221:7 This refers to the several class of persons in different modes of life who wear their hair in different ways as yogins, ascetics and so on.

222:1 Meaning respectively mental restraint, bodily restraint, the renunciation or practising of works without reference to their fruits, endurance of heart and soul, etc., faith and settled peace of mind.

222:2 Meaning meditation and reflection thereon.

225:1 Viz., Vishṇu, the Lord of all persons.

228:1 During the solar and lunar eclipses, these rites are done by the Hinḍūs.

228:2 Of the six sakṭis, she is one that gives wisdom.

228:3 Either controlling the breath through prāṇāyāma or the consolidation of mercury through some means, leading in both cases to siḍḍhis, etc.

230:1 Of the two causes of the universe, Spirit is the nimiṭṭa (instrumental) cause while matter is the upāḍāna (material) cause. This material cause is again subdivided into three: viz., ārambha (initial), pariṇāma (changed) and vivarṭa (illusory). The first or material cause may be exemplified by the cotton or woollen thread being the initial material cause of cloth or dresses which are woven out of these threads without changing the threads; the second by milk being the changed cause of curd, since a change takes place in the milk which becomes curd; the third by a serpent being the illusory cause of a rope, for here through illusion we mistake the rope for the serpent.

231:1 The mystic Hinḍū Tamil books teem with works on medicine through which the higher siḍḍhis can be developed.

232:1 Jīvanmukṭi is emancipation. Jīvanmukṭas are those that have attained emancipation.

232:2 This word and others are explained in full later on in the text.

234:1 Lit., secret sleep.

235:1 Suka is a Ṛshi, the son of the present Vyāsa and the narrator of Bhāgavaṭa Purāṇa. Vāmaḍeva is also a Ṛshi.

236:1 Bird's path, like birds which fly at once to the place they intend to go; Ant's path, like ants which move slowly.

236:2 It is that of intense self-absorption when one loses his consciousness of individuality.

236:3 Hathayoga, as stated in Paṭañjali's Yoga Philosophy.

237:1 There are either the five elements or Mūlāḍhāra (sacral plexus), Svāḍhishthāna (epigastric or prostatic plexus), Maṇipūraka (solar plexus), Anāhata (cardiac plexus) and Visuḍḍhi (laryngeal or pharyngeal plexus). These are situated respectively in the anus, the genital organs, navel, heart and throat. The last or the sixth plexus is omitted here, as the five plexuses mentioned above correspond to the five elements. This chapter treating of yoga is very mystical.

237:2 This is one of the postures treated of in Siva Samhiṭa and other books.