1

SOME RARE UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS ON YOGA IN TAMIL

NADU

Dr. K. S. BALASUBRAMANIAN
The K.S.R. Institute
Chennai 600 004.

One of the greatest treasures that India possesses is the

wealth of Manuscripts that are preserved throughout the country in
different forms, languages, scripts and on innumerable subjects.
Besides, there are many manuscripts of Indian origin in many
foreign countries also. According to a rough estimate by Prof.K.T.
Pandurangi about five lakhs of Sanskrit, Pr¢k¨t and P¢li manuscripts
are deposited in about 215 institutions in India. About one lakh are
deposited in Germany, France, Great Britain, Japan, Ceylon, Nepal
and a few other countries in about 40 institutions1. This estimate
does not include innumerable private collections of manuscripts and
also manuscripts in other languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,
Malayalam, Persian and Urdu. Thanks to the efforts of great savants
and manuscriptologists like Theodor Aufrecht, Franz Kielhorn,
George Buhler, Cecil Bendell, A.C.Burnell, Hara Prasad Sastri, R.G.
Bhandarkar, Mm. Kuppuswami Sastri, Dr.V.Raghavan and P.K.Gode,
we are able to know about thousands of manuscripts in Sanskrit,
Pr¢k¨t and P¢li that are preserved in many parts of India and abroad.
Many descriptive catalogues have been and still continue to be
prepared in many institutions. The New Catalogus Catalogorum,
being brought out by the Department of Sanskrit, University of
Madras which gives information about the manuscripts deposited in
different places of the world and also details about the texts,
authors, commentaries, translations, publications, etc., is of great
help to scholars from throughout the world.

1
Pandurangi, K.T. The Wealth of Sanskrit Manuscripts in India and
Abroad. p.1
 2

Not withstanding the contribution of great scholars in this field,

no catalogue giving the details of manuscripts on a particular
subject, like K¢vya, Darºanas, different ¹¢stras has been published
so far.2 Such as catalogue would certainly facilitate the research
work of scholars from different parts of the world. Hence an effort is
being made by the present author to prepare comprehensive
descriptive catalogue of manuscripts exclusively on Yoga. It is
proposed to include different branches of Yoga like R¢ja Yoga, Laya
Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Ha°ha Yoga and so on. Since Yoga is described in
many Agamic, Tantric, Buddhist, Jain and other texts too, it is very
difficult to collect all these materials. But such a trouble is worthy
because Yoga has gained popularity throughout the world as an
effective method for the development of physical, psychical and
spiritual dimensions of man.

There are thousands of books on Yoga written by scholars from

different parts of the world. Among the original texts, only few have
been printed. A survey of the descriptive catalogues of many
institutions, universities and other academic bodies reveals that
hundreds of texts on Yoga still remain unpublished. A catalogue of
such manuscripts will certainly be of great help to the scholars and
practitioners of Yoga throughout the world. In this paper, details of
some rare unpublished manuscripts on Yoga available in the GOML,
Adyar Library (Chennai) and Sarasvati Mahal Library, Tanjore and
some problems in editing them are given.

2
. Prof. R.Thangaswami's Bibliographical Survey of Advaita Ved¢nta
Literature and Darºanama®jar¤ (Pt.I) are available though they do not
give a comprehensive account of all the unpublished manuscripts in the
respective subjects viz. Advaita and Ny¢ya-Vaiºe¾ika.
 3

Among the texts on Yoga and Ha°ha Yoga in particular,

Ha°hasanketacandrika (HSC) of Sundaradeva seems to be the most
voluminous and informative. Hence a brief note about this text and
author is given in the beginning.

1. HSC of Sundaradeva: As the title of the text itself suggests, HSC

gives numerous hints for the benefit of the Yogic sadhakas. It gives
importance to both the physical and psychical aspects of human
development.

