Yoga Bites- What's up with all the WARRIOR poses??

If you’ve ever taken a yoga class, or even just heard about yoga, you have heard “Warrior Pose”, right? Then you get more involved and hear that there isn’t just one warrior! There’s Warrior 1, then there’s Warrior 2, then............ Warrior........ yeah....3........

Most likely you are not familiar with the tragic love story behind this pose. But fear not! I’m here to fill you in on it!

This is a story of love, hate, rage, violence, sadness, wrath, compassion and forgiveness that begins with the marriage between Lord Shiva and his bride Sati.

Shiva was an unorthodox god; he had dreadlocks, smoked weed, spent a lot of his time meditating on mountain tops and in graveyards whilst smeared with the ashes of the dead. Sang and danced at will, and it is said that he carried around a skull.

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Sati’s father was the powerful King Daksha, who did not approve of the union. Shiva was very much the antithesis of King Daksha who thrived on rules and regulations and was a preserver of traditional society.

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Well, Sati married Lord Shiva anyways and they left to live in the PleasureCity, Bhoga, on MountKailash. Sometime later King Daksha decided to hold a huge event known as a Yagna (a ritual sacrifice) to which he invited all heavenly creations, deities and dignitaries… with the exception of Lord Shiva and his own daughter, Sati.

Sati got really offended when she heard about the party, and insisted that they should go. Shiva didn’t care for social approval so he told Sati to go if she really wanted to.

At the gathering her father refused to speak to her and then humiliated her in front of all the guests, by mocking her husband and then asked her why she married “The Lord of the Beasts”.

While all the guests stared and laughed at Sati, she was so angry at her father that she told him she didn’t want to have any ties with him and added “Since you have given me this body I no longer wish to be associated with it”.

She then sat down on the floor, went into a meditative trance and, by way of yogic exercises, began to increase her inner fire until such a point that she burst into flames and died.

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The Wrath of Shiva

Shiva gets notified of his wife’s violent death. He was so deeply saddened and enraged at his loss that he tore off his clothes and ripped out his dreadlocks. Legend has it that Shiva then picked up one of his dreadlocks from the floor and threw it down to the earth to create “Virabhadra” (Vira meaning hero and Bhadra meaning friend).

Shiva ordered this warrior demon, Virabhadra, to go to the Yagna and kill everyone, behead King Daksha and drink his blood.

It is here where we really see the links between this story and the poses that we see commonly in modern yoga classes known as Warrior (Virabhadrasana) I, II and III.

Virabhadrasana I

According to the ancient texts Virabhadra entered the Yagna coming up from deep underground with his sword held over his head in both hands – a feat re-enacted in the posture Virabhadrasana I.

Virabhadrasana II

Next, Virabhadra made his presence known to the Yagna guests by standing with his sword poised and ready to strike. Essentially the posture Virabhadrasana II represents Virabhadra having his victim locked in (consider the drishti point of the middle finger as the crosshairs and the back arm is the sword ready to strike forward).

Virabhadrasana III

Finally Virabhadra, as instructed by Shiva, quickly and precisely striked and severed the head of King Daksha. This scene is represented by Virabhadrasana III.

What happened next…

Shiva arrived at the Yagna and absorbed Virabhadra back into his own form. Seeing the death and destruction before him, Shiva was no longer enraged but instead filled with sorrow.

He then showed compassion to his father in law by finding the headless body of the King and giving him a new head (the head of a goat) before bringing him back to life. This prompted Daksha to bow to Shiva and call him “the kind and benevolent one”.

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Shiva then picked up his wife’s ashes and left the Yagna to return to a life of solitude.

Sita was reborn as Parvati, daughter of Himavat, king of the mountains, and his wife, Mena. This time, she was born the daughter of a father whom she could respect, a father who appreciated Shiva ardently. Naturally, Parvati sought and received Shiva as her husband.

The Moral of the Story

This story can be viewed as Shiva and his incarnation, Virabhadra, as representing the higher self at battle with the arrogant ego (Daksha) in the name of love and the heart (Sati).

It represents our posture as fallible souls who engender completely natural human responses to emotions.
There is often an innate urge to overlook natural human emotions like anger, jealousy, and bitterness in spiritual pursuits like yoga.

At times, we think that in the interest of becoming of true yogi, we must be devoid of all negativity. But being a “yogi” isn’t about existing in a permanently blissful state. Eliminating all hardship from our lives just isn’t feasible. And, we all engage in little battles throughout the day. Every single relationship produces complications and stress that engender completely natural human responses.

We become true warriors when we understand how to fight our battles with the proper weapons. Along with the extraordinary range of emotions we exhibit as humans, we also have the unbelievable capacity for reflection.
And so, when our battles scale beyond our control, we possess the most important tools of the “spiritual warrior” which are compassion and forgiveness.

I hope you enjoyed this story!
Namaste