society. For further information see
Ganga Prasad Upadhyaya (trans.),Light
of Truth, 1960; Kenneth W. Jones, Arya
Dharm, 1976; Daniel Gold, “Organized
Hinduisms: From Vedic Truth to Hindu
Nation,” in Martin Marty and R. Scott
Appleby (eds.), Fundamentalisms
Observed, 1991; and Kenneth W. Jones,
“The Arya Samaj in British India,
1875–1947,” in Robert D. Baird (ed.),
Religion in Modern India, 1998.
Asamanjasa
In Hindu mythology, the son of the
celebrated King Sagarand his wife
Keshini. Keshini has received a boon
that she will bear a single son through
whom the royal lineage will continue,
whereas her co-wife Sumatiwill bear
sixty thousand sonswho will all die
before they are married. Asamanjasa is
that single son, but his character is so
bad that his lineage, the Solar Line,
seems to be in grave danger.
In the Ramayana, the earlier of the
two great Hindu epics, the only men-
tion of Asamanjasa describes how he
throws children into the Sarayu River
and then laughs as they drown.
Fortunately for the Solar Line, which is
one of the two great lineages,
Asamanjasa’s son Anshumanis very
virtuous, and the line continues both
unbroken and uncorrupted.Asana
(“bodily posture”) In the ashtanga
(“eight-part”) yoga first codified by
Patanjali (1st c. C.E.?), asana is the
third of the eight elements of yoga
practice and involves different body
postures. In his text, Patanjali asserts
that one’s physical position should be
stable and comfortable, since the
ultimate end of these postures is to
enable one to concentrate without
physical distractions. A series of posi-
tions for developing and training the
body evolved from this text. The most
familiar of these is the lotus posture
(padmasana).
These physical exercises are the
best-known feature of yoga and are
often confused with the larger prac-
tice of yoga itself. Although these
postures have definite physical bene-
fits, such as increased bodily flexibil-
ity, their ultimate purpose is to
enable one to sit for long periods in
meditation without physical distrac-
tions. As such, they are a necessary
element for progress on the spiritual
path but should not be confused with
the end goal.
In a more general context, the word
asanacan refer to various ways of sit-
ting, and by extension to the thing
upon which one sits. In general the
object upon which one sits—particu-
larly for meditation or any sort of reli-
gious practice—is believed to be
charged with power because of its
association with spirituality. Many of
these objects, especially animalskins,
are believed to confer certain powers
and thus have symbolic meaning as well.Asamanjasa
A man practices the fetus position.
This asana, or bodily posture,
is one of many that are used in yoga.