Padmāsana
Padmāsana · padma-āsana, “the lotus seat, the lotus posture”
Grammar: neuter noun; a compound of padma (lotus) and āsana (seat, posture): “the lotus seat”.
Meaning: (1) the lotus posture, in which one sits for pūjā, dhyāna (meditation) and yoga; (2) the lotus seat of the devatā, worshipped as part of the pīṭha (the seat of the mūrti) in pūjā.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa uses the word in both senses.
The posture for pūjā. Nārada teaches the brāhmaṇas the rule of pūjā by which every aim is gained. Before the pūjā one washes the feet, does ācamana, keeps silence, makes rakshā (protection), faces east, and sits in svastikāsana, padmāsana or another āsana. Then one purifies the body (bhūta-śuddhi): one meditates on the bīja “yaṃ” in the navel to dry up all impurity, burns it with the fire of the bīja in the heart-lotus, and floods the body with streams of amṛta from a form like the moon (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 23).
The posture for the sannyāsī. In the yati-dharma which Pushkara teaches, after the five yamas (ahiṃsā, satya, asteya, brahmacarya, aparigraha) and the niyamas (śauca, santosha, tapas, svādhyāya, Īśvara-pūjā), padmāsana and the other āsanas are prescribed for the sannyāsī (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 161).
The posture in yoga. Agni Deva teaches āsana as the first step: binding an āsana such as padmāsana, one should meditate on the Paramātmā. In a pure place one makes a firm seat, not too high and not too low, spread with cloth, deer skin (ajina) and kuśa grass. Sitting on it, restraining the citta and the indriyas, the mind one-pointed, one practises yoga for the purification of the self. The body, head and neck are held even and steady; the gaze rests on the tip of the nose; the heels guard the organs of generation; the arms lie across the thighs, the back of the right hand on the left palm; the face is raised a little and held forward. Then one meditates. Prāṇāyāma and pratyāhāra follow (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 373).
The lotus seat of the devatā. In the pūjā of Sūrya that gives victory in battle, which Parameśvara teaches, Prabhūta, Vimala, Sāra, Ārādhya and Paramasukha are worshipped in the place of the pīṭha, and dharma, jñāna, vairāgya and aiśvarya with their opposites on its feet and in the four directions. Then the Ananta-āsana, the siṃhāsana and the padmāsana are worshipped; then the karṇikā (pericarp) of the lotus and its kesaras (filaments), and there the maṇḍalas of Sūrya, Soma and Vahni; then the nine śaktis, Dīptā, Sūkshmā, Jayā, Bhadrā, Vibhūti, Vimalā, Amoghā, Vidyutā and Sarvatomukhī (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 148).
In the Bhavishya Purāṇa. The devatās are seated on the padmāsana and also dwell there, so arcanā should be done only when seated in padmāsana. By the rule devo bhūtvā devān yajeta, “having become a deva, one should offer yajña to the devas”, the devatās on the padmāsana receive arcanā from one who is himself seated in padmāsana. If arcanā is not done so, a yakshiṇī takes away the entire fruit (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 19–21).
In the Brahma Purāṇa. Vyāsa, asked by the maharshis for the yoga that removes the sorrow of saṃsāra, gives the posture. Eating suitable food in moderation, the senses conquered, the practitioner sits facing east on a pleasing seat that is not too high, body, feet and head in line. Placing the hands upon the navel, calm, he sits in padmāsana; keeping silence and fixing the gaze on the tip of the nose, he does prāṇāyāma, withdraws the five senses of knowledge with the mind into the heart, utters the praṇava long and with effort, and fixes in his citta Purushottama, hidden in the cave of the heart. Yet Vyāsa teaches that sitting in padmāsana and fixing the gaze on the tip of the nose do not by themselves give the siddhi of yoga: “The dissolving of the mind together with the senses is yoga” (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 235).
Brahmā tells Nārada that when Dadhīci gave his body so that the devas might have his bones, he sat in padmāsana, fixed his eyes on the tip of his nose, and by the power of yoga led the prāṇa into the subtle space of the heart (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 40). Brahmā himself, telling the munis of the wedding of Devī Pārvatī, says that he came at Himavat‘s request with the devas and sat on a padmāsana, a lotus seat (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 36).
Related terms: Āsana · Svastikāsana · Yoga · Prāṇāyāma · Pīṭha · Bhūta-śuddhi
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 23, 148, 161, 373
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 19–21
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 36, 235; Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 40