The difference is worth noticing
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika’s description involves the hands supporting the body and a movement of the seated body while the breath is restrained. Sivananda also includes that movement. In the Gheranda Samhita passage translated by Mallinson, Mahavedha is instead described through Mahabandha and retention with Uddiyana. The descriptions are not identical.
Why the comparison belongs here
A short modern list can make this look like just another hand mudra. Reading the two accounts shows how misleading that would be. It also explains why the collection gives references and no single illustration that claims to show the complete technique.
Follow the textual links
The relationship to Mahamudra and Mahabandha is explicit in the source material. The related-page links let you compare that group without constructing a practice sequence. No impact movement, breath-hold schedule, or combined lock is demonstrated here. The text’s language of overcoming age and death is kept within its traditional context.
The third member of the triad
The critical edition begins this account at 3.25, where the familiar Sanskrit numbering has 3.26. Both introduce it in relation to Mahabandha, and both later gather the three practices together. The critical reading continues through 3.31 before the Khechari heading; the familiar passage is 3.26 to 31.
The separate Gheranda comparison below matters just as much as the changed number: an edition cross-reference locates a passage, while a comparison between works can reveal a different description under the same name.
Where no edition is named, Hatha Yoga Pradipika verse numbers follow the Sanskrit numbering printed with Sinh’s 1914 edition.
Sources and scope
Main edition
Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 3
Passage for this reading
- Haṭhapradīpikā Online: critical-edition comparison
Chapter 3, 3.25 to 31, including displayed additions where relevant. The map above explains material differences from Sinh’s Sanskrit 3.26 to 31. Comparison reviewed September 12, 2026.
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 3
Sanskrit verses 3.26 to 31.
Svātmārāma; Sanskrit and Pancham Sinh’s 1914 translation. English paragraph numbering sometimes diverges from the Sanskrit verses.
- Gheranda Samhita, James Mallinson (2004)
3.17 to 20, printed pp. 67 to 68; SanskritDocuments 3.21 to 24.
YogaVidya.com publisher excerpt, introduction and chapter 3, printed pp. 60 to 71. The excerpt covers part of the book.
- Kundalini Yoga
“Mudras and Bandhas: 6. Maha Vedha”.
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.