The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c25.8
The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals c25.8
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c25.8
Āsana, the word in Sanskrit may mean a seat, a mystic or any attitude exhibited in the lower limbs. The word Padmāsana means the seat of lotus. Similarly, Siṃhāsana means the lion-throne or the seat of a lion. The word Sukhāsana means any easy attitude of sitting. It may be the Paryaṅkāsana, Lalitāsana or the Ardhaparyaṅkāsana. In fact, in the Sādhanamālā, the word Sukhāsana has not been used in a technical sense. When used in a technical sense Āsana is of various kinds, such as the Paryaṅkāsana, Vajraparyaṅkāsana, Lalitāsana, Ardhaparyaṅkāsana, Bhadrāsana, Ālīḍhāsana, Pratyālīḍhāsana or the Nāṭyāsana, a variety of Ardhaparyaṅka.