Upaniṣads · Jābāladarśana 3.1
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वस्तिकं गोमुखं पद्मं वीरसिंहासने तथा । भद्रं मुक्तासनं चैव मयूरासनमेव च
Transliteración (IAST)
svastikaṃ gomukhaṃ padmaṃ vīrasiṃhāsane tathā | bhadraṃ muktāsanaṃ caiva mayūrāsanameva ca
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
स्वस्तिकं गो-मुखं पद्मंsvastikaṃ go-mukhaṃ padmaṃsvastika, the cow's-face, the lotus
वीर-सिंह-आसने तथाvīra-siṃha-āsane tathāhero and lion sitting-postures, likewise
भद्रं मुक्त-आसनं च एवbhadraṃ mukta-āsanaṃ ca evathe auspicious and the free sitting-posture
मयूर-आसनम् एव चmayūra-āsanam eva caand the peacock sitting-posture
Traducción
"Svastika, the cow's-face, the lotus, hero, and lion — the auspicious, the free, and the peacock sitting-postures…"
Versión
74a2da892ca5 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The third khanda begins — on asanas, "sitting-postures"; and it must be said at once how this list differs from what is nowadays called yoga. Nine postures are named, and all but one are ways of sitting. None is an exercise in our sense: there is neither movement, nor repetition, nor sequence.
This circumstance deserves noting, for it explains the whole section's purpose. A posture is needed so that one can sit long and not think about the body; and hence the whole examination will come down to stability. The Yoga-sutras say this in two words: sthira-sukham asanam, "the sitting-posture is [that which is] stable and comfortable" (2.46). Two requirements, and both modest.
Curious is that, given this purpose, as many as nine postures are listed. The reason, apparently, is that bodies differ: what is comfortable for one is not comfortable for another; and the book gives a choice, and in the final line of this section will directly permit taking any posture at all, so long as it is sukham dhairyam, "comfortable and firm" (3.12). The Vaishnava side treats postures calmly and has created no special doctrine about them. The Gita speaks of sitting in three verses (6.11–13) — a level place, neither too high nor too low, the head, neck, and body held straight, the gaze unmoving — and there it stops.
This modesty is no accident. Where hearing and repetition are recognized as the means, posture ceases to be a subject of science: one can hear while standing, walking, or traveling.