03/14/2026
Sometimes people inquire into the background for some of the āsana-s practiced today, namely the extensive syllabi as taught by Śrī T Krishnamacharya in the broad Vinyāsa Krama system he transmitted, as would then feature in the Ashtanga Vinyasa series', Iyengar's "light on yoga," and Srivatsa Ramaswami's presentations of the scope of the Vinyāsa Krama system. I've endeavoured to cover the relevant āsana-s seen out of key Haṭha treatises that shape the background for Krishnamacharya's teachings on Haṭha yoga. The last Haṭha text mentioned is significant in providing the theoretical basis for dynamic practices that would become the characteristic aspect of the āsana-s taught by T Krishnamacharya, referred today as Vinyāsa Krama.
First, I'd be remiss to not mention that the professor T Krishnamacharya didn't only teach āsana-s, but he was a great and accomplished scholar of high order, coming from a family of scholars, such as quite notably in his great grandfather Śrī Śrīnivāsa Brahmatantra Svatantra Parakāla Svāmi who was head pontiff of the esteemed Parakāla Maṭh in Mysore. And at heart, he was a Bhakta, following his family's tradition in Viśiṣtādvaita Vedānta and as a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. The 9th century Vaiṣṇavite saint Nāthamuni was significant to T Krishnamacharya. And on the subject of Haṭha yoga, of course Krishnamacharya's teachings didn't stop at āsana-s but included Prāṇāyāma and key Mudrā-s, as well, he of course outlined social disciplines and personal observances as prerequisites in the Yamaniyama, and he taught students to use all of this as a means to ready the mind and prepare for classical seated meditation practice. Indeed, Haṭha yoga has always been conceived merely as a stepladder in order to reach the goal of Rājayoga which broadly speaking refers to the disciplines of the mind and in developing the meditation capacity. Classically, Rājayoga is meant to lead to such heightened mental states in deep meditation in which the Ultimate is glimpsed, and is meant to decouple one from the pain of rebirth. The Yogasūtra of Patañjali is frequently touted as the key Yoga Śāstra that outlines Rājayoga.
Now, to begin in delving into the Haṭha sources, we first look at the 15th century Haṭhapradīpikā of Svātmārāma. We have Svastikāsana, Gomukhāsana, Vīrāsana, Kūrmāsana, Kukkuṭāsana, Uttāna Kūrmāsana, [Ākarṇa] Dhanurāsana, Matsyendrāsana, Paśchimottānāsana, Mayūryāsana, Śavāsana, Siddhāsana, Padmāsana (and Baddha Padmāsana), Siṁhāsana, and Bhadrāsana/Gorakṣāsana, and in terms of bodily Mudrā-s there significantly are Mahā Mudrā and the two types of Viparīta Karaṇī Mudrā-s. I include illustrations from the 1905 Yogasopana Pūrvacatuṣka of Yogi Narayana Ghamande, and the 1907 Fakire und Fakirtum im alten und modernen Indien of Richard Schmidt. This Haṭha text contains the basic Yogāsana-s of which all schools rely upon, such as in seated varieties such as in forward bending and twisting, lotus variations, arm-balancing, and notably in the inversion Mudrā-s. Prior to this Haṭha text, it is noteworthy to mention the 12th century Yoga Yājñavalkya that the professor Krishnamacharya was keen to reference, particularly in its treatment of the subject of Kuṇdalinī.
Then, we have another popular Haṭha text from the 17th century called the Gheraṇda Saṁhitā. While the Gheraṇda Saṁhitā contains all the āsana-s and Mudrā-s contained in the earlier Haṭhapradīpikā, it also includes several āsana-s and Mudrā-s not contained in the earlier work, such as Matsyāsana, Utkatāsana, Śankatāsana, Mandukāsana, Uttāna Mandukāsana, Vṛkṣāsana, Garudāsana, Vṛṣāsana, Śalabhāsana, Makarāsana, Uṣṭrāsana, Bhujāṅgāsana, Yogāsana, and Mudrā-s such as Vajroni and Pāśinī Mudrā. I include illustrations from the aforementioned 1905 Ghamande, 1907 Schmidt, and the 1911 Caturāśī Āsan of Brahmacārī Śrīnṛsiṁhaśarmā. What's notable about the inclusions of āsana types in this text is the one supine āsana included, the several prone back arches included, standing on one leg, a handstand Mudrā and a "leg-behind-the-head" Mudrā.
