Dharana 70 of 112 · verse 77

The Classical Mudras

Five named yogic attitudes through which the text says reality is revealed.

Recorded, not taught

Shoonyaka does not offer this one as a guided practice. It is here because the collection is of all one hundred and twelve, and leaving it out would misrepresent the text.

Before you try this

Recorded for study. The text supplies names, not instructions, and these are traditionally given by a teacher in person. Khechari mudra in particular has forms that can cause real injury and should never be attempted from a written description.

The practice

The verse names five mudras — Karankini, Krodhana, Bhairavi, Lelihana and Khechari — and says the supreme reality is revealed through them. It gives no instructions for any of them.

What it works on

That silence is deliberate. A mudra is an attitude of the whole body and attention together, and the tradition transmits these in person rather than in writing. Of the five, only Bhairavi mudra — eyes open and outward, attention turned entirely inward — is widely taught in public, and it appears elsewhere in this text as the gazing dharanas.

Notes

  • The gazing practices in this collection carry the accessible part of what this verse points to.

Practise gently

Shoonyaka offers educational and contemplative material, not medical, psychological or religious authority. Nothing here diagnoses or treats any condition. Stop any practice that leaves you dizzy, frightened or unwell, and treat a strong reaction as a reason to rest rather than to push on.