HSC is a rare text, which is available only in manuscript form in

Chennai, Mysore, Benares, Calcutta, Jodhpur and Bikaner. It has
been divided into twelve Paricchedas. It deals with almost all
subjects of Yogic practice, many of which are not found in popular
texts like Ha°hayogaprad¤pik¢ of Sv¢tm¢r¢ma, Ha°haratn¢vali of
¹r¤niv¢sa Yog¤ndra, Gorak¾a samhit¢ of Gorak¾a, ¹ivasamhit¢,
Yogay¢j®avalkya and Ghera´²samhit¢.
Sundaradeva (1675-1775), the author of HSC, was a versatile
scholar in K¢vya, Yoga, ¡yurveda, Ved¢nta and other subjects. None
of his works on the above branches of knowledge has been
published so far. From the colophons of HSC and other works, it is
known that he was a South Indian Brahmin of K¢ºyapa gotra, settled
in Benares and he held titles like Vaidyaka and Kavir¢ja.

In HSC alone he has quoted more than ninety authorities,

which include Upani¾ads, Bhagavadg¤t¢, Pur¢´as, Mah¢bh¢rata,
and texts on R¢ja Yoga, Ha°ha Yoga, ¹¢kta, Vaidya, ¹aiva, Advaita
etc.. HSC is an encyclopaedic text and will be of great help to
scholars and practitioners of Yoga, when published.3

3
The present author was awarded Doctorate (Vidya varidhi) degree for a critical study of this
text (HSC) , by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi.
 4

1. He has written another voluminous text on Ha°ha Yoga entitled

Ha°hatattvakaumud¤ in nine chapters. Only one Ms. of this text is
available in Benares. The Lonvla Yoga Institute has brought out this
rare text recently. Another text by the same author is Pra´ava ku
´²al¤ , about which nothing is known. The name of this text has
been referred to by Sundaradeva himself in his HSC. Among the
numerous texts quoted by SD in his HSC, no information is available
about many texts. Some of them are :
(i) £ºvaraproktam:- (NCC. Vol.VIII. p.88) Obviously this is not
the title of the text. But it contains many details on Yogic
practices.
(ii) £ºvaram¤nan¢tha samv¢da :- (NCC. Vol.II. p.277)
According to Yogic tradition, M¤nan¢tha or
Matsyendran¢tha, learnt the Yogic techniques from Lord
¹iva himself. He is respected as the teacher of
Gork¾an¢tha and others. There are many legends about
him. Matsyendra ¡sana is named after him.
(iii) K¢meºvar¤ Tantram:- (NCC. Vol.III. p.365)
(iv) Kerala Tantram :- (NCC. Vol.V. p.43)
(v) Khecar¤pa°ala :- This is also known as Khecar¤vidy¢.
According to NCC (Vol.V. p.188) this forms part of
Mah¢k¢lasamhit¢, a Tantric text. But on examining the
quotations from HSC, it is found that there must be
another text with the same title, since the quotations
given in HSC are not found in the printed edition of
Khecar¤pa°ala section of Mah¢k¢lasamhit¢. Khecar¤
vidy¢ or Khecar¤mudr¢ is considered as the best among
mudr¢s by Ha°hayogaprad¤pika. (I. 43):
ZmgZ§ {gÕgÑe§ Z Hw$å^… Ho$dbmon_…
Ÿ&
Z IoMar g_m _wX«m Z ZmXgX¥emo b`…Ÿ&&
 5

(vi) Nakul¤ºa Yogap¢r¢ya´a :- (NCC. Vol.IX p.313) This may

be of Saivite school of Yoga.
(vii) Pavana-yoga-sa¬graha : (NCC. Vol.XI. p.248) This may
be a text on Svarodaya science of Yoga.
(viii) Yogatattvaprak¢ºa
(ix) Yogab¤ja :- This is a treatise on N¢tha school of Yoga.
(x) Yogas¢garaª
(xi) Yogah¨dayam
(xii) San¢tanasiddh¢nta: A remarkable feature of this text, as
referred to by HSC is that it deals with 32 granthis (knots)
and how to pierce them.
(xiii) Sparºayogaº¢stram
(xiv) Hathaºruti
(xv) Viraktasarvasvam
(xvi) Sad¢ºiva g¤t¢.
Apart from these, many texts quoted by Sundaradeva are difficult to
be identified.4

