Beyond The Backbend: Dhanurasana & Dharma

Beyond The Backbend: Dhanurasana & Dharma

The yoga postures we practice today originate from a multitude of different places; from ancient texts to Swedish gymnastics, traditional Indian exercise regimes to European contortionism, and now even from the pages of Instagram…. Dhanurasana or ‘bow pose’ (also known as urdhva chakrasana, or ‘upward wheel pose’) is an asana you’re quite likely to come across in many modern yoga classes, but beyond the backbend lies deep symbolism….

The ‘bow’ this posture represents, is the one belonging to the archer Arjuna, the main protagonist in the ancient text the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita means ‘song of the lord’, and is the quintessential Dharma text, exploring aspects of purpose and the meaning of life. Within the pages of this text, a mythical battle is played out upon the planes of Kurukshetra between two armies; the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Arjuna’s difficult decision is whether to fight in this war against his very own family in order to gain back a valuable kingdom, or to retreat and refuse to battle. In Arjuna’s eyes, fighting is wrong, and shedding his own family’s blood isn’t worth the potential victory. Arjuna casts down his weapons – his dhanu or ‘bow’ – and refuses to fight. The 700 verses of the text contain a conversation between Krishna, who represents God and Arjuna, who represents man, in which Krishna explains Dharma, life purpose, Karma and selfless service. Whilst mythological, this text holds important life lessons on how to live up to our personal potential, and gives great comfort to anyone experiencing the familiar inner battle between mind, senses and truth we so often go through.

Dhanu

The word dhanu translates as ‘bow’, and in all aspects, it refers to the archer’s bow used in battle. The Gharada Samhita describes the entrance in to the physical posture thus: ‘Stretch the legs on the ground like a stick and catch hold of both feet with one’s hands so as to make the body resemble a bow’. Whilst the Hatha Yoga Pradipika explains it as: ‘Grasping the toes with one’s hands, draw one foot up to the ear as if one were drawing a bow’.

Dhanu Yatra is a Hindu festival, celebrating Krishna’s visit to Mathura, a city in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The festival runs from the 16th December until the beginning of January, and an offering of sweetened rice flakes is prepared.

Dharma

The word dharma is derived from the root word ‘dhri’ meaning ‘to hold’ or ‘to retain’. As a complete word and with relevance to how we might use it within our own lives, Dharma is often translated as ‘that which upholds’. It refers to the very thing that sustains each of our lives, our passions, and what we feel to be our life’s purpose. In many studies into happiness, it is found that a life filled with purpose is one of the key factors in health, longevity and overall happiness.  The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that  – much as Arjuna has to take aim with his bow and arrow to stay true to his purpose – we too have to maintain our focus and aim in order to stay true to our personal dharma (known as Svadharma).

Non-attachment

Within the pages of the Bhagavad Gita, we explore the concept of non-attachment, detaching from the desire for worldly possessions, relationships and the co-dependency we often have towards the temporary and fleeting. The world can be an unpredictable place, which is why many of the Yogic texts teach detachment from the ups and downs of daily life.

George Harrison is well known to have regularly recited and kept close to his heart the advice from Krishna in the sacred text; “Live in the world, but be not of the world”, meaning to live in and act in the world, being of service and helping humanity, but being unattached and un-afflicted by it. We can see similarities between this verse from the Hindu Gita and Christian subculture, as Jesus’ words read “Be in the world, but not of the world” in John 15:19 and John 17:14-16, of the New Testament. One of Patanjali’s Yamas of ‘Aparigraha’ describes the moral conduct of non-greed and non-possessiveness, a letting go and allowing of flow within daily life. Whether, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or Hindu, many ways of life consider this moral code of conduct important.

Perhaps one of the most important passages of the Bhagavad Gita, is Krishna’s words of advice about non-attachment to the outcome of a situation; ‘You have the right to act and perform your duty, but not to the fruits of your actions’, and; “Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction”. To put it simply; Krishna is referring to our need to let go of the outcome of our efforts; so often we focus on what we might get out of a situation, and are incredibly disappointed if we don’t attain what we want at the end of it.

Being attached to the outcome of something leaves us continually chasing after imagined victories in life, whether it’s money, a car, a house, a relationship, the ‘perfect’ body, or our idea of what happiness looks like. If we maintain the ‘I’ll be content when….’ standpoint on life, what we want will always be just out of reach. If however, we can find contentment in the moment of action without grasping for an expected end result, this is where the real magic of life is found. Whether the action is in work, exercise, washing the dishes or studying for a test, putting your all into the moment at hand is a gift in itself, and is the very thing that can help us each engage with and fully experience the moment at hand.

So how does all of this relate to a simple Yoga posture? When practicing a Yoga asana, much of our mental energy is spent focussing on trying to attain the end result of the posture, measuring ourselves against the person next to us, the shapes we see on social media, or even the ‘us’ that was practicing the same posture last week in class. When we change things up and put our focus not on what we might achieve at the end of the posture, but in participating in the right now, the moment of transitioning towards, being in and moving away from said posture, we allow ourselves to really truly be present and alive in the moment at hand. The practice is no longer about right or wrong, success or failure, but about exploration, curiosity and the experience of a human-being.

One Comment

  1. Mónica Selva
    Mónica Selva

    Beautiful, as usual. I like very much the way you write, have read many of your articles, also on ekhart yoga. Thanks for them.

    November 10, 2016 at 6:43 pm Reply

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