Introduction
Mudra means to seal, close, lock up. It also means a gesture, a symbol. There are many different types of mudras; they can be categorized into hand mudras, head, postural, mudra locks and perineal mudras. In the West, when mudras are mentioned, it generally refers to hand mudras or gestures. Mudras can occur spontaneously in high states of consciousness. Mudras came spontaneously to evolved yogis and they still occur today to the jivanmukta, the liberated person. Each mudra is a gesture, a signal to the mind. They balance mind and body and act as a catalyst to awaken consciousness. They can be practiced as standalone techniques, or with pranayama and bandhas or in meditation.
Ancient tantric scriptures called bandhas and mudras as mudras. J*alandhara, uddiyana and moola bandha* were called mudras and their combination was called maha mudra (great attitude gesture). Hatha Yoga system has defined the three as bandhas but their combination is called a mudra.
Gheranda Samhita (3:1-3), states that there are twenty five mudras, the practice of which gives success to the yogi. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika(3:6-7) says there are ten important bandhas and mudras which destroy old age and death : maha mudra, maha vedha mudra, kechari mudra, viparita karani mudra, vajroli mudra, Shakti chalani mudra, uddiyana, jalandhara and moola bandhas, maha bandha.
The practice of these ten mudras and bandhas can give rise to eight kinds of divine wealth or ashta siddhis (eight powers). (Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3:8). These siddhis should remain a secret and not be talked about to anyone. (verse 9). Patanjali also emphasized that these siddhis should not be sought after and if they develop should not be exhibited and should be ignored. Mudras give happiness and emancipation, destroy all disease and increase gastric fire to those who practice daily. (Gheranda Samhita 3:94)
Mudras also help in balancing the five elements (pancha bhutas) in the human system to their optimal levels. Every individual is composed of five elements or the panchabhutas. Pancha (five) and bhutas (elements) are earth, water, fire, air, space and ether. Each finger represents a particular element. The first five chakras correspond to these five elements. By balancing the five elements through mudras, we ensure a sense of great well-being. Our hands are a complete representation of these elements, as the following diagrams illustrate:
The elements and the corresponding chakras
Apart from representing the elements, the thumb and the index finger hold particular importance. The thumb is symbolic of cosmos (divine) and the index finger (human) is symbolic of consciousness. In other words, the thumb represents God or the higher energy and the index finger represents the individual ego. It is interesting to note that when accusing someone of something you always point your index finger to get your point across. Also in very practical terms, if you lose all the four fingers and have the thumb remaining, you can do most of the activity done by the hands. But if the thumb is lost and all other fingers remain, the hands are as good as useless. Symbolically, this establishes the fact that if divine energy is not present in life, , then life is as good as not being lived.
This book describes chin mudra, kurma mudra, samana mudra, anjali mudra, shambhavi mudra and shanmukhi mudras which are the mudras commonly used in Nithya Yoga. In addition, Maha Mudra and is also described as it is a powerful mudra.