Healing Practice
Mahavedha
Sanskrit: Mahāvedha
The "Great Piercing" — performed from Mahabandha, said in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika to unite the body's three principal subtle channels.
- Tradition
- Yogic Tradition
Introduction
Mahavedha is performed from the position of Mahabandha, adding a specific movement that the Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes as producing a gentle impact while the breath and bandhas are held, said to "pierce" and unite the three principal nadis — ida, pingala and sushumna — so that prana can move freely through the central channel. The text treats Mahamudra, Mahabandha and Mahavedha as a linked trio of practices.
Of the three, Mahavedha involves the most physical forcefulness combined with advanced breath retention, and the text's own framing treats it as the most advanced of the sequence. It should only be approached after sustained, teacher-guided practice of the two preceding techniques, never attempted on its own from a description.
Sources & References
- The Hatha Yoga Pradipika — Svatmarama; trans. Pancham Sinh, The Panini Office (Sacred Books of the Hindus, vol. XV) (1914) · Link
Public domain. Classical c. 15th-century Sanskrit hatha yoga text; this early-20th-century English translation is the standard public-domain edition consulted for these entries.