Yoga Sagar

SR No.: 014011
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Paramhamsa Satyananda
Publisher: Bihar School of Yoga Munger
Publication Year: 1994
Total Pages: 436
Language: English
Classification: Seminar & Articles
File Size: 24 MB

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MUDRAS: ANALYSIS, IMPORTANCE AND PRACTICE IN TANTRA AND HATHA YOGA A REVIEW
Dr. P. Jha
What is mudra? What are the benefits of mudra? Among the various traditions of yoga two of the main ones are the Patanjali system of yoga and the hatha yoga system. Mudra is a part of the hatha yoga tradition and it is used to awaken the kundalini. That is why mudra is so important in hatha yoga.
You have heard of Patanjali's system of yoga, which is also known as the ashtanga tradition of yoga. It consists of yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Hatha yoga is a secondary system to Patanjali's yog system. One of the various branches of hatha yoga has seven parts, and is called Gherand's system. Gorakhnath's system of yoga has six parts and is known as shadanga yoga. The most thorough and well known system of hatha yoga has four parts and is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
The author of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika is Swatmarama. He considered the four parts to be asana, kumbhaka, mudra and nadanusandhana. So mudra falls into the third part of hatha yoga, after asanas and kumbhaka. We can say that in Patanjali's ashtanga yoga the three steps that follow pranayama - pratyahara, dharana and dhyana, together constitute one of the limbs of hatha yoga. This limb is called mudra. The mental or psychic conditions that are created by the three branches of Patanjali's yoga - pratyahara, dharana and dhyana - are similar to the conditions created by the practice of mudra in hatha yoga.
A few asanas have been named after mudras, for example, yoga mudra and vipareeta karani mudra. While practising these asanas, people developed the incorrect notion that they were practising mudras. However, these are actually asanas, not mudras. This is because mudra can only be practised after having attained mastery through prolonged practice of asanas
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