Did Shiva really teach 8,400,000 asanas? How many asanas are there? How long is the list? The exact number of asanas is determined by who you ask! The history of yoga asanas on Wikipedia does a good job explaining the exact number of asanas within particular disciplines, giving various counts of 2, 4, 66 with 136 variations, 84, 908 with 1300 variations and the 8,400,000 Shiva list.
Apparently Patanjali never mentioned asanas by name in the great yogic text, The Yoga Sutras but speaks about the basic of elements of the correct seated posture as a part of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. From the Yoga Sutras we can surmise that the four basic asanas are the seated poses such as: Sukhasana (comfortable, cross-legged pose), padmasana (Lotus pose and its variations) Vajrasana (sitting on heels) and staff pose (seated with legs outstretched and feet together).
The Goraksha Samhita or Goraksha Paddhathi, considered the oldest of Hatha Yogic texts lists the 84 classic poses but only describes two in detail: Siddhasana and Padmasana. The Hatha Yoga Padipika also lists the 84 classic poses and states that the first four are necessary or vital to attain yogic perfection: Siddhasana, Padmasana, Bhadrasana (also known in more contemporary texts as Baddha Konasana, bound angle butterfly pose) and Simhasana.
Shiva’s asanas “most useful in the world of mortals”
Shiva was said to have taught 8,400,000 asanas, which seems reasonable if you’re a god! He toned it down for us mortals and described 32 of the most useful to regular humans. It seems like a good place to start. Here’s the list with notes and common pose names in parenthesis:
- siddhasana (siddha in Sanskrit means “perfect” and “adept”)
- padmasana (lotus)
- bhadrasana (bound angle butterfly)
- muktasana (liberation)
- vajrasana (vajra in Sanskrit means “thunderbolt” or “diamond)
- svastikasana (prosperous – similar to Siddhasana except top foot is tucked into top thigh)
- simhasana (lion)
- gomukhasana (cow face)
- virasana (hero)
- dhanurasana (bow)
- mritasana (Savasana or Shavasana, corpse)
- guptasana (variation to Siddhasana where organ of generation is hidden by both heels, gupta in Sanskrit means hidden)
- matsyasana (fish)
- matsyendrasana (Lord of the Fishes, seated twist; see half seated twist Ardha Matsyendrasana and Complete Lord of the Fishes Paripurna Matsyendrasana)
- gorakshana
- paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)
- utkatasana (chair)
- sankatasana
- mayurasana (peacock)
- kukkutasana (cock or rooster)
- kurmasana (turtle)
- uttanakurmakasana
- uttanamandukasana
- vrikshasana (tree)
- mandukasana
- garudasana (eagle)
- vrishasana
- shalabhasana (locust)
- makarasana (crocodile)
- ushtrasana (camel)
- bhujangasana (cobra)
- yogasana (staff or Dandasana)