What the passages connect
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika connects pressure and contraction at the base of the body with the upward direction of apana. The Gheranda Samhita gives a more particular seated arrangement. The term belongs to a coordinated hatha practice; it is not merely the name of a finger position.
Keep the conceptual vocabulary visible
Apana and prana name functions in the tradition’s subtle-body model. Replacing those terms with a simple medical claim about pelvic-floor strength would change the meaning of the passage. Sivananda likewise explains Mula bandha within the union and direction of these forces.
Why Ashvini has a separate page
The Gheranda Samhita describes Ashvini through repeated contraction and release. Mula bandha has its own treatment and place among the locks. The relationship is useful to study, but the two entries do not certify that every modern pelvic-floor exercise is equivalent to either. This is a textual reference, without an added strengthening program or a retention schedule.
A shared name, a different position in the chapter
Mula bandha is sixth in the ten-name list. Its familiar Sanskrit passage is 3.61 to 69. In the critical edition the discussion appears at 3.49 to 57, before Uddiyana. The central verse linking prana with apana and nada with bindu is 3.64 in the familiar numbering and 3.52 in the critical edition.
Those paired terms belong to the passage’s explanation of yoga. The Ashvini comparison below keeps a separately named practice in view, so that neighboring descriptions do not collapse into synonyms.
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, 3.49 to 57, including displayed additions where relevant. The map above explains material differences from Sinh’s Sanskrit 3.61 to 69. Comparison reviewed September 12, 2026.
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 3
Sanskrit verses 3.61 to 69.
Svātmārāma; Sanskrit and Pancham Sinh’s 1914 translation. English paragraph numbering sometimes diverges from the Sanskrit verses.
- Gheranda Samhita, James Mallinson (2004)
3.12 to 13, printed p. 66; SanskritDocuments 3.14 to 17.
YogaVidya.com publisher excerpt, introduction and chapter 3, printed pp. 60 to 71. The excerpt covers part of the book.
- Gheranda Samhita, Sanskrit
3.82 to 83: Ashvini comparison.
SanskritDocuments transcription. Coordinates refer to this transcription; Mallinson’s edition uses different numbering in chapter 3.
- Kundalini Yoga
“1. Mula Bandha”; “Instructions,” item 6.
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.