Description

Gheranda Samhita was composed in the late 17th-century text which serves as an encyclopedia on Hatha yoga. It is nothing but a yogic manual delivered by sage Gheranda to disciple Chanda Kapali. Gheranda Samhita describes sevenfold yoga, which is not available in other Hatha yogic texts.

Those practices are Shatkarma, Asana, Mudras, Pratyahara, Pranayama, Dhyana, and Samādhi. There are seven chapters in the text Gheranda Samhita and the ṣaṭkarmas (shatkarma) are given priority. It is a text of “Ghatastha yoga” whereas Patanjali yoga sutra gives a description of an eightfold path (Yama and niyama instead of shatkarma, mudra, and inclusion of Dharana). The concept of samadhi and methods in Gheranda Samhita is also different from that of Patanjali’s system.