page_title: Dhanurasana
section_title: Etymology and origins
hierarchical_section_title: Dhanurasana / Etymology and origins
caption_attribution_description: English: Half-tone engraving of Dhanurasana in Yogasopana Purvacatuska by Yogi Ghamande, 1905
context_page_description: Dhanurasana, Bow pose, is a backbending asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise.
context_section_description: The name comes from the Sanskrit words धनुर (dhanur) meaning "bow", and आसन (āsana) meaning "posture" or "seat".
  A similar pose named Nyubjasana, "the face-down asana", is described and illustrated in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi. The pose is illustrated in half-tone in the 1905 Yogasopana Purvacatuska and named Dhanurāsana, quoting the Gheranda Samhita's description.
  It is unclear whether the asana is medieval, as although the name is used, the intended pose might be the sitting Akarna Dhanurasana rather than this backbend. The account of Dhanurasana in the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika is ambiguous about whether the pose is reclining or sitting, stating
  Having held the big toes of both feet with both hands, one should pull [them] like a bow as far as the ears. This is called bow pose. (HYP 1.25)
  The 17th century Gheranda Samhita is similarly ambiguous, stating
  Spreading the legs on the ground, straight like a stick, and catching hold of the feet with the hands, and making the body bent like a bow, is called by the Yogis the Dhanurasana or Bow-posture. (GhS 2.18)
  Dhanurasana is used in the classical Indian dance form Bharatanatyam.
caption: Half-tone engraving of Yogi Ghamande in Dhanurasana in his Yogasopana Purvacatuska, 1905. The text below the image cites the Gheranda Samhita, whose description of the pose is ambiguous.[3]
exif: {"Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Google", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "109", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "136", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "144", "Thumbnail BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Thumbnail Compression": "Uncompressed", "Thumbnail PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Thumbnail StripOffsets": "448", "Thumbnail SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Thumbnail RowsPerStrip": "144", "Thumbnail StripByteCounts": "58752", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "511", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "523", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "\u0003\u0004\u0004\u0006", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[3, 0, 0, 0]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "229"}