Yogasanas, Bandha and Kriya I89IO. It is always safe to perfect Sarvangasana (Plate 223) first before
attempting S'ir�asana. If the standing poses described earlier (Plates
I to 36) and the various movements of Sarvangasana and Halasana
(Plates 234 to 27I) are mastered first, Si"rsasana will come without much
effort. If these ' elementary asanas have not been mastered, the period
taken to learn Si"r�asana will be longer.
I 1. After one has learnt to balance in S'irsasana, however, it is prefer
able to perform S'ir�asana and its cycle (Plates I90 to 2I8) first before
practising any other asana. This is because one cannot balance or
hold the head stand if the body is exhausted by doing other poses
or if the breathing becomes fast and shaky. Once the body is tired or
the breathing is not free and easy, the body will shake and it will be
difficult to maintain the balance. It is always better to do S'ir�asana
first when one is fresh.
'
I2. Si'r�asana and its cycle should always be followed by Sarvangasana
and ' its cycle. It has been observed that people who devote themselves
to Si'r�asana alone without doing the Sarvangasana poses are apt to lose
their temper over trifling things and become ' irritated quickly. The
practice of Sarvangasana coupled with ' Si'rsasana. checks this trait. If
Sarvangasana is the Mother, then Si'r�asana may be regarded as the
Father of all asanas. And just as both parents are necessary for peace and
harmony in a home, so the practice of both these asanas is essential to
keep the body healthy and the mind tranquil and peaceful.
'
Effects of Sir�asana
I
The ancient books have called Si'r�asana the king of all asanas and the
reasons are not hard to find. When we are born, normally the head comes
out first and then the limbs. The skull encases the brain, which controls
the nervous system and the organs of sense. The brain is the seat of
intelligence, knowledge, discrimination, wisdom and power. It is the
seat of Brahman, the soul. A country cannot prosper without a proper
king or constitutional head to guide it; so also the human body cannot
prosper without a healthy brain.
The Bhagavad-Gita says: 'Harmony (sattva), mobility (rajas), inertia
(tamas), such are the qualities, matter-born; they bind fast, 0 great
armed one (Arjuna), the indestructible dweller in the body.' (Fourteenth
Discourse, verse 5.) All these qualities stem from the brain, and some
times one quality prevails and sometimes the others. The head is the
centre of sattvic qualities which control discrimination; the trunk of
Rajasic qualities which control passion, emotion and actions; and the
region below the diaphragm of tamasic qualities which control sensual