end of the central channel. This text does not mention the preservation of bindu, but merely says that liberation is achieved by controlling the mind through controlling the breath. The ̣Śārṅgadharapaddhati, an anthology of verses on a wide range of subjects compiled by Sharngadharain 1363, describes Haṭha yoga including ̣the Dattātreyayogaśāstra's teachings on five mudrās. The Khecarīvidyā (14th century) teaches only the method of khecarīmudrā, which is meant to give one access to stores of amrta in the body and to raise Kundalinī via the six chakras. The Yogabīja (c. 14th century) teaches the three bandhas and śakticālanīmudrā ("stimulating Sarasvatī") for the purpose of awakening Kundalinī. The earliest haṭha yoga methods of the Amṛtasiddhi, Dattātreyayogaśāstra and Vivekamārtaṇḍa are used to raise and conserve bindu (semen, and in women rajas – menstrual fluid) which was seen as the physical essence of life that was constantly dripping down from the head and being lost. This vital essence is also sometimes called amrta (the nectar of immortality). These techniques sought to either physically reverse this process (by inverted postures like viparītakaraṇī) or to use the breath to force bindu upwards through the central channel. In contrast to these, early Nāth works like the Gorakṣaśataka and the Yogabīja teach a yoga based on raising Kundalinī (through śakticālanī mudrā). This is not called haṭha yoga in these early texts, but Layayoga ("the yoga of dissolution"). However, other early Nāth texts like the Vivekamārtaṇḍa can be seen as co-opting the mudrās of haṭha yoga meant to preserve bindu. Then, in later Nāth as well as Śākta texts, the adoption of haṭha yoga is more developed, and focused solely on the raising of Kundalinī without mentioning bindu. Mallinson sees these later texts as promoting a universalist yoga, available to all, without the need to study the metaphysics of Samkhya-yoga or the complex esotericism of Shaiva Tantra. Instead this "democratization of yoga" led to the teaching of these techniques to all people, "without the need for priestly intermediaries, ritual paraphernalia or sectarian initiations." Classical haṭha yoga Haṭhayogapradīpikā The Haṭhayogapradīpikā is one of the most influential texts of Haṭha yoga. It was compiled by Svātmārāma in the 15th century CE from earlier Haṭha yoga texts. Earlier texts were of Vedanta or non-dual Shaiva orientation, and from both, the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpika borrowed the philosophy of non-duality (advaita). According to Mallinson, this reliance on non-duality helped Haṭha yoga thrive in