Karandavasana: The Himalayan Duck
Karandavasana is a part of the Ashtanga Intermediate Series. This asana is a combination of Pincha Mayurasana, Padmasana and Baby Crow pose. These three postures are done in a step by step manner to come into the final form of Karandavasana. This posture was named such because in the final version, the practitioner's forearm resembles this bird's large feet .
Legend
There are several passages in the Ramayana that mention Karandava. This bird also finds mention in the Skanda Purana.
Anatomy
It is the most difficult posture in the second series. It is mastered by isolating the movements of the hip joints from the spine and the movements of the shoulder joints. It is a challenging pose that requires strength (core, shoulders, arms), flexibility (hips, neck, knees), endurance, focus, and co-ordination.
Little Manas at the shala demonstrates all these qualities while doing this posture, especially the vinyasa to exit the pose, which is much more difficult than the vinyasa to enter this extremely strenuous pose.