Goraksha Shataka

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Gorakṣaśataka, last folio of Thanjavur manuscript

The Gorakṣaśataka is an early text on

Haṭha yoga text from the 11th-12th century, attributed to the sage Gorakṣa. It was the first to teach a technique for raising Kundalini called "the stimulation of Sarasvati", along with elaborate pranayama
, breath control. It was written for an audience of ascetics.

Synopsis

The 2012 translation of the text by James Mallinson divides it into the following topics:[1]

Analysis

The title means "A hundred verses of [the sage] Gorakṣa".[3]

The Gorakṣaśataka is one of the first texts that teaches

Sushumna channel, of Vishnu at the heart, and of Rudra, between the eyebrows.[8]

Unlike

niyamas
. It recommends gradually increasing breath retention as the best way to samadhi.[9]

It does not mention mantras;[10] nor does it mention the preservation of bindu, but merely says that liberation is achieved by controlling the mind through controlling the breath.[5]

Mallinson comments that the text is too terse to serve as a foundation for practice, and could not have substituted for direct instruction by a guru; nor in his view would it have been used as a mnemonic: he had never met a yogi who worked in that way. Rather, hatha yoga texts lent authority to a school of thought and its yoga practices.[1]

Influence

The Gorakṣaśataka was influential but is now less well-known than the

Vinyasa yoga classes.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Mallinson 2012.
  2. ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 127, 131–133, 157–159.
  3. ^ a b c d Simpson 2019.
  4. ^ Mallinson 2011, p. 771.
  5. ^ a b Mallinson 2016, pp. 109–140.
  6. ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 230–231, 243–244.
  7. ^ Westoby 2018.
  8. ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 175, 214–215.
  9. ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 326.
  10. ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 262.

Sources

  • Goraksa-Satakam. Translated by Kuvalayananda. Kaivalyadhama. 2006 [1954].
    ISBN 818948544X
    .
  • ISBN 978-90-04-17641-6
    .
  • Mallinson, James (2012). "The Original Gorakṣaśataka". In White, David Gordon (ed.). Yoga in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 257–272. – with a translation from the Sanskrit
  • ISBN 978-1317585213
    .
  • OCLC 928480104
    .
  • Simpson, Daniel (24 November 2019). "Stimulating the Goddess: James Mallinson on the Gorakṣa-śataka". Sanskrit Reading Room. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  • Westoby, Ruth (2018). "Yogic Body". Sahapedia. Retrieved 19 March 2022.

External links

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