Gheranda Samhita

by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Translator)

ii + 59 pages, reprint of a 1914 edition of the seventh yoga lessons for training the physical body, text in English and Sanskrit

Genres: Hinduism

59 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1914

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read in full or in part various tantric texts (this is a yogic-tantric text), but those texts are usually exclusively the type of text which would be validated by a right-hand-path interpretation at the very least, or at most, an odd or unusual practice (like kundalini meditation) which nevertheless doesn’t bear any obvious hazards and which is only akin to western notions of “witchcraft” or “the bizarre” in a sense which requires an imaginative leap.

This one was different.

A little background: It was written by a Bengali Vaishnava (already suspicious)

This contains sections which truly would tickle the fancy of a 19th century orientalist looking for the macabre and weird side of “Hindoo” religion, and the tantrism which (rightfully) inspires fear and revulsion amongst the mainstream of Hindu society. When I picked up this book several Hindus in my community warned me against it, as though I was picking up something cursed or demonic. It really felt like I was in a Lovecraft story picking up the Necronomicon or some grimoire which would make me go insane if I read it.

Now as I write the review, I again find myself in the shoes of a Lovecraftian protagonist, questioning whether to dispense the forbidden knowledge openly to any given viewer lest I foist the same hazard upon them (and also, lest I tar my own tradition by association with these practices).

To be clear, the text does contain some practices which are likely to be beneficial and which are commonly referenced in other works (though which in some cases still might be dangerous to attempt alone). For example alternate nasal passageway breathing exercises and a variety of fairly normal breathing procedures and withdrawal oriented meditations. Additionally, cleaning the sinuses ears and mouth with water. Meditative processes resulting in some control or awareness of what is actually happening in your stomach and intestines, and gaining some modicum of control over the body’s autonomic process. A wide variety of hand postures and meditations (mudras), Bij mantra meditations, and yogic physical postures (asanas) which any ordinary modern student of yoga would be familiar with.

Then we get weirder. Taking conscious control over the stomach, internal muscles, and intestinal tract, and using this control to transport a volume of air or water throughout one’s entire digestional tract. Potentially effective as an enema? Potentially hazardous? Cleaning the full length of the throat with a stick of some sort, or a long cloth. Cleaning the nostrils by somehow getting a piece of cleaning thread to go in one and out the other. ???

Sometimes extraordinary claims are made about these practices. Will they induce supernatural abilities or cure a wide array of illnesses? In most cases probably not, but perhaps in some scenarios, plausibly. I have no way of adjudicating this and I leave it to modern medical science to test such things out in a contextually appropriate manner (which legitimately could and should happen if discussions like this have any weight in future medical discourse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt6i6... )

Then we get into what the fuck territory. Intentionally prolapsing your intestines out of your body while standing in water? No thanks. Here's my favorite one: Sever the tendon below your tongue, then use an iron tool to gradually lengthen your tongue to the point where it can reach your nostrils. Then, stare upwards at your eyebrows and taste whatever is dripping down from your nostrils (it will eventually taste good). I don't even know what more to say about it.

To be fair, the text itself indicates that these teachings should NEVER be disclosed to non-initiates (someone screwed that up) should NEVER be done outside of the tutelage of a guru and have intense physical and moral prerequisites to even attempt (for example, being able to hold your breath for an hour and a half, being celibate). (It even does this in an insulting manner to the rest of the Hindu tradition (not that such a cohesive tradition existed when this text was formulated) by saying that the Vedas Puranas and the rest of the Shruti are like “public women” compared to this text which needs to be guarded like a lady from a respectable family. Ok buddy, well fuck you too I guess.) The text, as many texts of this nature, is also really intended more as something akin to “lecture notes”, so realistically a practitioner using this would have been modifying things, or inserting additional content ad hoc which we have no access to.

All in all, the text does have some valuable meditative practices, but they can easily be found in other texts and can be practiced under modern teachers in a controlled setting. Where it goes off the rails, it goes way off the rails. By its very nature and by its own claims, nobody should read, distribute, or practice what is in this book under any conditions which anyone reading this review is likely to encounter. So yeah dont read it, carry on.

[Carlos Ramos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro corto sobre el camino del Yoga, que habla de 32 posturas básicas, ejercicios de respiración, y mudras.
Aunque no diría que es un buen punto de partida para alguien que empieza en el Yoga, es una buena referencia a leer una vez que quieres ver algo más que sólo asana.