Digital Ebook (PDF) — Being the Ṣaṭ-Chakra-Nirūpana and Pādukā-Pañchaka: Two Works on Laya Yoga, Translated from the Sanskrit, with Introduction and Commentary
Author / Translator: Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) | First published 1918–1919
Key Features
The Serpent Power is the single most influential English work ever written on Kundalini and the chakra system — the book that first brought the esoteric science of the subtle body to the Western world, and which remains, more than a century after its publication, the standard and foundational text on the subject. Written by Arthur Avalon (the pen name of Sir John Woodroffe), the pioneering British scholar and jurist who devoted his life to the study of Tantra, it presents a full description and explanation of the Serpent Power (Kundalini Shakti) and the yoga effected through it — a subject occupying a pre-eminent place in the Tantra Shastra.
At the heart of the book are Avalon's careful translations of two important Sanskrit works on Laya Yoga: the Ṣaṭ-Chakra-Nirūpana ("Description of the Six Centres"), the classic account of the chakras, and the Pādukā-Pañchaka ("The Fivefold Footstool"). It is through this work that the now-familiar system of the chakras — the muladhara, svadhishthana, manipura, anahata, vishuddha, ajna, and the thousand-petalled sahasrara — together with the ida, pingala, and sushumna nadis, entered Western spiritual understanding. Every serious modern account of the chakras and Kundalini ultimately traces back to this monumental volume.
Far more than a translation, the book opens with Avalon's extensive introduction — a profound and systematic exposition covering the nature of consciousness both bodiless and embodied (jivatma), the science of mantra, the detailed esoteric anatomy of the centres and lotuses, the practice of Laya Yoga (laya-krama), and the theoretical foundations of the whole path. Richly illustrated with plates of each chakra and of the classical yogic postures (asanas), bandhas, and mudras, it offers the reader an unparalleled depth of detail drawn directly from the primary Sanskrit sources, free of the distortions of later popularization.
For the practitioner of Kundalini and Laya Yoga, the student of Tantra and Shakta philosophy, the yoga teacher seeking the authentic roots of the chakra system, and the scholar of Indian spirituality, The Serpent Power is an indispensable and endlessly rich classic — the definitive source on the awakening of the coiled serpent power and its ascent through the centres to union with the Supreme.
Ebook Details
- Format: PDF (digital download)
- Language: English (with the Sanskrit text of the two works)
- Author / Translator: Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe)
- Content: The complete text — Avalon's introduction and commentary, the translations of the Ṣaṭ-Chakra-Nirūpana and Pādukā-Pañchaka, and the full set of chakra and yogasana plates — faithfully reproduced from the classic edition
- Ideal For: Practitioners of Kundalini, Laya, and Hatha Yoga, yoga teachers and students of the chakra system, students of Tantra, Shakta philosophy, and the subtle body, and scholars of Indian spirituality
Why You'll Love It
The foundational classic on Kundalini and the chakras in a single download — Arthur Avalon's complete Serpent Power, with its authoritative translations of the Ṣaṭ-Chakra-Nirūpana and Pādukā-Pañchaka and its richly illustrated introduction, the original source from which the entire modern understanding of the chakra system flows, for the yogi, teacher, and scholar alike.
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