The book contains three short Upanishads: Kṣurika, Yogarāja and Mahāvākya.
Kṣurika means 'razor' which is likened to the yogic practices which cut through the aspirant's attachments and ignorance. The Upaniṣad starts with an invocation, in which the aspirant seeking spiritual revelation prays for peace, energy and understanding for all who are inquiring into its meaning and message. They need the help of the Divine as it is difficult to remove worldly attachments.
To achieve the goal of freedom from attachments, perfect concentration is needed. The practice of nāḍī śodhana, alternate nostril breathing, must be practised to destroy the impurities in the nāḍīs.There are detailed instruction on breath control, prāṇāyama, to move the prāṇa, energy, up suṣumnā nāḍī to the heart, then the throat, then the eyebrow centre and finally the crown of the head. On the way, the life-force in the marmans, vulnerable areas of the body, can be freed by the practice of prāṇāyama. No longer trapped in the web of desires and attachment, the yogin attains true liberation.
Yogarāja means 'royal yoga', as it is the most effective path for attainment in yoga.
The Upaniṣad has twenty-one verses, which begin by declaring that the four yogas of mantra, laya, haṭha and rāja must be understood and practised for perfection in yoga. They all include the stages of āsana, prāṇāyama, dhyāna and samādhi.The next five to eighteen verses describe the nine chakras: brahma, svādhiṣṭhāna, nābhi, hṛdaya, viśuddhi, tālukā, ghaṇṭa, bhrū, brahmarandhra, and vyoma. The Upaniṣad concludes that the sage who meditates on each of the nine chakras, through practice and supreme grace, gradually attains liberation.
The Mahāvākya Upaniṣad is connected with the Atharvaveda, and consists of twelve verses.
In the first two verses Lord Brahman emphasises that it should only be taught to those who wish to know the inner true Self and are not entangled in worldly life. The aspirant must withdraw from knowledge through the senses. Vision through the sense organs conceals the all-pervading Brahman from that which, to the ignorant, appears permanent and indestructible, such as a mountain, the earth and even the whole universe. The ātman is the inner sun in the heart. It is the pure consciousness, without desires, self-illuminating with its own fire. Whoever continually repeats the mantra so'ham becomes paramātmā, existence-thought-bliss. This is the unique message of advaita-vedānta: tat tvam asi (that thou art), one of the Mahāvākyas, Great Statements.
