The part begins with Yogi Swatmarama offering his salutation to the Guru Adinatha as a part of the ancient Indian tradition, Adinatha is one of the names used for lord Shiva, he is the supreme divine who brought the knowledge of yoga to the human beings. He has been called with various names over the ages, like; Purusha in Samkhya Philosophy,  Brahman in Vedanta, Shiva by the Shaivites and Vishnu by the Vaishnavites, Adinatha was given by the yogis of the Nath Sect, which originally translates into the Protector or the Primal Master.

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He then offers his gratitude to the Mahasiddhas, the Jivanamukta yogis who attained the ashta siddhis (Anima, Laghima, Mahima, Garima, Prapti, Prakamya, Vashitva and Ishatva)  through perfection in sadhana, through the mastery in Hatha Yoga transcending the normal limitations of mind by traversing the patha of Raja Yoga.

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These Mahasiddhas include, Sri Adinatha (Lord Shiva), Matsyendranatha, Gorakshanatha, Shabara, Anandabhairava, Chaurangi, Mina, Virupaksha, Bileshaya, Manthana, Bhairava, Siddhi, Buddha, Kanthadi, Korantaka, Surananda, Siddhipada, Charapati, Kaneri, Pujyapada, Nityanath, Niranjana, Kapali, Bindunatha, Kakachandishwara, Allama, Prabhudeva, Ghodacholi, Tintini, Bhanuki, Naradeva, Khanda & Kapalika, these great masters roam around the universe having conquered the time through the practice of Hatha Yoga.

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In later verses Swami Swatmarama also tells us about the place of practice which is termed as MATHA, the concept of MITAHARA – the Yogic Diet, The Sadhaka Tattva (favourable) and the Badhaka Tattva (unfavourable) the attributes of one’s own personality that can ascend or descend the effects of yoga sadhana, the social and personal codes of conduct or the Yamas and the Niyamas, and at last the fifteen major asanas.

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सुराज्ये धार्मिके देशे सुभिक्षे निरुपद्रवे ।"
धनुः प्रमाणपर्यन्तं शिलाग्निजलवर्जिते ।"
एकान्ते मठिकामध्ये स्थातव्यं हठयोगिना ॥१२॥

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Starting from above verse till verse 14, swami has explained the essence of a place of practice and how a person needs just the enough space to allow the body to move freely during asana practices (size of a bow or one and half meters approximately), where the practitioner is away from the material disturbances that might create distractions for him, also where there is no harm being brought to the practitioner from the surrounding and is free from the hazards of rocks, fire, water or any other natural calamities, it should be fresh and ventilated and the cleanliness of the place should be maintained. It’s important that the practitioner is consistent about the time and place of practice, which in a way filters the whole environment of the negative energies.

The atmosphere of the place and the environment play a big role in influencing the result of the sadhana, in a place with a lot of disturbances and negative vibrations, too much of energy is dissipated simply trying to overcome the negative influences as the body and the mind both are very susceptible to the negativities and wrong influences, on the other hand a positive environment helps preserve the energy and charges and inspires the Sadhaka for higher sadhana.

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While considering the specifications for yoga hermitage, we need to keep in mind the era they were written in, the world is different now, drastically material and busy, all the specifications were probably ideal for that particular time and chosen climate, we will definitely have to make the necessary adaptations in order to suit present circumstances, hence we need to pick up the actual meaning of what our Guru is trying to say, grab the actual essence of his words, the hermitage should be simple, clean, practical, natural, calm, safe, soothing and easily accessible, where the mind is protected from outer influences and body has a good defence mechanism, the mind pure and modest, then the sadhaka will be able to cultivate the spiritual vibrations for the SELF to manifest itself.

The given structure of the hermitage can be a symbolic representation of one's own body and the self, consistently being washed up with the practices of Yama, Niyama, and polished with various other limbs of yoga, constantly prepared for the higher union.

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