nyasa (ritual)

{{Short description|Hindu ritual}}

Nyasa (English: placing; literally, "deposit" or "setting down"{{cite book|author=Jon Jahnke|title=Reflections on speculative ontology and language use in Tantric ritual practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rRNZAAAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=University of Wisconsin|pages=3}}) is a concept in Hinduism. It involves touching various parts of the body while chanting specific portions of a mantra.{{cite web|title=Nyasa -- divinity in the body|url=http://www.shivashakti.com/nyasa.htm|work=Shiva Shakti Mandalam|access-date=30 October 2013}} This imposition of mantras upon the body is considered as the assigning or locating of divinity inside one's own body. For example, nyasa is part of the equipment of a sculptor as a sādhaka and yogi.{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Hindu Temple, Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-aS52MgIkMC |year=1976 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120802223 |pages=343}}{{cite book |author=David Gordon White |author-link=David Gordon White |title=Tantra in Practice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hayV4o50eUEC |year=2000 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120817784 |pages=509}}

Each mantra is associated with a specific nyasa. There are various types of nyasas, the most important of them being kara nyasa and anga nyasa.

The number seven is commonly written before nyasa mantras in ritual handbooks, indicating that the seven bijaksaras (sacred letters) should be recited before the mantra.{{cite book|author=Douglas Renfrew Brooks|title=Auspicious Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oo_cEGxebREC|year=1992|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780791411452|pages=241}}

Srividya followers practice matruka nyasa.

The word vinyasa commonly used in yoga practice stems from the word "nyasa" meaning "to place" and the word "vi" meaning "in a special way."{{Cite web |last=Rea |first=Shiva |date=2012-11-13 |title=Consciousness in Motion: Vinyasa |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/types-of-yoga/vinyasa-yoga/consciousness-in-motion/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Yoga Journal |language=en-US}}