Hatha Yoga Pradipika

The work consists of 389 shlokas (verses) in four chapters that describe topics including purification (Sanskrit: ṣaṭkarma), posture (āsana), breath control (prāṇāyāma), spiritual centres in the body (chakra), kuṇḍalinī, energetic locks (bandha), energy (prāṇa), channels of the subtle body (nāḍī), and energetic seals (mudrā).

In this model, Bindu is to be conserved, and the various mudras act to block its passage down the Sushumna nadi, the central channel of the subtle body.

[6] The later model involves the stimulation of Kundalini, visualised as a small serpent coiled around the base of the Sushumna nadi.

[9] Jason Birch has investigated the role of the Hatha Yoga Pradīpikā in popularizing an interpretation of the Sanskrit word haṭha.

Examining Buddhist tantric commentaries and earlier medieval yoga texts, Birch found that the adverbial uses of the word suggested that it meant "force", rather than "the metaphysical explanation proposed in the 14th century Yogabīja of uniting the sun (ha) and moon (ṭha)".

Detail of a 19th-century manuscript copy of the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika , Schoyen Collection, Norway
Manuscript painting of a yogin in meditation, showing the chakras and the three main nāḍīs (channels) of the subtle body . A small serpent, representing the Kundalini , climbs from the base of the central nāḍī.