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

Simhasana — the lion

Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.50

गुल्फौ च वृषणस्याधः सीवन्याः पार्श्वयोः क्षिपेत्। दक्षिणे सव्यगुल्फं तु दक्षगुल्फं तु सव्यके ॥

Meaning · English

Place the two ankles beneath the scrotum, one on each side of the seam. The left ankle goes on the right side, and the right ankle on the left side.

The name comes from simha, lion, and asana, seat. It is the lion's seat. The verse gives only the base of the pose, and gives it in the body's own terms. The ankles (the text says gulpha, the ankle bone and the heel beside it) are brought in beneath the scrotum. The seam is the line of the perineum, the soft ridge between the genitals and the anus, and one ankle lies on each side of it. The two are crossed: the left ankle rests on the right side of the seam, the right ankle on the left. So the feet are tucked under the body and the pelvis sits on them. The verse says nothing about the roar, the tongue or the face. Those come in the next verse, with the hands and the gaze. The reason the text teaches this seat is given by the commentary, which reads the pose as the lion seat, honoured by the best of yogis, and says it brings the three bandhas together. A bandha is a lock or binding of a region of the body, and the first of the three is the root lock at the perineum. This is the commentary's reasoning. The verse itself only sets the heels where the root of the body presses on them. The text asks of a practitioner a precise, exact placement, with the crossing in the stated direction.

The text's form is the crossed-ankle seat above. The lesson shows the common form taught today: kneeling and sitting on the heels. The steps below follow the lesson. 1. Kneel on the mat and sit back on your heels. Keep the spine upright and the shoulders loose. Breathe quietly through the nose. 2. Rest your hands on your knees. 3. Spread the fingers wide, as if pressing them into the knees. Having breathed in through the nose, breathe out strongly through the mouth. Open the mouth wide and stretch the tongue out and down toward the chin. Look up, between the eyebrows. 4. Hold for a moment, while the breath is out. Feel the stretch in the face and throat. Do not strain to stay long. 5. Repeat a few times, gently, with an ordinary breath in through the nose between rounds. The lesson says it releases tension in the face and jaw. 6. To come out, breathe in. Close the mouth and sit tall again. 7. Rest, and let the face soften. Let the hands lie loose, and breathe naturally. There is no other side in the lesson's form. If you try the text's crossed-ankle seat with a teacher, you change which ankle lies on top when you repeat it. Fine points: the roar comes from the breath, not from tightening the throat. Keep the neck long when the eyes go up, and do not drop the head back. If the knees complain, stop and sit on a folded blanket between the heels.

The body: sitting on the heels folds the knees and ankles deeply and holds the thighs and the front of the ankles at length. Spreading the fingers wakes the forearms and keeps the arms braced, which helps the spine stay tall. The wide mouth and the stretched tongue work the muscles of the face, the jaw and the front of the throat to their full range, which they rarely see in a day of speaking and chewing. The breath: a strong out-breath through an open mouth is a deliberate emptying of the lungs, and it is brief. Then the breath in through the nose returns to the usual rhythm. The mind: so odd and so loud a shape leaves little room for the usual chatter. The gaze up between the eyebrows gives the eyes one fixed place to rest. This is the lesson's gaze. The text's next verse, for the same seat, places it at the nose tip. The tradition's account is different and is only its account. The commentary says the seat joins the three bandhas, the root lock and its companions, and the heels pressed under the perineum belong to that picture. That is the tradition's explanation, not a statement of physiology.

The Pradipika, in the verse that follows, calls this the best of the seats, honoured by the best of yogis. The commentary adds a reason: it brings the three bandhas together, the root lock and the two that follow it, so that one pose holds all three. This is the tradition's claim, and the text promises nothing more specific. The schools that teach the roar today say it loosens tension held in the face and jaw, which is the claim made by the lesson itself. They also say it leaves the throat and the front of the neck feeling opened, and that it brings a clear, alert calm. These are the teachers' words, not the verse's.

A primary school teacher, at the end of a long day of talking over a noisy room, notices that her jaw is clenched and her voice is hoarse. She sits on her heels, opens her mouth wide and lets out a long breath. What is known today fits part of this. Stretching the muscles of the face and jaw and then letting them go is a familiar way to ease habitual clenching, and a long out-breath is ordinary, widely used relaxation. Sitting on the heels is a deep knee and ankle fold, and it is simply uncomfortable for some people. That is a matter of the joints, not a failing. What has no modern match is the idea of three bandhas joined by the heel position. Nothing in current physiology describes a lock at the perineum that the heels activate, so that part stays the tradition's account. The roar and the tongue stretch, and the gaze between the eyebrows, are not in the verses printed here. They are a modern teaching, passed down through twentieth-century schools.

This page cannot replace a teacher, who can see your knees and neck and correct what words miss. If the pose hurts, stop, and do not push through pain. Take real care, and ask a teacher first, if you have a knee or ankle problem or a recent surgery there, because kneeling on the heels bends both joints deeply. Take care with the neck, as the eyes go up, and with the throat, and with high blood pressure, dizziness or eye conditions, since a forceful out-breath and an upward gaze can bring light-headedness. In pregnancy, ask a teacher before trying it. The text's crossed-ankle seat presses the heels into the perineum, so it should be learnt only with a teacher, not from a page. Never force the tongue or the jaw, and keep each roar gentle.

If sitting on the heels is hard, place a folded blanket between the calves and the thighs, or under the knees. A rolled towel behind the knees eases the joint. Someone who cannot kneel can sit on a chair with the feet flat and do the same face and breath. A stiff beginner can keep the roar quiet and the tongue only half out, and a fuller practice makes it louder and longer. The text's own form, with crossed ankles under the perineum, comes later and with a teacher, switching which ankle is on top for the other side.

Tightening the throat to make sound: let the breath make the roar and keep the throat soft. Throwing the head back as the eyes go up: keep the neck long and move only the eyes. Holding the breath after the roar: breathe in through the nose, and do not stay empty. Rounding the back and slumping on the heels: sit tall, and lift through the crown. Pushing past knee pain: put a blanket in, or stop. Keeping the hands loose and the fingers together: press the palms on the knees and spread the fingers wide.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Lotus Seat With Breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.48
• Next: Bhadrasana — the gracious seat · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.53
• All of Yoga in Practice · Ask Krishna about it

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