Tṛtīyopadeśaḥ (Mudrā) · Verse 6

करणी विपरीताख्या वज्रोली शक्ति-चालनम् | इदं हि मुद्रा-दशकं जरा-मरण-नाशनम्

karaṇī viparītākhyā vajrolī śakti-cālanam | idaṃ hi mudrā-daśakaṃ jarā-maraṇa-nāśanam

Viparītakaraṇī, Vajrolī, and Śakticālana — these ten mudrās destroy old age and death.

Completing the list from the previous verse:

  1. Viparītakaraṇī — “Inverted action.” An inverted position where the nectar (amṛta) that normally falls from the head to the digestive fire is retained.

  2. Vajrolī — “Of the thunderbolt.” A technique for controlling sexual energy, controversial and esoteric.

  3. Śakticālana — “Stirring of energy.” Techniques to awaken kuṇḍalinī directly.

Mudrā-daśakam — the ten mudrās. This is the complete corpus according to this text.

The claim jarā-maraṇa-nāśanam — “destroy old age and death” — is characteristic of haṭha yoga rhetoric. It should not be taken literally as physical immortality, but as:

  • Control over degenerative processes
  • Transcendence of the fear of death
  • Access to states where time and death have no meaning

These ten mudrās contain the technical core of tantric haṭha yoga.