84 Classic Yoga Asanas
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84 Classic Yoga Asanas
Many classic texts on Yoga mention 84 classic yoga asanas taught by Lord Shiva, who forms the divine Hindu trinity (along with the gods Brahma and Vishnu). Some of these asanas are considered highly important in the yogic canon: texts that do mention the eighty-four frequently single out the first four as necessary or vital to attain yogic perfection. However, not more than five or so asanas have been mentioned by name in any of these texts, and the complete list of Shiva`s asanas remains as yet unverified, with only one text attempting a complete corpus.
Yoga Texts on 84 Classic Yoga Asanas
Patanjali`s Yoga Sutra does not mention a single asana by name, merely specifying the characteristics of a good asana[1]. Later yoga texts however, do mention the 84 Classic Asanas and associate them with Shiva.
The Goraksha Samhita, or Goraksha Paddhathi, an early Hatha Yogic text, describes the origin of the 84 classic asanas. Observing that there are as many postures as there are beings, and asserting that there are 840000 species in all, the text states that Lord Shiva fashioned an asana for each 100000, thus giving 84 in all, although it mentions and describes only two in detail: the Siddhasana and the Padmasana [2].
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika specifies that of these 84, the first four are important, namely the Siddhasana, Padmasana, Bhadrasana and Simhasana [3]. In the Shiva Samhita the Ugrasana and the Swastikasana replace the latter two of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. The Hatha Ratnavali (1600 AD) is one of the few texts to attempt a listing of all the 84, although 4 out of its list do not have meaningful translations from the Sanskrit, and 21 are merely mentioned without any description. In all, 52 asanas of the Hatha Ratna Avali are confirmed and described by the text itself, or other asana corpora [4].