Śauca

Purification, cleanliness. Śauca is the first niyama in the yoga of Patañjali (YS 2.40-41). It comprises two dimensions: external purification (bāhya-śauca) of the body and environment, and internal purification (antar-śauca) of the mind and sensory organs.

YS 2.40 indicates that through śauca one develops distaste for contact with another’s body; YS 2.41 adds that internal purification produces clarity (sattva-śuddhi), one-pointed gladness (saumanasya), and concentration (ādarśatva).

Haṭha Yoga practices (āsana, prāṇāyāma, ṣaṭkarma) are direct tools of śauca: they purify the physical and energetic body for subtler practices. The Upaniṣads link śauca with the preparation of the body as a vehicle for knowledge of the Ātman.