The question then arises, where did T Krishnamacharya learn the many more āsana-s that he would teach, in addition to the sheer dynamism of his approach. It is said that Krishnamacharya's first teacher was his father, and later he would endeavour to learn from a practicing master Haṭha yogi to receive guidance into the practical aspects, of whom he found the Yogācārya Ramamohan Brahmachari who is said to either have lived in Nepal or Tibet. It is interesting to note that many Tibetan Yoga traditions are particularly breath centered and tend to have an element of dynamism, which can offer a clue into the overt breath centered nature of Krishnamacharya's teachings of the āsana-s which also exhibited a dynamic nature. In his 1934 Yoga Makaranda, Krishnamacharya would reference an 1850s text compiled by the then Maharaja of Mysore Krishnaraja Wodeyar III which contains a section on Yogāsana-s, which Krishnamacharya would be able to access once he was employed by the Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. Interesting to note, Krishnamacharya's great grandfather and head pontiff of the Parakāla Maṭh in the 1850s, Śrīnivāsa Brahmatantra Svatantra Parakāla Svāmi was recorded to have advised to Krishnaraja Wodeyar III who would compile said Śrītattvanidhi.
Krishnamacharya would have in his possession a copy of drawings that resemble the pictorials from the Śrītattvanidhi, in which the story is given that Krishnamacharya received these drawings from his Yogācārya (copied out by his Guru's daughter) during his formative years, though it is possible according to my theory that Krishnamacharya's great grandfather was given copies of the drawings through the compiler whom he advised to and that said drawings were passed down the family to a young Krishnamacharya which inspired him to seek Ramamohan Brahmachari to receive guidance on how such procedures are to be practiced.
This 1850s Śrītattvanidhi section on Yogāsana-s has been found to be based on the 18th century Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati of Kapālakuraṇṭaka. This Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati from Maharashtra region is compelling for many reasons in containing some 112 āsana-s, many of which are highly rigorous and dynamic incorporating continuous repetitive movements, rolling movements, jumping movements, etc. In fact, a couple of āsana-s are even described with indications for the breath whilst performing said āsana. These features make this Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati a remarkable text which clearly indicates the dynamic tradition of performing the āsana-s in which T Krishnamacharya was coming from. The professor was known to teach very dynamic jumping procedures in entering and exiting āsana-s, and also for teaching static āsana-s. While containing all the āsana-s otherwise contained in the earlier mentioned texts, there also a full representation of various supine types, shoulder-stand and variations, few āsana-s grouped together in a progressive sequence followed by an apparent counter movement, an elaboration of further prone type āsana-s, arm-balances, and headstand, several different types of seated āsana-s, various ways of standing on one leg and squatting type movements, a section on rope postures, and a section on āsana-s that work to "pierce the Sun and the Moon." The āsana-s are proposed into practical sequences, which is another remarkable feature of the text. No doubt, some of the procedures included are unusual and don't make it through to Krishnamacharya's teachings, but Krishnamacharya was also selective with practices from the Haṭhapradīpikā in which he rejected certain Mudrā-s such as Khecarī and Vajrolī.
I include illustrations from the Śrītattvanidhi but re-ordered into the proposed sequence from the Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati of which it is based on. I also include for comparison with the Śrītattvanidhi pictorials, pictures of the relevant āsana-s as they translate to what we recognize today (my interpretation of the HAP verses), pictures of BKS Iyengar, T Krishnamacharya, and books from Srivatsa Ramaswami, AG Mohan, as well as Gregor Maehle, and few other examples such as representations from Jason Birch's and Jacqueline Hargreaves' research and more.
Of the three standing groups taught by T Krishnamacharya, whether movements while standing with feet together, standing with the feet apart, and standing on one leg, what perhaps is not represented in the Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati or other earlier Haṭha texts is the group of standing postures in which the feet are apart as in Trikoṇāsana sequence or Vīrabhadrāsana sequence, etc, so-called standing triangles and "warrior" lunges. Academics tend to believe that for lack of evidence of such standing āsana-s in premodern Haṭha texts, that these positions simply were not practiced in premodern India until the influence of western gymnastics on āsana systems of the 20th century Yoga teachers. Nevertheless, the positions found therein are quite basic in the movements possible done whilst standing with feet apart, such as bending to the side, twisting, bending forward, lunging, etc, it is difficult to believe that such positions would simply have not been known in premodern India. Furthermore, there are examples in Indian dance traditions and imagery and iconography of deities that are standing in familiar positions, as well as seen in exercises amongst the Indian martial traditions.
As for Sūrya Namaskāra sequences complete with the various "Dand" type movements, there are similar type exercises amongst Indian martial traditions, not to mention the act of prostration and chanting Mantra-s is a very basic and very old practice common across cultures and geography.
And let us not forget that the context of all such āsana-s are merely in preparation to sit for Prāṇāyāma, and then in preparing for meditation itself.
Vinyāsa Krama at a glance, link collation of sequences: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1G1mEE4Dfc/
