An inward aim and an outward appearance
Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.36–37 describes outward sight with inward attention and an apparently unseeing gaze. The Gheranda Samhita’s Shambhavi passage also turns toward contemplation of the self. These accounts concern attention and the relation of sight to it, not a hand configuration.
Numbering and interpretation
In the online Pancham Sinh witness, the English paragraph numbered 35 accompanies Sanskrit verse 36. This page cites the Sanskrit numbering explicitly. The Gheranda witness has its own wording and coordinate, 3.64. Sivananda discusses Shambhavi within Laya Yoga, adding a later teaching context without making the descriptions identical.
An invitation to read, not to strain the eyes
The text’s still gaze belongs to its particular discipline. This page does not prescribe unblinking practice, force the eyes toward a point, or identify a headache with spiritual progress. Its purpose is to make the terse description intelligible: what is directed outward, what is attended inward, and why the author distinguishes them. The Dhyana page offers a separate discussion of a visible meditation gesture in art.
Sources and scope
Main edition
Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 4
Passage for this reading
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 4
Sanskrit verses 4.35–38; English prose numbers 34–37.
Svātmārāma; Sanskrit and Pancham Sinh’s 1914 translation. Sanskrit 4.35–38 accompanies English paragraphs 34–37.
- Gheranda Samhita, Sanskrit
3.64–67.
SanskritDocuments transcription. Coordinates refer to this transcription; Mallinson’s edition uses different numbering in chapter 3.
- Kundalini Yoga
“Miscellaneous Exercises: Laya Yoga”.
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.