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The Yoga of the Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati: Haṭhayoga on the Cusp of Modernity

Birch, Jason; Singleton, Mark

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Authors

Mark Singleton



Abstract

The Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati is a Sanskrit text on the practice of Haṭhayoga, probably composed in the eighteenth century in Maharashtra. This article discusses, among other things, the dating, authorship, sectarian affiliation, and unique features of the text, its relationship to other yoga texts, and its significance for the history of modern yoga. The most remarkable feature of this text is its section on āsana (yogic posture), which contains six groups of postures, many of which are unusual or unique among yoga texts. Another unique feature of this section is that the postures appear to be arranged into sequences intended to be practised in order. A manuscript of the text exists in the Mysore Palace; this (possibly along with other texts) was the basis for the illustrated āsana descriptions in Mysore’s famous book, the Śrītattvanidhi. As we discuss, it is highly likely that the Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati was known to the most influential teacher of ‘modern postural yoga,’ T. Krishnamacharya, and therefore has a special significance for certain schools of transnational yoga.

Citation

Birch, J., & Singleton, M. (2019). The Yoga of the Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati: Haṭhayoga on the Cusp of Modernity. Journal of yoga studies, 2(1), 3-70. https://doi.org/10.34000/JoYS.2019.V2.002

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 1, 2019
Publication Date Dec 29, 2019
Deposit Date Jan 6, 2020
Publicly Available Date Jan 6, 2020
Journal Journal of Yoga Studies
Electronic ISSN 2664-1739
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 2
Issue 1
Pages 3-70
DOI https://doi.org/10.34000/JoYS.2019.V2.002
Keywords Yoga, Āsana, Body Culture, Haṭha, Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati, Haṭhayoga, India, Krishnamacharya, Mysore, Modern Postural Yoga, Śrītattvanidhi, Saṅkhyāratnamālā, Vyāyāma, Vyāyāmadīpike
Publisher URL https://journalofyogastudies.org/index.php/JoYS/article/view/2019.v2.Birch.Singleton.TheHathabhyasapaddhati

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