The ''Yogatārāvalī'' ("A String of Stars on Yoga") is a short yoga text of 29 verses from the 13th or 14th century, covering both

haṭha yoga Hatha yoga (; Sanskrit हठयोग, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''haṭhayoga'') is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word ह� ...

and

rāja yoga In Sanskrit texts, ''Rāja yoga'' () was both the goal of yoga and a method to attain it. The term was later adopted as a modern label for the practice of yoga in the 19th-century when Swami Vivekananda gave his interpretation of the Yoga S ...

(the yoga of

Patanjali Patanjali (, , ; also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra) was the name of one or more author(s), mystic(s) and philosopher(s) in ancient India. His name is recorded as an author and compiler of a number of Sanskrit works. The greatest of these a ...

). It mentions the yogic sleep state of

samadhi Statue of a meditating Rishikesh.html" ;"title="Shiva, Rishikesh">Shiva, Rishikesh ''Samādhi'' (Pali and ), in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, is a state of meditative consciousness. In many Indian religious traditions, the cultivati ...

or yoganidra. The text was used by the author of the 15th century '' Haṭhapradīpikā''. The ''Yogatārāvalī's'' first verse is chanted by

Ashtanga (vinyasa) yoga Ashtanga yoga (not to be confused with Patanjali's ''Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga), aṣṭāṅgayoga'', the eight limbs of yoga) is a style of yoga as exercise popularised by K. Pattabhi Jois during the twentieth century, often promoted as a ...

students, following Pattabhi Jois's practice, at the start of each class. The text leads up to the teaching that yoga brings "complete transcendence of the world and mind", uninterested in gaining

siddhi In Indian religions, (Sanskrit: '; fulfillment, accomplishment) are material, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of Yoga, yogic advancement through sādhanās such as medit ...

s (powers). Compared to earlier yoga texts such as the 12th or 13th century '' Dattātreyayogaśāstra'' and the 14th century '' Amaraugha Prabodha'', the ''Yogatārāvalī'' omits mention of

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

yoga, and treats hatha yoga as the only way to practice rāja yoga. It makes use of the three

bandhas ''Bandha'' (बन्ध, a Sanskrit term for "binding, bond, arrest, capturing, putting together" etc.) may refer to: * Bandha (yoga) * Bandha (Jainism) See also * Bandh (disambiguation) * Bandham (disambiguation) * Bandhan (disambiguation) * ...

(locks) to attain

kevala kumbhaka ''Kumbhaka'' is the retention of the breath in the yoga practice of pranayama. It has two types, accompanied (by breathing) whether after inhalation or after exhalation, and, the ultimate aim, unaccompanied. That state is ''kevala kumbhaka'', the ...

, a spontaneous suspension of breathing and mental activity. According to the text, this supersedes all other Patanjali-style yoga practices including dharana (concentration) and

dhyana Dhyana may refer to: Meditative practices in Indian religions * Dhyana in Buddhism (Pāli: ''jhāna'') * Dhyana in Hinduism * Jain Dhyāna, see Jain meditation Other *''Dhyana'', a work by British composer John Tavener Sir John Kenneth ...

(meditation). Two verses discuss

kuṇḍalinī In Hinduism, kundalini (, ) is a form of divine feminine energy (or ''Shakti'') believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the ''muladhara''. It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power a ...

(an energy visualised as a coiled snake) without naming it. Ruth Westoby states that the text mentions the awakening of ''uragāṅganā'', the snake-woman, whose awakening is induced by the three bandhas. This allows the breath to enter, and breathing is then suspended. Separately, kuṇḍalinī is named as ''kuṇḍalī''. A detailed commentary on the ''Yogatārāvalī'', the only one in this text, is the ''Rājayogatarala'' of Rāmasvāmi paṇḍita.

References

{{Hatha yoga Hatha yoga texts