हठयोग प्रदीपिका (योगी स्वात्माराम - ज्योत्स्ना टीका सहित सटीक)

SECOND CHAPTER

1. The Yogin having perfected himself in the
   Āsana-s, should practise Prāṇāyāma according to the
   instructions of his Guru, with his senses under control,
   conforming to a beneficial and moderate diet.
2. When the breath wanders [i.e. is irregular],
   the mind is unsteady, but when [the breath is] still,
   so is [the mind] still and the Yogin obtains the power
   of stillness. Therefore the breath should be restrained.
3. Life is said to exist only so long as there is
   breath in the body; its [the breath’s] departure is
   death. So one should restrain the breath.
4. When the Nāḍī-s are full of impurities, the
   breath does not go into the middle [Nāḍī, Suṣumnā].
   How then can there be the Unmanī-avasthā? How
   can there be the attainment of the goal?
5. When all the Nāḍī-s, which are full of
   impurities, become purified, then only does the Yogin
   become expert in the control of breath.
6. So control of breath (Prāṇāyāma) should be
   done daily with a mind in which the sāttvika (pure)
   element prevails, till the Suṣumnā Nāḍī is free from
   impurities.
   In the above verses, ‘breath’ does not mean the air taken
   in and breathed out, but the Prāṇa, i.e. the magnetic current
   of breath, as it would be otherwise absurd to say that the breath