“Faith in the guru, courage, and perseverance are essential for fulfilling yoga.”
The verse: Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.16
The quote above is our paraphrase. This is the verse as it reads in the Pancham Sinh translation (1914):
“The following six bring speedy success:—Courage, daring, perseverance, discriminative knowledge, faith, aloofness. from company.”
About the text: Hatha Yoga Pradipika
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is a Sanskrit manual of hatha yoga compiled by Svatmarama, usually dated to the 15th century. Its four chapters cover postures, cleansing practices and breath control, mudras and bandhas, and meditation, and it is among the most influential surviving hatha yoga texts.
More from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika
- “A strong yet flexible mind can never be an overnight attainment; the process takes many years.”
- “Consciousness pervades even the potential force of Shakti; in dissolution, tattwas subside into consciousness.”
- “Guru is not merely a yoga teacher. He is the only one who can enlighten your soul by the luminosity of his revealed spirit.”
- “The qualities of existence, consciousness, and bliss are present in all elements, gods, animals, and men alike.”
- “One who desires complete dominion of yoga should explore nada and abandon all thoughts.”
- “The inner knowledge becomes effulgent on its own once the mind becomes quiescent.”