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[[File:Vivekamartanda last verso.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|Last verso of the ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'', a 13th century [[hatha yoga]] text attributed to [[Goraknath]]]] | [[File:Vivekamartanda last verso.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|Last verso of the ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'', a 13th-century [[hatha yoga]] text attributed to [[Goraknath]]]] | ||
The '''''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'''''{{efn|The ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'' is sometimes also called the "Goraksha Śataka", a name usually given to [[Goraksha Śataka|a different text]].{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=xxxvii note 47}}}} is an early [[Hatha yoga]] text, the first to combine tantric and ascetic yoga. Attributed to [[Goraknath]] (also called Gorakshanath), it was probably written in the 13th century. It emphasises [[Mudra (Yoga)|mudras]] as the most important practice.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=91}} The name means "Sun of Discernment".<ref name="Westoby 2019">{{cite web |last1=Westoby |first1=Ruth |title=The Viveka-mārtaṇḍa on pratyāhāra in viparītakaraṇī with James Mallinson |url=https://sanskritreadingroom.wordpress.com/2019/10/11/withdrawing-the-senses-james-mallinson/ <!--academic use by Centre of Yoga Studies at SOAS--> |publisher=[[SOAS, University of London]] |access-date=14 November 2020 |date=October 2019}}</ref> | The '''''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'''''{{efn|The ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'' is sometimes also called the "Goraksha Śataka", a name usually given to [[Goraksha Śataka|a different text]].{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=xxxvii note 47}}}} is an early [[Hatha yoga]] text, the first to combine tantric and ascetic yoga. Attributed to [[Goraknath]] (also called Gorakshanath), it was probably written in the 13th century. It emphasises [[Mudra (Yoga)|mudras]] as the most important practice.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=91}} The name means "Sun of Discernment".<ref name="Westoby 2019">{{cite web |last1=Westoby |first1=Ruth |title=The Viveka-mārtaṇḍa on pratyāhāra in viparītakaraṇī with James Mallinson |url=https://sanskritreadingroom.wordpress.com/2019/10/11/withdrawing-the-senses-james-mallinson/ <!--academic use by Centre of Yoga Studies at SOAS--> |publisher=[[SOAS, University of London]] |access-date=14 November 2020 |date=October 2019}}</ref> | ||
It teaches [[Khecarī mudrā|khecarīmudrā]] (which it calls nabhomudrā), [[mahāmudrā]], [[Viparīta Karaṇī|viparītakaraṇī]] and the three [[Bandha (Yoga)|bandhas]].{{sfn|Mallinson|2011|p=771}} It teaches six [[chakra]]s and the raising of [[Kundalini|Kundalinī]] by means of "fire yoga" (''vahniyogena'').{{sfn|Mallinson|2016|pp=109–140}} | It teaches [[Khecarī mudrā|khecarīmudrā]] (which it calls nabhomudrā), [[mahāmudrā]], [[Viparīta Karaṇī|viparītakaraṇī]] and the three [[Bandha (Yoga)|bandhas]].{{sfn|Mallinson|2011|p=771}} It teaches six [[chakra]]s and the raising of [[Kundalini|Kundalinī]] by means of "fire yoga" (''vahniyogena'').{{sfn|Mallinson|2016|pp=109–140}} | ||
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[[File:Jogapradipika 29 Viparitakarana.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'' is the only text to use [[Viparīta Karaṇī|Viparītakaraṇī]] as a means of [[Pratyahara|yogic withdrawal]]. Illustrated manuscript of the ''[[Joga Pradipika]]'', 1830]] | [[File:Jogapradipika 29 Viparitakarana.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'' is the only text to use [[Viparīta Karaṇī|Viparītakaraṇī]] as a means of [[Pratyahara|yogic withdrawal]]. Illustrated manuscript of the ''[[Joga Pradipika]]'', 1830]] | ||
Unlike [[Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga)|Ashtanga, the eightfold yoga of Patanjali]], the ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'' describes a system of six limbs: [[asana]] (posture), [[Pranayama|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]].{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=37, 284}} | Unlike [[Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga)|Ashtanga, the eightfold yoga of Patanjali]], the ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'' describes a system of six limbs: [[asana]] (posture), [[Pranayama|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]].{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=37, 284}} | ||
The text claims that there are 84 yoga postures, but describes only two.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=91}} | The text claims that there are 84 yoga postures, but describes only two.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=91}} | ||
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* {{cite book |author-link=James Mallinson (author) |last=Mallinson |first=James |url=http://www.khecari.com/resources/SaktismHathayoga.pdf |chapter=Śāktism and Haṭhayoga |title=Goddess Traditions in Tantric Hinduism: History, Practice and Doctrine |editor-link=Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen |editor-last=Wernicke-Olesen |editor-first=Bjarne |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2016 |pages=109–140 |isbn=978-1317585213}} | * {{cite book |author-link=James Mallinson (author) |last=Mallinson |first=James |url=http://www.khecari.com/resources/SaktismHathayoga.pdf |chapter=Śāktism and Haṭhayoga |title=Goddess Traditions in Tantric Hinduism: History, Practice and Doctrine |editor-link=Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen |editor-last=Wernicke-Olesen |editor-first=Bjarne |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2016 |pages=109–140 |isbn=978-1317585213}} | ||
