The Sanskrit term Gorakṣāsana can be transliterated into English as Goraksasana or Gorakshasana, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Yoga (school of philosophy)

Source: Wisdom Library: Yoga

Gorakṣāsana (गोरक्षासन) is one of the eighty-four āsanas (postures) taught by Śiva, according to the Haṭharatnāvalī 3.7-20. It is said that Ādinātha (Śiva) hand-picked 84 yoga postures from 84,00,000 living beings and taught them for the purpose of introducing physical health and well-being to the human body. The compound gorakṣāsana translates to Gorakṣa and āsana (posture).

The 17th-century Haṭharatnāvalī is a Sanskrit reference book dealing with these āsanas (e.g., gorakṣāsana) which form a major constituent of the haṭhayoga practice. It was written by Śrīnivāsa.

Source: Google Books: The Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Gorakṣāsana (गोरक्षासन) is another name for bhadrāsana: an āsana (posture) taught by Śiva and one of the first four out of 84 total, thus one of the most essential, according to Haṭhayogapradīpikā I.55-60.—Accordingly, “Place the heels on either side of the seam of the Perineum, keeping the left heel on the left side and the right one on the right side, hold the feet firmly joined to one another with both the hands. This bhadrāsana is the destroyer of all the diseases”.

Also, “The expert Yogīs call this gorakṣāsana. By sitting with this āsana, the Yogī gets rid of fatigue. The nādis should be cleansed of their impurities by performing the mudrās, etc., (which are the practices relating to the air) āsanas, Kumbhakas and various curious mudrās.”

The 15th-century Haṭhayogapradīpikā by Svātmārāma is one of the oldest extant texts dealing with haṭhayoga: an ancient form of meditation founded by Matsyendranātha. The first chapter of this book describes various āsanas (e.g., gorakṣa-āsana).

Source: archive.org: Gheranda Samhita

Gorakṣāsana (गोरक्षासन) is one of the thirty-two āsanas (postures) taught in the second chapter of the Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā: “Keeping the two feet turned upwards between the knees and the thighs; hiding the ankles with upturned hands and contracting the throat, one should gaze at the tip of the nose. This is called Gorakṣāsana which brings success to the yogis”.

Gorakṣāsana is one of the selected 32 postures amongs 8,400,000 total mentioned by Śiva, according to Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā 2.1-2, “In all, there are as many Āsanas as species of animals. Eighty-four lacs of them are mentioned by Śiva. Out of them, 84 are regarded as important and among these 84, again 32 are good (enough) in this world of mortal beings”.

The 17th-century Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā (mentioning gorakṣa-āsana) is one of the three classic texts of Haṭha-yoga: a major branch of Yoga, sharing similarities with the Yoga system taught by Patañjali, though claiming its own mythical founder known as Matsyendranātha. This gheraṇḍa-saṃhitā is an encyclopedic Sanskrit treatise describing thirty two such āsanas.

context information

Yoga is originally considered a branch of Hindu philosophy (astika), but both ancient and modern Yoga combine the physical, mental and spiritual. Yoga teaches various physical techniques also known as āsanas (postures), used for various purposes (eg., meditation, contemplation, relaxation).

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Gorakṣāsana (गोरक्षासन):—[=go-rakṣāsana] [from go-rakṣa > go] n. a particular method of sitting, [Haṭha-pra-dīpikā]

[Sanskrit to German]

Gorakshasana in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Goraksha, Go, Asana.

Full-text: Parvatasana, Bhadrasana.

Relevant text

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