A framework of awakening
Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.104 onward introduces several names for Kundalini and describes awakening Shakti. The Gheranda Samhita’s corresponding section also places Kundalini at the base and relates awakening to a path of ascent. These belong to the traditions’ account of subtle forces and liberation.
A practice composed of other elements
The texts connect this subject with posture, breath, and bodily operations. Gheranda additionally links Shakti Chalana with Ashvini and Yoni mudra; Sivananda describes particular versions in his mudra chapter. The overlap explains why a list of names cannot serve as an adequate instruction manual.
Reading the awakening with care
Shakti Chalana is understood through these relationships, with no awakening exercise, no forceful-breath drill, and no promise of extraordinary experiences drawn from them. Tingling, dizziness, or any other bodily sensation is no proof of Kundalini. Read the chakra guide for its distinctions between subtle-body traditions and anatomy, and the Kumbhaka page for the retained-breath vocabulary.
The tenth name and the end of the chapter
The familiar selection used here begins with Kundalini’s names at 3.104 and follows the discussion through 3.120. Related material continues at 3.121 to 127 before the ten mudras are named together again at 3.128. In the critical edition, the main Shakti Chalana discussion is 3.94 to 102, preceded by additional passages at 3.93*2 to 7; its closing ten-mudra statement is 3.103.
These are reading locations, not a claim that the editions line up verse for verse. The changing order and displayed additions are part of the reason each reference names its edition alongside the bare verse number.
Where no edition is named, Hatha Yoga Pradipika verse numbers follow the Sanskrit numbering printed with Sinh’s 1914 edition.
Sources and scope
Main edition
Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 3
Passage for this reading
- Haṭhapradīpikā Online: critical-edition comparison
Chapter 3, 3.94 to 102, including displayed additions where relevant. The map above explains material differences from Sinh’s Sanskrit 3.104 to 120. Comparison reviewed September 12, 2026.
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 3
Sanskrit verses 3.104 to 120.
Svātmārāma; Sanskrit and Pancham Sinh’s 1914 translation. English paragraph numbering sometimes diverges from the Sanskrit verses.
- Gheranda Samhita, Sanskrit
3.49 to 60.
SanskritDocuments transcription. Coordinates refer to this transcription; Mallinson’s edition uses different numbering in chapter 3.
- Kundalini Yoga
“Mudras and Bandhas: 11. Shakti Chalana Mudra”.
Swami Sivananda; Divine Life Society, tenth edition 1994, authorized web edition 1999. Traditional teaching, not clinical evidence.
What this edition covers
An original reference essay comparing the traditional descriptions. It is not a translation of the entire source chapter.
Limits and differences
The prose above identifies material differences. Traditional explanations and promised attainments are attributed to their sources; they are not clinical evidence. Review date: September 11, 2026.