The modern version of Bow Posture, which has been prominent for the past 100 years or so, is done lying on the belly, holding the feet or ankles, and bending the body backward. Prior to that, the posture seems to have been done sitting and pulling the feet toward the ears.
Bow Posture’s earliest known instruction is in the 15th century Hathapradipika: “Bring the toes as far as the ears with both hands as if drawing a bow. This is Dhanurasana” (HP 1.25). (1)
The Hatharatnavali from the 17th century repeats the Sanskrit instructions word for word. Here is a different English translation: “The big toes are held with the hands and are pulled up to the ears (alternately). Thus, one assumes the shape of a stretched bow. This is dhanurasana” (HR 3.51). (2)
Nowadays, these positions are still taught sometimes. They are often called akarna dhanurasana, which means Bow to the Ear Posture; or akarshana dhanurasana, which means Bow Pulling Posture.
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Some modern translations of the Hathapradipika interpret these instructions — to pull the toes to the ears — in light of the more modern Bow Posture done on the belly. They offer a posture that involves a deep backward bend, touching the toes to the ears from behind, what might be called Full Bow Posture today, pictured to the left.
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The interesting new instruction here is that the feet are held “from behind”. Some interpret this as bending the legs backward and holding the feet, as one does in the modern backbend. But it is entirely possible that this is the same posture as instructed earlier, and the cue to hold the feet from behind is not particularly ground-breaking.
The first words in this instruction, to “stretch the legs out on the ground like a stick”, are identical to the instructions for Stretching Posture, paschimottanasana. This is perhaps a clue that the Bow Posture in the Gheranda Samhita is intended to be done sitting down with the legs stretched forward.
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Furthermore, there are three postures in the Gheranda Samhita which are done on the belly with clear instruction: Locust Posture (2.39), Crocodile Posture (2.40), and Camel Posture (2.41) pictured to the right. They include directions to “lie prone” or “lie down with the chest placed on the ground”, clearly meaning to lie on the belly. This type of instruction is entirely absent from Bow Posture, again suggesting that it was intended to be a seated position.
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Camel Posture as instructed in the Gheranda Samhita
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(1) Akers, Brian Dana, trans., 2002 Hatha Yoga Pradipika NY: YogaVidya.com
(2) Gharote, M.L., Devnath and Jha, editors, 2014 Hatharatnavali Lonavla Yoga Institute: Pune [2002]
(3) Mallinson, James, trans., 2004 Gheranda Samhita NY: YogaVidya.com
