Read the arrangement, not just the name
Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.19–25 describes a seated arrangement, a contraction at the base, and regulated retention. The Gheranda Samhita presents its own arrangement of the heels and connects the practice with Jalandhara. These descriptions should be read beside one another, not spliced into a new instruction.
Its place beside Mahamudra
Sivananda presents Mahamudra as preparation for Mahabandha and describes Mahavedha after it. The ordered relationship helps explain the vocabulary of this group. It does not mean a reader should progress through the three simply because the pages are linked in that order.
What a useful comparison asks
Look for the seat, the location of pressure, and the relation between the lock and the held breath. Those details make the passage more precise than the English label “great lock.” This reference does not provide a retention target or a combined-bandha routine. Claims about defeating aging and death are reported as the tradition’s language of attainment.
Sources and scope
Main edition
Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 3
Passage for this reading
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 3
Sanskrit verses 3.19–25.
Svātmārāma; Sanskrit and Pancham Sinh’s 1914 translation. English paragraph numbering sometimes diverges from the Sanskrit verses.
- Gheranda Samhita, James Mallinson (2004)
3.14–16, printed pp. 66–67; SanskritDocuments 3.18–20.
YogaVidya.com publisher excerpt, introduction and chapter 3, printed pp. 60–71. This is a sample, not the entire book.
- Kundalini Yoga
“Mudras and Bandhas: 5. Maha Bandha”.
Swami Sivananda; Divine Life Society, tenth edition 1994, authorized web edition 1999. Traditional teaching, not clinical evidence.
What this edition covers
An original reference essay comparing the traditional descriptions. It is not a translation of the entire source chapter.
Limits and differences
The prose above identifies material differences. Traditional explanations and promised attainments are attributed to their sources; they are not clinical evidence. Review date: September 11, 2026.