The Gheraṇḍa Saṁhitā presents a distinct system known as Saptāṅga or seven-limbed yoga, taught as a progressive discipline that transforms the body–mind “vessel” into a fit instrument for realization. This path begins with **ṣaṭkarma**, the six purification practices—neti, dhauti, nauli, basti, kapalabhāti, and trataka—through which the physical body and its channels are cleansed and prepared for subtler work. Only when this groundwork of purification is established does the text move to the subsequent limbs, indicating that inner refinement is inseparable from outer discipline.

The second limb, **āsana**, consists of postures that cultivate steadiness, strength, and stability. The Gheraṇḍa Saṁhitā describes many postures, highlighting a core group as especially beneficial, and treats them not merely as exercises but as a means of rendering the body a firm, reliable base for higher practices. From there, the text turns to **mudrā**, psycho-physical “seals” and energetic locks that channel and direct prāṇa. These mudrās, including well-known forms such as mahāmudrā and khecarī, are said to regulate the life-force and awaken latent capacities, further refining the practitioner’s inner economy of energy.

Once the body and prāṇa are disciplined, the path moves inward through **pratyāhāra**, the withdrawal of the senses. Here the practitioner learns to detach awareness from external objects and to gather the mind back into itself, loosening the habitual outward flow of attention. On this foundation, **prāṇāyāma**—the regulated control of inhalation, exhalation, and retention—purifies the subtle channels (nāḍīs) and steadies the mind. Breath becomes a bridge between body and consciousness, and its mastery marks a decisive shift from gross to subtle practice.

The final two limbs, **dhyāna** and **samādhi**, complete the sevenfold path. In **dhyāna**, meditation is cultivated as sustained, one-pointed contemplation in which the mind rests steadily on a chosen object or form, leading to deep inner absorption. When this absorption becomes complete, **samādhi** arises: a state in which the distinction between meditator, act of meditation, and object of meditation falls away. The Gheraṇḍa Saṁhitā thus portrays the seven limbs as an integrated ascent—from purification and posture through energetic control and sensory withdrawal to meditation and ultimate contemplative union—constituting a full path of yoga oriented toward the highest spiritual realization.