84 Classical Asanas


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A group of 84 classic asanas revealed by the Hindu deity Lord Shiva is mentioned in several classic texts on yoga. Some of these asanas are considered highly important in the yogic canon: texts that do mention the 84 frequently single out the first four as necessary or vital to attain yogic perfection. However, a complete list of Shiva's asanas remains as yet unverified, with only one text attempting a complete corpus.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutra (4-2nd century BC) does not mention a single asana by name, merely specifying the characteristics of a good asana.[38]Later yoga texts however, do mention the 84 Classic Asanas and associate them with Shiva.
The Goraksha Samhita (10-11th century CE), or Goraksha Paddhathi, an early hatha yogic text, describes the origin of the 84 classic asanas. Observing that there are as many postures as there are beings and asserting that there are 8,400,000[39]species in all, the text states that Lord Shiva fashioned an asana for each 100,000, thus giving 84 in all, although it mentions and describes only two in detail: the siddhasana and the padmasana.[40]
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th century CE) specifies that of these 84, the first four are important, namely the siddhasana, padmasana, bhadrasanaand simhasana.[41]
The Hatha Ratnavali (17th century CE)[42]is one of the few texts to attempt a listing of all the 84, although 4 out of its list do not have meaningful translations from the Sanskrit, and 21 are merely mentioned without any description.[43][verification needed] In all, 52 asanas of the Hatha Ratnavali are confirmed and described by the text itself, or other asana corpora.[44]
The Gheranda Samhita (late 17th century CE) asserts that Shiva taught 8,400,000 asanas, out of which 84 are preeminent, and "32 are useful in the world of mortals."[45] These 32 are: siddhasana, padmasana, bhadrasana, muktasana, vajrasana, svastikasana, simhasana, gomukhasana, virasana, dhanurasana, mritasana, guptasana, matsyasana, matsyendrasana, gorakshana, paschimottanasana, utkatasana, sankatasana, mayurasana, kukkutasana, kurmasana, uttanakurmakasana, uttanamandukasana, vrikshasana, mandukasana, garudasana, vrishasana, shalabhasana, makarasana, ushtrasana, bhujangasana, and yogasana.[46]
In Shiva Samhita (17–18th century CE) the poses ugrasana and svastikasanareplace the latter two of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.[citation needed]
Śrītattvanidhi is a treatise written in the 19th century. One of its sections, includes instructions for and illustrations of 122 postures, making it by far the most elaborate text on asanas in existence before the twentieth century.

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