Ghatavastha in Yoga Tattva Upanishad

The Yoga Tattva Upanishad outlines four stages of yoga practice (avastha): Aarambhavastha (commencement), Ghatavastha (integration/coalescence), Parichayavastha (intimacy), and Nishpattivastha (consummation).

Ghatavastha represents the stage of union, where the dual forces and aspects of the individual’s system merge into complete harmony.

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Verses 65–66a: The Definition of Ghatavastha

Devanagari

प्राणोऽपानो मनो बुद्धिर्जीवात्मपरमात्मनोः । ६५ ।
अन्योन्यास्याविरोधेन एकता घटते यदा ।
ततो भवेद्घटावस्था पवनाभ्यासतत्परा ॥

(Note: In some manuscript traditions, the text reads भवेद्धठावस्था (bhaveddhaṭhāvasthā), but in the context of the Yoga Tattva Upanishad’s fourfold stages, it structurally signifies घटावस्था (ghaṭāvasthā).)

IAST Transliteration

prāṇo’pāno mano buddhir jīvātma-paramātmanoḥ | 65 |
anyonyasyāvirodhena ekatā ghaṭate yadā |
tato bhaved ghaṭāvasthā pavanābhyāsa-tatparā ||

Translation

“When Prana and Apana, Mind and Intellect, as well as the Individual Soul and the Supreme Soul, attain absolute unity without any mutual opposition—then, for the practitioner deeply intent on the mastery of breath, the state known as Ghaṭāvasthā is realized.”

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Reference: Yoga Tattva Upanishad