Anantasana
{{short description|Reclining posture in modern yoga}}
Anantasana ({{langx|sa|अनन्तासन}}; IAST: {{IAST-hi1|Anantāsana}}), Sleeping Vishnu Pose or Vishnu's Couch Pose,{{cite web | url = http://www.yogaartandscience.com/poses/recp/anant/anant.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080526165547/http://www.yogaartandscience.com/poses/recp/anant/anant.html | url-status = usurped | archive-date = May 26, 2008 | title=Anantasana |publisher=Yoga Journal | access-date=28 January 2019}} Eternal One's Pose, or Side-Reclining Leg Lift{{cite web | url=http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2500 | title=Side-Reclining Leg Lift |publisher=Yoga Journal | date=3 June 2008}} is an asana in modern yoga as exercise.
Etymology and origins
File:A sculpture of sleeping Vishnu Hindu deity at Museum CSMVS Mumbai.jpg sleeping on the many coils of the infinite serpent. From Huchchappaiyya Gudi Temple, Aihole, Bagalkot, Karnataka, 7th century.]]
The name comes from the Sanskrit words anantā ({{Lang|sa|अनन्त}}) meaning "without end" or "the infinite one", for the thousand-headed serpent Shesha upon which Vishnu rested at the bottom of the primordial ocean,{{cite book |last=Iyengar |first=B. K. S. |author-link=B. K. S. Iyengar |title=Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYP_fDMlSjIC |year=1977 |orig-year=1966 |publisher=Schocken Books |isbn=978-0-8052-1031-6 |page=246}} and āsana ({{Lang|sa|आसन}}) meaning "posture" or "seat".{{cite book |last=Sinha |first=S. C. |title=Dictionary of Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zzRvh1fRzEC&pg=PA18 |date=1 June 1996 |publisher=Anmol Publications |isbn=978-81-7041-293-9 |page=18}}
A different reclining pose named Anantasana is described and illustrated in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi.{{cite book |last1=Sjoman |first1=Norman E. |author-link=Norman Sjoman |title=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace |title-link=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1999 |edition=2nd |orig-year=1996 |isbn=81-7017-389-2 |pages=69 and plate 1 (pose 1) }} The modern pose is described in the 1966 Light on Yoga.
Description
In culture
ON 26 December 2024, Chethan Kulkarni held Anantasana for a record duration of 30 minutes.{{cite web |title=Longest duration to hold Anantasana yoga pose by a teen |url=https://indiabookofrecords.in/longest-duration-to-hold-anantasana-yoga-pose-by-a-teen/ |website=India Book of Records |date=27 January 2025}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Asana}}
{{Yoga as exercise}}
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