The text itself does not present a single, uniform duration that applies to every aspirant, yet it does offer a clear indicative framework for the attainment of perfection in its core disciplines. It states that siddhi in Haṭha Yoga may arise in about three years for the most capable practitioner, in six years for one of middling capacity, and in twelve years for those of lesser aptitude. This range is not presented as a mechanical schedule but as a way of indicating how differing temperaments and capacities ripen under sustained discipline. Mastery, in this sense, is not merely technical proficiency but the fruition of steady, correct, and one‑pointed practice.

Within this broad framework, the various limbs of practice—āsana, prāṇāyāma, mudrā, bandha, and the culminating absorption—are described more in terms of their signs and fruits than in terms of fixed calendars. Āsana is said to be accomplished when the body becomes steady, light, and free from disease, without assigning a specific number of months or years. Prāṇāyāma is linked with the gradual purification of the nāḍīs, again without a precise timetable, and the higher mudrās and bandhas are measured by inner transformations such as control of prāṇa and the awakening of kuṇḍalinī rather than by external milestones. The consummation in samādhi or rāja‑yoga is thus framed as the natural outcome of this integrated maturation, all broadly encompassed within the three‑, six‑, or twelve‑year arc.

The text repeatedly shifts the seeker’s attention away from anxious concern over duration and toward the quality of practice and life. It emphasizes disciplined observances such as moderation in diet, restraint of the senses, and avoidance of distraction as indispensable supports for progress. Unbroken, daily abhyāsa is praised above sporadic intensity, and the necessity of guidance from a qualified guru is underscored as a safeguard and catalyst. From this perspective, the indicated timeframes are best understood as a sacred rhythm of ripening: mastery of the core practices is said to unfold over several years of sincere, regulated effort, with the precise pace determined by the aspirant’s capacity, dedication, and purity of body, nerves, and mind.