Eastern Wisdom + Contemplative AI
What are the mudras and bandhas described in the Shiva Samhita?
Within this revered text, mudrā and bandha are presented as precise instruments for directing prāṇa and awakening the latent spiritual power within. Among the mudrās, Mahāmudrā is singled out as a “great seal,” involving a specific bodily arrangement with breath retention that serves to purify the subtle channels. Nabho or Khecarī Mudrā, in which the tongue is turned back toward the palate, is described as a powerful support for meditation and the control of hunger, thirst, and decay. Viparīta Karaṇī Mudrā is taught as an inversion that reverses the usual downward flow of vital essences, preserving and redirecting them toward spiritual ends. The text also speaks of Vajrolī, together with its related forms Amarolī and Sahajolī, as advanced sexual-yogic mudrās concerned with mastery over the generative organs and the sublimation of reproductive fluids into spiritual energy.
Alongside these, the treatise presents the classic haṭha-yogic locks as both mudrās and bandhas, underscoring their dual role as physical techniques and energetic seals. Uḍḍīyāna, Jālandhara, and Mūla are described in terms of drawing the abdomen inward and upward, locking the throat with the chin to the chest, and contracting the perineum or pelvic floor, respectively; in their mudrā aspect they function as seals that guide prāṇa into the central channel. The same three are also named explicitly as bandhas—root, abdominal, and throat locks—whose coordinated application regulates the movement of prāṇa and apāna and protects the vital centers during breath retention. The text further acknowledges Mahābandha, the “great lock” that combines these three bandhas, and Mahāvedha, a dynamic striking or percussive movement performed while in the locks, as especially potent auxiliaries to the core practices.
Taken together, these mudrās and bandhas form a graded sādhanā in which posture, breath, and subtle intention converge. Their descriptions consistently emphasize that they are not mere physical exercises but carefully structured methods for purifying the nāḍīs, stabilizing the mind, and facilitating the ascent of kuṇḍalinī. The Shiva-focused perspective of the work frames these techniques as sacred means of internal worship, where the body itself becomes the altar and the currents of prāṇa the offering. When approached with guidance, discipline, and reverence, these seals and locks reveal themselves as a coherent inner alchemy, gradually transforming ordinary vitality into a vehicle for higher consciousness.