Gheranda Samhita

GHERANPA SAMHITA is a Tantrika work, treating of Hatha Yoga. It consists of a dialogue between the sage Gheranda, and an enquirer called Candakapali. The book is divided into seven Lessons or Chapters and comprises, in all, some three hundred and fifty verses. It closely follows in the footsteps of the famous treatise on Hatha Yoga, known as Hatha Yoga Pradipika. In fact, a large number of verses of Gheranda Samhita correspond verbatim with those of the Pradipika. It may, therefore, be presumed that one has borrowed from the other, or both have drawn from a common source.

The book teaches Yoga under seven heads or Sadhanas. The first gives directions for the purification of the Body (inside and out). The second relates to Postures, third to Mudras, the fourth to Pratyahara, the fifth to   the sixth to Dhyana, and the seventh to Samadhi.