Gorakshashataka

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The Gorakshashataka ( Sanskrit : गोरक्षशतक gorakṣaśataka n. "Goraksha hundred liners") is probably the oldest surviving treatise on Hathayoga . It served as a template for several later works dealing with yoga . Its author was Goraksha , who lived between the 7th and 10th centuries.

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Despite the name, the Gorakshashataka consists of around 200 verses. It has been preserved in several manuscripts that differ slightly. There are also shorter versions that suddenly stop at verse 101.

In contrast to the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, the Gorakshashataka only knows six levels of yoga . In addition to these, Asana , Pranayama , Pratyahara , Dharana , Dhyana and Samadhi , other Hathayoga practices such as the Mudras , Bandhas and Nadishodhana are explained, as well as the anatomy of the subtle body with the chakras , Nadis and Kundalini . A central point is the explanation of the crescent moon in the head, from which Amrita , the nectar of immortality, constantly drips down and how the yogi can win it over. The yogin should also meditate on the sun disk in the navel. The sun-moon symbolism is very pronounced in Gorakshashataka, and in Gorakshapaddhati ("Goraksha's footsteps"), a commentary on Gorakshashataka, the word haṭha is explained with the mystical syllables ha "sun" and ṭha "moon".

Dependent works

The Gorakshashataka was a widespread work, parts of which were sometimes adopted in later yoga scriptures. The Yogachudamani Upanishad is largely identical to the Gorakshashataka, and passages from this work can also be found in other Upanishads.

Later important works on Hathayoga are also clearly dependent on the Gorakshashataka, such as the Hathapradipika and the Gherandasamhita .

Translations

In contrast to the Hathapradipika, the Gorakshashataka was translated into a European language relatively late, which is why the latter is considered the most important Hathayoga script in western yoga circles, although it is much younger and depends on other works.

The first and only scientifically commented translation of Gorakshashataka into German was published in 1976 by Fausta Nowotny and also contains the Sanskrit text with reading variants. 1985 Lore Tomalla translated Swami Kuvalayananda's English translation into German. Georg Feuerstein gives a third German translation in his book Die Yoga Tradition , but says that it is about the Gorakshapaddhati.

literature

  • Swami Kuvalayananda , SA Shukla (ed.): Gorakṣaśatakam . Lonavla 1958. (English translation).
  • Fausta Nowotny: The Gorakṣaśataka . Cologne 1976, DNB 770252265 .
  • Swami Kuvalayananda, SA Shukla (Ed.): Goraksa Shatakam . Translation by Lore Tomalla. Hamsah Verlag, Osnabrück 1986, ISBN 3-923713-08-8 .
  • Georg Feuerstein : The Yoga Tradition. History, literature, philosophy and practice . Yoga-Verlag, Wiggensbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-935001-06-9 , pp. 614-631.