Swami Svatmarama wrote the Hatha Yoga Pradipika in the 15th century as a practical manual for a specific goal: the stilling of the mind through the systematic preparation of the body. The text opens by naming this purpose plainly in its first chapter, hatha yoga is a staircase to raja yoga, and raja yoga is the absorption of the mind in samadhi. The postures, the breath, the locks, the cleansing rituals, none of them are the destination. They are the building site.