2. Am¨tasiddhiyoga (ASY) of Vir¦p¢k¾a: Three copies of this text

are available in GOML, Chennai, one in Adyar Library, Chennai and
one in Baroda. This is a treatise on how to attain self-realisation
and is yet to be printed. This is divided into ten chapters, named
Viveka. The topics discussed here include vahni, v¢yu, bindu, citta,
prak¨ti, gu´as, mudr¢ etc. It is also interesting to note that the
author uses the word Mah¢nirv¢´a for Sam¢dhi. The name
‘Vir¦p¢k¾a' has been referred to in the Ha°hayogaprad¤pika (HYP)
as one of the great Yogis. Also, the commentator Brahm¢nanda
quotes this name. If it is the same person, then ASY may be allotted
the period 12-13 cent. A.D.
3. Amraughaprabodha (AP) of Gorak¾an¢tha: A short treatise on
Yoga, AP describes Laya, Ha°ha, Mantra and R¢ja Yogas. Three
4
For more details see my “Authorities cited in the
Ha°hasa¬ketacandrik¢ of Sundaradeva”. J.O.R. Vol. LXVIII – LXX.
 6

copies of this mss. are available in GOML, Chennai, two in Adyar

Library, Chennai and one in Baroda. This is ascribed to
Gorak¾an¢tha, the legendary Yoga-preceptor.

4. Yoga sa¬grahaª (YS) (author unknown): This is an interesting

text in five chapters. The colophon at the end of each chapter
summarises the subject treated therein. The five chapters are i)
Vibh¦ti Yoga ii) Vair¢gya Yoga iii) Karma Yoga iv) J®¢na Yoga and v)
Bhakti Yoga.

It is unusual to find such divisions since conventionally the

Yogic texts describe only Ha°ha, Mantra, Laya and R¢ja Yogas. This
text, it is inferred, may be of later origin. (i.e. later than 17th cent.
A.D.) There are atleast seven texts on this title, some of them on
medicine, astrology, Vedanta and Yoga.

5. Yogas¢rasa¬graha (YSS) (author unknown): This is different

from the text by the well known author Vij®¢nabhik¾u bearing the
same title. Three copies of this text are available in Chennai, two in
GOML and one in Adyar Library. This voluminous text divided into
sixteen chapters, contains the essence of certain works on Yoga, like
Yogaºa¬kara, Bhagavadg¤t¢, Upani¾ads and Pata®jali's Yogas¦tras.
This will be a very useful text, since it quotes from many other texts.

6. P¢ta®jala yogas¦tra (PYS): This is a different text from the

traditional Yogas¦tras of Pata®jali. The whole text was dictated by a
blind pandit, Dhanraj and was written by Sri Bhagwan Das in 1910 at
Benares. This is divided into four chapters. containing 125, 107,
130 and 139 s¦tras respectively. But the colophon says,
“ nmVÄObr`o `moJgyÌo MVwWm}@Ü`m`… ”
 7

This manuscript also contains a brief autobiography of the author.

This is available in Adyar Library, Chennai

7. a. Ch¢y¢puru¾ayoga (author unknown): Three copies of this text

are available in Adyar Library, Chennai. (two are in Telugu and one is
in Kannada script). This contains just twenty one verses and deals
with foretelling of the death. Though, the subject matter does not
deal with conventional Yoga, this subject forms part of Svarodaya
science of Yoga, like ¹ivasvaradaya and Vivekam¢rt¢´²a. It is
interesting to note the colophon of this manuscript which says, “

hR>àXr{nH$m`m§ ahñ``moJo N>m`m nwéf `moJ…

g§nyU©…Ÿ&& ”
b. Another text of the same nature is Ch¢y¢puru¾alak¾a´a. Six
copies of this text are available in Chennai, three each in GOML and
Adyar Library.

Here also, the colophon reads, “ hR>`moJo n#m_…

nQ>b… ”. However the printed editions of HYP do not contain any
matter on this subject.

