Upaniṣads · Varāha 5.16
॥
Devanāgarī
वीरासनं स्वस्तिकं च भद्रं सिंहासनं तथा । मुक्तासनं गोमुखं च कीर्तितं योगवित्तमैः
Transliteración (IAST)
vīrāsanaṃ svastikaṃ ca bhadraṃ siṃhāsanaṃ tathā | muktāsanaṃ gomukhaṃ ca kīrtitaṃ yogavittamaiḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
वीर-आसनं स्वस्तिकं चvīra-āsanaṃ svastikaṃ cathe hero posture and the svastika
भद्रं सिंह-आसनं तथाbhadraṃ siṃha-āsanaṃ tathāthe auspicious, and likewise the lion posture
मुक्त-आसनं गो-मुखं चmukta-āsanaṃ go-mukhaṃ cathe free posture and the cow's-face
कीर्तितं योग-वित्-तमैःkīrtitaṃ yoga-vit-tamaiḥare named by the best knowers of yoga
Traducción
"The hero posture and the svastika, the auspicious, and likewise the lion posture, the free posture and the cow's-face, are named by the best knowers of yoga."
Versión
300a6df98636 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The list of postures is complete; eleven are named. Worth noting is that among them there is not a single standing one and not a single reclining one: all are seated, except the peacock and the cock, which are supports on the hands. This detail matters and is often overlooked.
Yogic asanas, in ancient books, are postures for sitting: their task is to allow the body to stand motionless a long time, while work is done with breath and mind. What is called by this word nowadays — long sequences of movement — is a later matter, formed largely in the twentieth century. This must be said without condemnation: gymnastics is useful, and no one is obliged to practice it for the sake of liberation.
But it should not be called what it is not; and anyone reading these lists has a right to know that the discourse is of sitting, not of movement. Let us add what the Vaishnava side says of bodily posture, though it gives no list. It requires one thing: that the body not hinder hearing.
Hence its own books counsel sitting however is comfortable, and not occupying oneself with the body beyond need; and the Bhagavatam, listing means, mentions posture in passing and turns at once to the object of concentration — the Lord's form (3.28.9).