based practices of yoga are ̄asanaor postures, pra ̄Ónay ̄ ̄amaor control of
vital energy by control of breath, and praty ̄ah ̄ara, withdrawal of the
senses. Their chief purpose is preparation of the practitioner for Yoga’s
final three limbs: concentration, meditation, and the higher conscious-
ness of samadhi ̄ , which we may translate as ‘meditative trance.’ The key
textual source for study of the external limbs of Yoga is Section Two of
the Yoga-sutras ̄ , S ̄adhana-p ̄ada. S ̄adhanameans ‘practice,’ ‘discipline,’ or
‘means,’ and pertains to practice conducive to the attainment of a goal.
Its verbal root is sadh, ‘to accomplish one’s goal,’ or ‘to hit the target’
(also the root of sadhu ̄ , ‘holy man,’ one who has achieved the aim). The
term sadhaka ̄ refers to a practitioner, a person who undertakes sadhana ̄
with the purpose of accomplishing an aim, particularly a spiritual aim.
Practice of the whole system of eight-fold Yoga is a s ̄adhana, but the term
sadhana ̄ can also refer to a particular practice, such as ̄asana.Third Limb: Postures—Åsana
Åsana(√as, ‘to sit’) literally means ‘sitting’ or ‘posture.’ Only three of the
196 verses of the Yoga-sutras ̄ deal with asana ̄.^41 According to Patañjali, the
two criteria for proper performance of postures are that they must be
steady (sthira) and comfortable (sukham) [YS 2.46]. The main purpose of
asana ̄ is to render the physical body non-disturbing to the mind. This has
two primary applications. First, in the stages of meditation of the sixth,
seventh, and eighth limbs, the mind’s activity is successively restricted, and
the body is to remain as externally motionless and internally undistracted
as possible. The asanas ̄ are designed so that the body may feel comfortable
and thus for the duration of meditation be of no concern to the mind, so
that the sadhaka’s ̄ consciousness may take priority in his awareness and
being. Åsana’sother main function is to develop the body’s endurance and
equilibrium. Practice of asana ̄ helps one develop non-attachment to the
body and objects of physical enjoyment, and increased capacity for carry-
ing out the responsibilities of life and the yogic path.
Åsana’s role in meditation exemplifies the soteriological role of the
body in Yoga: physical well-being is not cultivated as an end in itself, but
because refined awareness and discipline of one’s physical nature contrib-
ute to transcending the limitations of physicality and the ignorance and
suffering that attend it. Yoga accounts for the human condition from its
lowest state of being mired in ignorance and evil, to its highest potential
state: realization of its nature as pure consciousness. Yoga is a practical
system and provides for individuals to begin the path of Yoga at their own
level of awareness and functioning. For most persons, self-understanding
classical yoga as a religious therapeutic 113