8. J®¢nam¢rgaprabodhin¤ (author unknown): This text deals with

different interpretations for dv¢daº¢nta in a very simple style. One
interesting verse is:

kmZñ` H$maU§ H$_© kmZ§ H$_©{dZmeH$_² Ÿ&

$
\$bñ` H$maU§ nwîn§ \$b§ nwîn{dZmeH$_²Ÿ&& $$

It is also interesting to note that this text leans towards Vi¾´u in the
end. Generally most of the Yogic texts, especially on Ha°ha Yoga
and Svarodaya are ¹iva-oriented, or in the form of ¹iva-P¢rvat¤
dialogue. This text is a deviation from that convention.
 8

9. Ku´²alin¤pa®cak¢dinir¦pa´am (author unknown): This is a rare

manuscript. Perhaps this is not the exact title of the text. The
colophon is missing, though the text is complete. One interesting
aspect of this text is that it speaks of five Ku´²alin¤s, viz. ¡dh¢ra ku
´²alin¤, Madhya ku´²alin¤, ¥rdhva ku´²alin¤, cit ku´²alin¤ and at¤ta
ku´²alin¤. This is in the form of ¹iva-P¢rvat¤ dialogue.

10. R¢jayogas¢ra (author unknown): There are at least three

manuscripts on the same title. The present text is different from
others as it has invocatory verses on many deities like ¹iva, P¢rvat¤,
Ga´eºa, ½a´mukha, Vi¾´u, Datt¢treya, Pata®jali, Vy¢sa, Nava
Yogis5 and others. It also deals with carkras, daºa v¢yus, laya yoga,
japa yoga, ajap¢ etc. There are two manuscripts on the same title
with authorship ascribed to ¹a¬kara.

11. Siddh¢ntas¢ra : (Author not known). This consists of five

chapters. It is said in the colophon that this is a part of Padmapur¢
´a:

“ B{V lr nmÙnwamUo {gÕmÝVgmao H${nbF${f

{gÕg§dmXo amO`moJmo Zm_ n#m_mo@Ü`m`…Ÿ& ”
This text describes pa®ca bh¦tas, pa®ca cakras, pa®ca sth¢nas,
pa®ca avasth¢s etc.

12. Yogarahasyam : (Author not known). There are at least four

texts with the same title.
(i) - by Nathamuni, referred to by Ved¢nta Deºika in his
Rahasyatrayas¢ra. (NCC. Vol.X. p.31; also Contribution of
Yamuna to Visistadvaita (pp.4-7) by M. Narasimhachari.

5
Perhaps this is nava nathas of the n¢tha samprad¢ya. It is curious
to note that Tirumantiram, the ancient Tamil mystic text on ¹aivism by
Tirum¦lar, talks of the nava Yogis or navan¢thas.
 9

(ii) –by Datt¢treya (p.3129 of Catalogue of I.O Library, London,

Vol.II p.1. Rev. Edn. 1957)
(iii) – by Parameºvara Yogin, (NCC. Vo.XI. p.192)
(iv) The present text which is different from the above, appears
in the codex
(No.4338) in the GOML, Chennai.
It is said that this forms the 18th chapter of
Hastigirim¢h¢tmyam of Brahmapur¢´a. It deals with the traditional
a¾°¢¬gayoga. This also contains some brief note in Tamil.
It is interesting to note that this text is in the form of Brahm¢’s
instruction to Y¢j®avalkya. The B¨hadyogiy¢j®avalkyasm¨ti and
Yogay¢j®avalkya, both ascribed to Y¢j®avalkya also say the same.
But in the colophon of the text, it is said:

“ B{V g§`H²$ g_m»`mVmo `moJgmamo

_`mYwZm Ÿ&& ”
13. Svaraº¢strasa¬graha (author unknown). There are two copies of
this manuscript, in GOML, Chennai and both of them are incomplete.
This is in the form of ¹iva – P¢rvat¤ dialogue, as is the case
with other texts on Svara science of Yoga. But this text seems to be
unique. This deals with the process of creation of the structure of
the body, the production of vocal sounds etc. and the knowledge so
derived being considered to be helpful in the practice of Yoga.

