Vimanarcanakalpa
Ancient Text
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The Vimānārcanākalpa is a 10th- to 11th-century text on Hatha yoga, attributed to the sage Marichi.
Text
The Vimanarcanakalpa is a 10th- to 11th-century prose text[1][2] on Hatha yoga, attributed to the sage Marichi.[3] It states that yoga is the union of the individual with the supreme self.[4]
It is one of the earliest texts to describe a non-seated asana and to call such postures asanas (the term originally and literally meaning a seat), namely Mayurasana the peacock pose. In chapter 96 it describes nine asanas in all (Brahmasana, Svastikasana, Padmasana, Gomukhasana, Simhasana, Muktasana, Virasana,[a] Bhadrasana, and Mayurasana), some 500 years before the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.[5] Its account of Mayurasana, in James Mallinson's translation, is:
Fix the palms of the hands on the floor, place the elbows on either side of the navel, raise the head and feet and remain in the air like a staff. This is the peacock posture.[6]
The text teaches a method of pratyahara, withdrawal using the breath, which is raised through 18 stages called marmans, vital points.[7]
The Vimanarcanakalpa describes other topics, such as the practice of burying sacred bronze objects to protect them in times of trouble.[8]
