana-s. Physiologists will
find here a vast field for their researches.
18. I proceed to describe some of the Āsana-s
accepted by such sages as Vasiṣṭha and Yogin-s such
as Matsyendra.