* {{cite book | last1=Mallinson | first1=James |author1-link=James Mallinson (author) |last2=Singleton |first2=Mark |author2-link=Mark Singleton (yoga scholar) | title=Roots of Yoga |title-link=Roots of Yoga | publisher=Penguin Books | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-241-25304-5 | oclc=928480104}} | * {{cite book | last1=Mallinson | first1=James |author1-link=James Mallinson (author) |last2=Singleton |first2=Mark |author2-link=Mark Singleton (yoga scholar) | title=Roots of Yoga |title-link=Roots of Yoga | publisher=Penguin Books | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-241-25304-5 | oclc=928480104}} | ||
== Further reading == | |||
* {{cite web |first1=Maccidānanda |last=Nātha |title=English translation of the Vivekamārtaṇḍa of Gorakṣanātha |url=https://archive.org/details/viveka-martanda/mode/1up?view=theater |publisher=[[Academia.edu]] |year=2025 |ref=none}} The work presents the original Sanskrit in Devanāgarī script, followed by Romanised transliteration, English translation, and accompanying explanatory footnotes. | |||
{{Hatha yoga}} | {{Hatha yoga}} | ||
[[Category:Hatha yoga]] | [[Category:Hatha yoga texts]] | ||
[[Category:Sanskrit texts]] | [[Category:Sanskrit texts]] | ||
Latest revision as of 01:50, 13 August 2025
The Vivekamārtaṇḍa[lower-alpha 1] is an early Hatha yoga text, the first to combine tantric and ascetic yoga. Attributed to Goraknath (also called Gorakshanath), it was probably written in the 13th century. It emphasises mudras as the most important practice.[2] The name means "Sun of Discernment".[3] It teaches khecarīmudrā (which it calls nabhomudrā), mahāmudrā, viparītakaraṇī and the three bandhas.[4] It teaches six chakras and the raising of Kundalinī by means of "fire yoga" (vahniyogena).[5]
Sixfold system[edit | edit source]
Unlike Ashtanga, the eightfold yoga of Patanjali, the Vivekamārtaṇḍa 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.[6]
The text claims that there are 84 yoga postures, but describes only two.[2]
Breath control, as in tantric texts but not otherwise in hatha yoga texts, is said to cause udghata, "eruption", making vital energy move upwards in a surge.[7]
As in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, withdrawal lies between breath control and concentration. It compares yogic withdrawal to the sun's shortening its shadow at midday, or a tortoise drawing its legs into its shell.[8] One of the methods given for withdrawal, only in this text, is Viparītakaraṇī; the mudra is however described both in the Vivekamārtaṇḍa and in other texts as a means of trapping vital fluid, bindu.[3][9]
The Vivekamārtaṇḍa states that yogic concentration is simply a matter of repeating the breath control practice a certain number of times.[10]
Similarly, it explains that meditation is extended concentration, and that samadhi is greatly extended meditation – for 12 hours, all through retaining the breath.[11] Meditation can be with or without attributes (saguna or nirguna); the yogi can meditate on any one of the six chakras.[12]
It states that in samadhi, the yogi perceives and feels nothing, and cannot be harmed with weapons. James Mallinson calls this a "death-like state" quite unlike the subtly-graded mental state described in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.[13]
Mudras[edit | edit source]
The Vivekamārtaṇḍa implies that the (hatha yoga) mudras operate on (Kaula tantra) Kundalini. Mallinson describes this as a "crude refashioning", more skilfully achieved in the later Khecharividya, with its account of khechari mudra, and the Shiva Samhita.[14]
Mahāmudrā is used to dry up the body's fluids; this is like other ascetic texts, but opposed to tantric Kundalini practice, where the flow of amrita is meant to be increased.[15] However, the text also seeks to ensure immortality by preserving the amrita, using the tongue to press on the upper opening next to the uvula.[16] The contradiction of goals is perpetuated in the compilation of hatha yoga texts, the Hathayogapradipika.[9]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ The Vivekamārtaṇḍa is sometimes also called the "Goraksha Śataka", a name usually given to a different text.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. xxxvii note 47.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 91.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Westoby, Ruth (October 2019). "The Viveka-mārtaṇḍa on pratyāhāra in viparītakaraṇī with James Mallinson". SOAS, University of London. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ↑ Mallinson 2011, p. 771.
- ↑ Mallinson 2016, pp. 109–140.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 37, 284.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 132–133.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 284, 296–297.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 180–181.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 287.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 339.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 319–320.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 326, 339.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 231.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 182–183.
- ↑ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 222.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Mallinson, James (2011). Knut A. Jacobsen; et al. (eds.). Haṭha Yoga in the Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 3 (PDF). Brill Academic. pp. 770–781. ISBN 978-90-04-27128-9.
- Mallinson, James (2016). "Śāktism and Haṭhayoga". In Wernicke-Olesen, Bjarne (ed.). Goddess Traditions in Tantric Hinduism: History, Practice and Doctrine (PDF). Routledge. pp. 109–140. ISBN 978-1317585213.
- Mallinson, James; Singleton, Mark (2017). Roots of Yoga. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-241-25304-5. OCLC 928480104.
Further reading[edit | edit source]
- Nātha, Maccidānanda (2025). "English translation of the Vivekamārtaṇḍa of Gorakṣanātha". Academia.edu. The work presents the original Sanskrit in Devanāgarī script, followed by Romanised transliteration, English translation, and accompanying explanatory footnotes.