The verse and its meaning · Yoga in Practice · Yoga in Practice — The Old Seats

Virasana — the hero's seat

Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.21

एकं पादं तथैकस्मिन्विन्यसेदुरुणि स्थिरम्। इतरस्मिंस्तथा चोरुं वीरासनं इतीरितम् ॥

Meaning · English

One foot is set firmly on one thigh, and in the same way the other foot on the other thigh. This is called virasana, the hero's seat.

The name comes from vira, 'hero' or 'brave one', and asana, 'seat'. It is the hero's seat. The verse gives no reason for the name and does not describe heroism. It describes only the legs. The instruction has three parts. One foot goes onto the thigh of the opposite leg. The other foot goes likewise onto the other thigh. And each is placed sthiram, firmly, so that it stays without slipping. The result is a crossed-leg seat with both feet raised onto the thighs. That is a demanding shape, and it needs open hips. The verse gives no reason, and no commentary on this verse is at hand, so nothing is added here. Its place in the list suggests the purpose. The Pradipika is naming the seats a practitioner can sit in steadily, and this is one of them. The verse asks for a firm placing of both feet and a body that stays put. It does not mention breath, gaze, hands or time. It does not mention a pose of kneeling and sitting between the heels. That kneeling form is how virasana is taught today, and it is modern teaching, not this verse. The lesson on this page shows the kneeling form.

The text's own form, both feet on the thighs, is demanding and is learnt with a teacher, not from a page. The lesson shows the kneeling form taught today, and the steps below follow it. 1. Kneel on the mat with your knees together and your feet a little wider than your hips. Breathe naturally. 2. Let the tops of your feet rest on the floor, toes pointing straight back. 3. Breathe out. Sit down slowly between your heels. 4. Rest your hands on your knees. 5. Sit tall and steady. Let your gaze rest softly ahead. 6. Breathe slowly through the nose. Stay for a few easy breaths. Counting a minute or more is modern teaching, not the verse. 7. If your hips do not reach the floor, sit on a block or a folded blanket. Never force the knees. 8. To leave, breathe in. Lift your hips and come up to kneeling. 9. Stretch your legs out in front of you and rest. There is no other side, because the pose is even on both legs. In the text's form, you would place one foot first and then the other. Fine points: let the sitting bones settle evenly, and keep the ribs stacked over the pelvis. Move down and up slowly. If your knees complain, add height beneath you before doing anything else.

In the kneeling form, the knees bend deeply and the front of the thighs lengthens. The ankles and the tops of the feet stretch. The muscles of the lower back and trunk work gently to hold you upright, and the hands on the knees stay light. The weight falls through the sitting bones, or onto the block. The breath matters at the two moments of movement. Breathing out as you lower lets the belly soften and slows the descent. Breathing in as you rise gives the trunk lift as the legs take your weight. In between, slow breathing is easier because the spine is tall and the chest is not folded. For the mind, a seat that asks for careful placing and then stillness gives attention one clear thing to follow: the contact with the floor and the breath. A sitting that is nearly comfortable invites the mind to settle, but a sitting that hurts pulls the mind to the pain. The Pradipika treats such seats as the base for what comes after in its practice. In the tradition's account, steadiness of body makes steadiness of prana, the breath-energy, possible. That is the tradition's account, not physiology.

The verse itself makes no promise. It names the seat, describes it and says no more: no fruit, no reward, no claim about the body or the mind. The Pradipika presents the seats of this section as a set of ways to sit before the work of breath and attention begins. The only benefit it implies is a steady, firm seat that can be held without slipping. The schools that teach the kneeling form today say it stretches the front of the thighs and ankles and gives a tall, quiet sitting posture. These are the schools' words, not the Pradipika's.

A schoolteacher kneels to help a small child with a shoe, then finds she cannot sit back easily between her heels. That scene is close to what the pose asks of the knees, the front of the thighs and the ankles. Today's mainstream view is plain. Moving through deep knee bending and sitting on the floor keeps those joints used, and many people find a supported kneeling seat comfortable for quiet sitting. Physiotherapists would also say that a deep bend in the knee loads the joint, and that forcing the hips down can strain it, so a block or blanket is sensible. Nothing here shows that the pose does more than stretch and steady the posture. The text's own form, with both feet on the thighs, is a different matter. It asks for a great deal of hip rotation. A good physiotherapist would warn that when the hips are tight the twist falls on the knees. The Pradipika's claim that such seats prepare the breath is the tradition's account and has no modern equivalent. The kneeling form is itself modern teaching, taught widely in the twentieth century.

This page is not medical advice. A teacher can see and correct what a page cannot, and any pain is a signal to stop. The kneeling form asks a lot of the knees and ankles. Anyone with a knee injury or surgery, sore or swollen knees, ankle trouble, or a recent operation on the legs should leave it out or ask a teacher first. In pregnancy, a teacher should guide the form and the height of the support. People with high blood pressure or a disc problem should also ask before taking up a new seat. Never force the knees down or push the hips toward the floor. Raise the seat instead. The text's own form, with both feet on the thighs, twists the knees if the hips are tight. It must be learnt with a teacher and never forced.

A block or a folded blanket between the heels raises the hips and eases the knees and ankles. A stiff beginner can begin with a high block and lower it over weeks as the thighs and ankles lengthen. A rolled cloth under the ankles can soften the stretch on the feet. If kneeling is too much, sit in any easy cross-legged seat on a cushion and keep the same tall spine and slow breath. The seat has two equal sides, so there is no mirrored side to do. The text's own form, with both feet on the thighs, is the fuller version. It comes only after the hips are open, and only with a teacher beside you.

Forcing the hips down onto the floor strains the knees; sit on a block instead. Letting the knees drift far apart takes the support from the pose; keep them together as you kneel. Collapsing the chest and rounding the back makes breathing shallow; lift the breastbone and stack the ribs over the pelvis. Dropping quickly into the pose jars the knees; breathe out and lower slowly. Holding the breath tightens the whole body; keep the breath slow and even. Staying through pain turns a stretch into an injury; come out as soon as the sensation changes from stretch to pain.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Gomukhasana — the cow's face · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.20
• Next: Kurmasana — the tortoise · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.22
• All of Yoga in Practice · Ask Krishna about it

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