Английская Википедия:Goraksha Shataka
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:Шаблон:Sfn
- [Introduction]
- The Conquest of the Breath
- Measured Diet
- Posture (Padmasana and Vajrasana)
- The Stimulation of the goddess Sarasvatī
- The Restraint of the Breath (Surya, Ujjayi, Sitali, and Bhastri kumbhakasШаблон:Sfn)
- The Three Bandhas (Mula, Uddiyana, and Jalandhara bandhas)
- Samadhi
- Obstacles to the Practice of Yoga
- The Ascent of Kundalini
- Realization of the Truth
Analysis
The title means "A hundred verses of [the sage] Gorakṣa".Шаблон:Sfn
The Gorakṣaśataka is one of the first texts that teaches Haṭha yoga's physical methods, without using the name.Шаблон:Sfn The first verse states that the text is for ascetics who had renounced ordinary life to attain liberation.Шаблон:Sfn The text explains how to control the breath in pranayama,Шаблон:Sfn using novel techniques such as sūryabhedana, "the piercing of the sun".Шаблон:Sfn It teaches śakticālanīmudrā ("stimulating Sarasvatī") along with the three bandhas.Шаблон:Sfn "Stimulating Sarasvatī" is done by wrapping the tongue in a cloth and pulling on it, stimulating the goddess Kundalini who is said to dwell at the other end of the central channel.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The text describes the complex process of raising Kundalini initiated by mūlabandha, the root lock, resulting in her dissolution, which is liberation.Шаблон:Sfn It mentions three "knots" (granthis), a kind of chakra, which have to be pierced to allow the Kundalini to pass through. The three are the knots of Brahma at the base of the Sushumna channel, of Vishnu at the heart, and of Rudra, between the eyebrows.Шаблон:Sfn
Unlike Ashtanga, the eightfold yoga of Patanjali, the text describes a system of six limbs: asana (posture), breath-restraint (which it calls pranasamrodha), pratyahara (withdrawal), dharana (concentration), meditation, and samadhi; omitting the first two limbs of Ashtanga, namely the yamas and niyamas. It recommends gradually increasing breath retention as the best way to samadhi.Шаблон:Sfn
It does not mention mantras;Шаблон:Sfn nor does it mention the preservation of bindu, but merely says that liberation is achieved by controlling the mind through controlling the breath.Шаблон:Sfn
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.Шаблон:Sfn
Influence
The Gorakṣaśataka was influential but is now less well-known than the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā which copies around thirty of its hundred verses, describing techniques such as the pranayama method of ujjāyī or "victorious breath", widely used today in Vinyasa yoga classes.Шаблон:Sfn
References
Sources
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite encyclopedia
- Шаблон:Cite book – with a translation from the Sanskrit
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite web
- Шаблон:Cite web
External links
- Text in Sanskrit and English, translated by Yoga Nath