14. Parameºvara Yogin : (also known as Parameºvara Yog¤ndra or

Kavir¢jayogin). He has written four texts on Yoga, apart from
Stotrakavya (NCC. Vol.XI. p.192). All these texts are available only
in manuscript form in Adyar Library, Chennai. They are:
(i) Nijatattv¢m¨tarasa : This consists of 105 verses. The fourth
p¢da of most of the verses are common.
 10

“ na§ {d¿Zm… nmnm{Ìnwaha Zí`ÝVw P{Q>{V

Ÿ&& ”
The style is like Saundaryalahar¤ .
(ii) Yogarahasya: (2 copies) This also consists of 105 verses.
This is in the form of ¹iva’s teaching to P¢rvat¤ during
their inter course.
(iii) Siddhasiddh¢ntapaddhati : It contains 101 verses and talks
on the general
philosophical aspects of Yoga. The author says that this is
an instruction
to his disiciple Cid¢nanda. It may be stated that there is
another text by the same title, written by the legendary
saint Gorak¾an¢tha.
(iv) S¨¾°itattv¢m¨tarasa : This has just 61 verses, divided into
two sections and it describes about Yoga philosophy.
Thus these works of Parameºvara Yogin form the subject
matter which is a of Yoga, Bhakti and Ved¢nta.

15. Tanjore Mah¢r¢ja Serfoji’s Sarasvati Mahal Library, Tanjore also

contains some interesting texts on Yoga, many of which have been
published. There are some well known works like Yogas¦tra of
Pata®jali, Gorak¾an¢tha’s works and fragments from Pur¢´as
dealing with Yoga. The following unpublished text seems to be
interesting:
Kriy¢yoga (6716): According to Pata®jali, Kriy¢yoga consists of
tapas (austerity), sv¢dhy¢ya (self-study) and ¤ºvarapra´idh¢na
(surrender to God).6
This text differs in its treatment of the subject matter of
Kriy¢yoga. It is divided into two chapters viz. dehasthir¤kara´a

6
YS. II. 1 - Vn… - ñdmÜ`m` - B©œaà{UYmZm{Z
{H«$`m`moJ…&
 11

krama and R¢mat¢rakamantra prabh¢va. The author Ve¬ka°a Yogin,

describes in lucid style, some Yogic practices and the greatness of
R¢ma mantra.

While it is important to bring to light these texts, we are faced

with some difficulties.

1. Many manuscripts repeat the same verses while dealing with

Ha°ha, Laya, Mantra and R¢ja Yoga. It is difficult to find the original
source. The twenty ‘Yoga upani¾ads', published by the Adyar
Library and Research Centre, Chennai also contain many verses
which are repetitive, not only among these upani¾ads, but also
among other Yogic texts.

2. Generally the Yogins and mystics do not give their names while
writing such texts. Also they do not quote other texts by name.
Texts like ¹ivasamhit¢, Ghera´²a samhit¢, ¹ivasvarodaya and others
fall in this category. Many texts are seen in the form of dialogue
between Lord ¹iva and his consort P¢rvat¤. Also many later texts are
ascribed to ¹a¬kar¢c¢rya , Gorak¾an¢tha, Matsyendra, Datt¢treya,
Vir¦p¢k¾a or Lord ¹iva himself. Hence it is difficult to find out the
author, his predecessors and his successors.

3. There are scribal errors in many manuscripts and also some

lacunae. It is difficult to fill in the gaps or correct the scribal errors
since this is a technical and a practical subject, like dance, music,
architecture etc.

4. There are many texts which are available in single manuscript

only, like Ha°hatattvakaumud¤ of Sundaradeva7 (available in
Benares).
7
Recently this has been published by the Lonavla Yoga Institute,
Lonavla.
 12

5. There are many verses in Yogic texts which are difficult to

understand. Since this is a technical and also a practical subject,
great care should be taken to emed the passages wherever
necessary. For example, some passages in texts like Ha°ha-sa¬keta-
candrik¢, Yogay¢j®avalkya and Vai¾°ha samhit¢ contradict with
each other with regard to the name and practice of ¢sanas, mudr¢s
etc. and also on the subject matter of n¢²¤s and so on.
Besides one should have basic knowledge in Tantra, ¡gama,
Yoga, etc., to understand some passages in Yogic texts, especially
dealing with Ha°ha Yoga and Mantra Yoga. Some examples are
given below.

