The verse and its meaning · Yoga in Practice · Yoga in Practice — Cleansing

Squatting Navel-Deep in Water

Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.26

अथ बस्तिः नाभिदघ्नजले पायौ न्यस्तनालोत्कटासनः। आधाराकुञ्चनं कुर्यात्क्षालनं बस्तिकर्म तत् ॥

Meaning · English

Now the enema. Standing in water up to the navel, squat on the heels with a pipe set in the anus. Draw the anus inward, then wash out. This is called basti karma, the action of the lower belly.

Basti is the word for a bag or bladder, and by extension the lower belly. Basti karma is the work done there. The Pradipika gives it in one sentence, and its parts can be taken one at a time. Nabhi-daghna means water as deep as the navel. Payu is the anus, and nala is a pipe or reed placed there. Utkata asana is the raised squat, and adhara akunchana is the drawing in of the base, the anal muscle. Kshalana is washing. So the text says: stand in navel-deep water, squat, place the pipe, draw inward, and rinse the lower bowel. The commentary adds detail. The pipe is bamboo, about six finger-widths long and smooth, with a bore a little finger could enter. Four finger-widths go in and two stay outside. The commentary reads the squat as buttocks resting on the heels with the weight on the toes. It says the water enters as the base is drawn in, is stirred by nauli, the rolling of the belly muscles, and is then let out. It also says the cloth cleansing and this one are done before eating, and that food should follow without delay. Last, it warns against a shortcut that uses no pipe. The water does not all come out, it says, and that is why Svatmarama names the pipe. The Pradipika asks nothing of a reader here except attention. This is learnt only with a teacher.

The text itself gives only the posture, the water and the inward draw, so this card describes the tradition's account and does not teach a method. Standing in water to the navel means the water presses evenly on the lower body. The deep squat folds the hips and knees fully and rounds the pelvis. The draw of the base is a deliberate contraction of the muscles around the anus and pelvic floor, and nothing else in the body is asked to do much. The Pradipika gives no breath instruction for it. The commentary joins it to nauli, which is a separate skill and is also left to a teacher. The tradition explains the action through apana, the downward-moving prana, which it says is helped to clear. That is the tradition's account and not physiology. For the mind, the posture narrows attention to one small, private region. It is a deliberate practice, and the old texts treat it that way. The commentary adds that this is why the pipe, the depth and the order of steps are fixed, and none is left to improvisation.

The Pradipika's claims come in the verses that follow. It says basti karma dissolves the ailments born of the three humours, vata, pitta and kapha, which are the tradition's three bodily forces. For the water form it adds that practised regularly it brings clarity to the body, senses and inner faculties, gives a glow, kindles the digestive fire and removes the accumulation of faults. These are the text's claims, offered as the tradition's own account. This reading makes none of them for the reader and promises no outcome.

A grandmother lies on a hospital bed the evening before a colonoscopy, drinking the preparation she has been given. That is the nearest everyday meeting with this idea. Medicine does use enemas and bowel preparation, for particular reasons and under supervision, and doctors know the lower bowel can be washed out. Mainstream understanding does not support routine self-cleansing for health. The bowel largely looks after itself, and repeated washing can upset the body's salt balance and bowel habits. Unclean water, especially from a river, carries real risk of infection, and a rigid pipe can injure the delicate lining. The squat and the drawing-in of the base resemble pelvic floor exercise, which is recognised and taught on its own. The three humours and apana have no modern match, and the claims of cleared faults and a kindled digestive fire cannot be checked in today's terms.

This is not medical advice, and no page can correct a body the way a teacher can. Stop at any pain. Basti is not taught here. Without a teacher it can injure the bowel lining, leave water retained, upset the body's salts, expose a person to infection from unclean water, and weaken natural bowel habits if repeated. Anyone with piles, a tear, bowel disease, a recent operation, pregnancy, or a heart or kidney condition has more reason to stay away. So does a child or a frail older person. The commentary itself warns against shortcuts. If the practice draws you, find a trained teacher and a doctor's word first, and do not try it from reading.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: The Wet Cloth Swallowed · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.24
• Next: Neti, the Nose Thread · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.29
• All of Yoga in Practice · Ask Krishna about it

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