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Birch, Jason (2024) The Amaraugha and Amaraughaprabodha of Gorakṣanātha: The Genesis of Haṭha and Rājayoga. Pondicherry, India: École française d’Extrême-Orient. (Haṭha Yoga Series 3)

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Abstract

The Lineage of Immortals (Sanskrit Amaraugha) is the earliest account of a fourfold system of yoga in which a physical practice called Haṭha is taught as the means to a deep state of meditation known as Rājayoga. The Amaraugha was composed in Sanskrit during the twelfth century and attributed to the author Gorakṣanātha. The physical yoga practices have a pre-history in a tantric Buddhist milieu but were here adapted for a Śaiva audience. The treatise explains how Śaiva yogis move kuṇḍalinī, unite Śakti with Śiva, and achieve Rājayoga. Three hundred years later, the author of the Haṭhapradīpikā incorporated almost all the Amaraugha's verses on Haṭhayoga into his own work, which became a definitive exposition of physical yoga. The study of the Amaraugha reveals not only the genesis of Haṭha and Rājayoga but also the creation of the most influential model of Haṭhayoga in the early modern period. This book presents the first critical edition and annotated translation of the Amaraugha, as well as a later recension, called the Amaraughaprabodha, with an introduction that explores the profound significance of both works for the history of yoga.

Item Type: Authored Books
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of History, Religions & Philosophies > Department of History
Departments and Subunits > School of History, Religions & Philosophies > Department of Religions & Philosophies
ISBN: 9782855392639
Copyright Statement: © École française d’Extrême-Orient, 2024 It is open access but there is a one year embargo on the release of the digital edition (January 2025)
Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2024 12:28
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/41298
Related URLs: https://publica ... of-gorak-an-tha (Publisher URL)
Funders: European Union

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