TheYogacintamani (योगचिन्तामणी, IAST:Yogacintāmaṇī, "The Wish-fulfilling Gem of Yoga") is an early 17th-centuryhatha yoga text by theDaśanāmi monk Śivānandasarasvatī, covering theeight auxiliaries of yoga. Theasana section in all the manuscripts describes 34 asanas, while variations in some manuscripts add another 84, mentioning most of the non-standing asanas used inmodern postural yoga. This makes it the largest asana collection from theearly modern period.[2]
TheYogacintamani (योगचिन्तामणी, IAST:Yogacintāmaṇī) is a late 16th-centuryhatha yoga text.[3] It consists of four "rather discursive" chapters each with multiple long quotations from many yoga texts. The first half of the text, chapter 1 and part of chapter 2, introduce and define yoga.[4] The second half consists mainly of eight sections corresponding to theeight limbs of yoga (Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, Samādhi) described inPatanjali'sYoga Sutras. The text ends with a section on signs of death and how the yogi can use those to cheat death, and a concluding section that lists the sources used and summarises the text's scope, noting that it omits teachings found only in theUpanishads and those of theKapalikas which are described as non-Vedic.[4][1] The text quotes theHatha Yoga Pradipika extensively.[5] The text is known from multiple manuscripts.[6]
Theasana section in all the manuscripts of theYogacintamani describes 34 asanas includingkukkutasana,mayurasana, andsiddhasana, while handwritten annotations in the Ujjain manuscript and variations in other manuscripts add another 84, mentioning most of the non-standing asanas used inmodern postural yoga, including forward bends likepaschimottanasana, backbends such asustrasana, twists likematsyendrasana, and arm balances likekukkutasana. The asanas match those in thec. 1602 Persian textbookBahr al-Hayat.[1][7]
Kukkutasana is described in the same way as in theVasishtha Samhita and theHatha Yoga Pradipika, but in the Ujjain manuscript someone in the second half of the 17th century has added a note that the pose "is effective for cleaning thechannels"; this is a benefit ascribed tosiddhasana in theHatha Yoga Pradipika.[8] The yoga scholarJason Birch comments that the manuscript shows that yogis at that time were "willing to combine yoga techniques fromŚaiva andVaiṣṇava traditions".[9]
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