(i) gá_ñ` Vw dJ©ñ` MVwWª {~ÝXwg§`wV_²Ÿ& $

ódÝV__¥V§ ní`oÞoÌmä`m§ gwg_m{hV…Ÿ&& 8
According to Agamic tradition, this represents d§ (VAM) b¤ja 9

(ii) {Xdm Z nyO`o{„“§ amÌm¡ M¡d Z nyO`oV²Ÿ&

$
gd©Xm nyO`o{„“§ {Xdmam{Ì {ZamoYV…
&& 10
Here the words div¢ and r¢tri denote the period when the pr¢
´a is flowing through the I²¢ and Pi¬gal¢ respectively. Li¬ga stands
for the Self and the term ‘div¢r¢trinirodhataª’ means when the pr¢
´a flows in the Su¾um´¢ .

8
Yogay¢j®avalkya V.16; the present author was awarded Ph.D. by
the Univ. of Madras in 2005 for a critical study of this text.
9
In this verse, the seventh varga (group) refers to the syllables `, a,
b and d (the first six vargas being the vowels and the ka, ca, °a, ta, pa
groups. The seventh is ya, ra, la and va. Hence the mystic syllable is VAM.
It may be noted that the book YY published by KYM, Chennai does not
contain this verse. YY, pub. by Ganesh & Co contains this verse, but the
translation by A.G. Mohan is not correct.
1
0 Ha°hayogaprad¤pik¢, IV. 42
 13

(iii) In the text Satkarmasa¬graha (SMS) which describes many

purificatory practices, there are quite a few verses which cannot be
understood. For example,

V¥Vr`mï>__mXm` {ÛVr`ñ` V¥Vr`H$_²Ÿ& $

Ì`moXeo n#m_ñ` {ÛVr`ñ` {ÛVr`H$_²&&
(v.60) and so on.

(iv) There are many scribal errors in some mss. For example,
the text Ha°hasa¬ketacandrik¢, available in GOML (R.3239)
contains many scribal errors.

6. It is unfortunate that officials of many libraries and research

organisations do not respond to the queries regarding the
manuscripts.

CONCLUSION:

Yoga is gaining popularity throughout the world. A descriptive

catalogue on the manuscripts of Yoga kept in various libraries in
India and abroad will be of great help to scholars and practitioners to
know how various Yogic practices have evolved over a period of
thousands of years. These manuscripts are the store-house of
wisdom left behind by the great men of our country for the benefit of
the human kind. It is our responsibility to preserve them and pass
them on to the posterity. The details of all these manuscripts can
be stored in computers and made available to all through web sites.
This is Yogak¾ema: “ Aàmáñ` n«m{á… `moJ…, àmáñ`
n[aajU§ jo_…Ÿ&& ”
I request everyone to offer his / her service in this noble task.

Thank you !!!


 14

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts Vol.III

---GOML, Chennai 5.
2. ---do. Adyar Library and Research Centre, Chennai
3. --- do. Sarasvati Bhavan Library, Sampuranand Sanskrit
University, Benares.
4. Bibliographical Survey of Advaita Vedanta, by Prof,
R.Thangaswami, Univ. of Madras, Chennai.
5. Wealth of Sanskrit Manuscritps in India and Abroad by
Prof.K.T.Pandurangi
6. Ha°hasa¬ketacandrika of Sundaradeva, R.3239, GOML,
Chennai.
7. -- do No.29851, 29852 at Sarasvati Bhavan Library, Benares.
8. Hathatattvakaumudi of Sundaradeva, ManuscriptNo.29853 at
Sarasvati Bhavan Library, Benares.
9. New Catalogus Catalogorum. Vol.I - XIII
 15

10. Yogay¢j®avalkya, critical edn., by D.C. Divanji, B.B.R.A.

Society, Monograph No.3, Bombay, 1954.
11. Ha°hayogaprad¤pik¢ of Sv¢tm¢r¢ma with ‘Jyotsn¢’ com, by
Brahm¢nanda, Adyar Library and Research Centre, Chennai
1975.
12. Satkarma Samuccaya of Citghan¢nanda ed. R.W. Harshe,
Kaivalya dhama, Lonavla (Pune), 1970.
13. Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit manuscripts in the
Tanjore Mah¢r¢ja Serfoji’s Sarasvat¤ Mah¢l Library, Tanjore
(Vol. XI), 1931.
14. Journal of Oriental Research, Vol. LXVIII – LXX, The K.S.R.I.,
Chennai, 2000.

 