The Sanskrit term Paścimottānāsana can be transliterated into English as Pascimottanasana or Pashcimottanasana, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

Alternative spellings of this word include Pashchimottanasana.

In Hinduism

Yoga (school of philosophy)

Source: Wisdom Library: Yoga

Paścimottānāsana (पश्चिमोत्तानासन, “back-stretched posture”) is a Sanskrit word referring to a type of posture (āsana) used in Yoga. It is composed of the words paścima (back), uttāna (stretched) and āsana (posture).

Source: archive.org: Gheranda Samhita

Paścimottānāsana (पश्चिमोत्तानासन) is one of the thirty-two āsanas (postures) taught in the second chapter of the Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā: “Stretching the two legs on the ground like a stick, placing the fore-head between the two front parts below the knees and holding the toes with the hands is called Paścimottāna-āsana”.

Paścimottānāsana 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 paścimottāna-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).

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Pashcima, Asana, Uttana.

Ends with: Ardhabaddhapadmapashcimottanasana, Ardhapashcimottanasana, Parivrittapashcimottanasana, Urdhvapashcimottanasana.

Full-text: Urdhvapashcimottanasana, Ardhapashcimottanasana, Garbhasana.

Relevant text

Search found 1 books and stories containing Pashcimottanasana, Pashcima-uttana-asana, Paścimottānāsana, Pascimottanasana, Pascima-uttana-asana, Paścima-uttāna-āsana; (plurals include: Pashcimottanasanas, asanas, Paścimottānāsanas, Pascimottanasanas, āsanas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Serpent Power (Kundalini-shakti), Introduction (by Arthur Avalon)

Chapter 6 - Practice (Yoga: Laya-Krama)

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