Urdhvabahu

(“[one whose] arm is upraised”) Name
for a person practicing a particularly
severe form of physical mortification, in
which one or both arms are kept continually raised. After some time the muscles atrophy, and the arms cannot be
lowered again. Although urdhvabahu is
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Urdhvabahu
not very common, it has a long-attested
history as an ascetic practice. As with all
such harsh physical asceticism, this is
believed to give one the great benefits of
spiritual awareness and magical power.
This belief is based partly on the culturally accepted notion that the willingness
to endure physical suffering generates
such spiritual power, but this belief
could also stem from the strength
of will needed to carry this out—a
strength of will that would presumably
have correlates in other dimensions
of one’s personality.