the elephant headed yogi
Ekadantaya vidmahe vakratundaya dhimahi
tanno dantih prachodayat
I meditate on the single tusked lord with the bent trunk
May He grant knowledge and inspire me
Anyone who visits India will very soon discover that one of the most popular of all the multitude of Indian deities is Ganesh – a guy with a big pot belly and the head of an elephant. Ganesh is venerated in particular as the remover of obstacles and the lord of new beginnings, and in those capacities will routinely be seen in doorways and entrances as well as invoked at times of personal change, such as beginning a new business or embarking on a journey.
In the west, Ganesh images – in the form of statues, carvings or pictures – have become increasingly common in yoga centres and studios. Of course, there is important symbolism in Ganesh blessing any of us embarking on another stage in our yoga journey, but is there perhaps more to him than that? Is there a deeper or wider symbolism in having the elephant headed deity presiding over our asanas and vinyasas?
Who is Ganesh and how did he get that head?
For those of you not familiar with depictions of Ganesh, it is worth describing briefly how he is usually portrayed. The key features are that he has a human body and the head of an elephant. As a consequence of his elephant head, he has large ears, small eyes and a long, curling trunk. The most noticeable feature of his human body is a large, pot belly (he is said to have a huge appetite and a sweet tooth), though he is usually also shown with short legs, small feet and four arms.
There are several different stories about how Ganesh came into being and how he acquired his elephant head. Probably the most common relates to a time when Shiva (one of the three principal Indian deities, and renowned as the lord of yoga) was away from home doing whatever it is that gods do. In some versions of the story, Shiva asked his son, the then human headed Ganesh, to guard Shiva’s wife Parvati, and not to allow anyone to enter the house. In other versions, while Shiva was away, Parvati was bathing and, not wishing to be disturbed, created the human headed Ganesh as a guard and, again, instructed him not to allow anyone in.
Whichever version one adopts, the inevitable happened and Shiva came home unexpectedly. Ganesh, following his instructions to the letter, stood his ground and refused Shiva access to the house and to Parvati. Shiva – both wishing to see his wife and not being used to being disobeyed – got angry and struck off Ganesh’s head with his trident. When he realised what he had done, he promised Parvati that he would bring Ganesh back to life. But the boy’s head could not be found, so (at the suggestion of the god Brahma) Shiva decided to give the boy the head of the first creature he saw. He went out into the forest, and the first creature he saw was an elephant. So Ganesh was restored to life with the head of an elephant.
The name Ganesh is a synthesis of two Sanskrit words – gana (meaning a being, or sometimes an attendant of a deity) and isha (meaning lord). Thus Ganesh is the lord of all beings. He is often also referred to as Ganapati or Gananayaka, both of which have similar meanings, and like many other Indian deities has a multitude of other names, often referring to his physical characteristics – notably Ekadanta (the one tusked), Vakratunda (the one with the curved trunk) and Lambodara (the large bellied one). Other popular names for him are Vighneshvara (the remover of obstacles) and Vinayaka (the distinguished leader).
The elephant and the Yoga Sutras
In India – and in the yoga tradition – the elephant is deeply symbolic. As the largest land animal, he embodies strength and solidity. But in addition to those qualities, the elephant traditionally also represents wisdom and intelligence. In the tantric tradition, the elephant (usually shown with seven trunks) is the ruling animal of muladhara chakra, the base chakra, where he embodies the qualities of that chakra – strength and stability, but also, as the resting place of kundalini, a potent, dormant power. Ganesh too is associated with muladhara chakra – for example the Ganapati Atharva Sirsa Upanisad, one of the most popular hymns to Ganesh, contains the line Tvam muladhar stiti yosi nityam – “you always reside at muladhara” – where he is seen as the supporter of the universe.
In hatha (or physical) yoga, there is a wonderful analogy between Ganesh’s qualities and the asana instructions given to us by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali gives us one simple, concise description of asana, or posture, when he tells us that “Asana should be stable (sthira) and comfortable (sukha)” (Yoga Sutras II, 46). He goes on to say that “Asana is mastered by relaxing effort….” (Yoga Sutras II, 47). In other words, while a yoga posture requires an element of strength to achieve the quality of sthira or stability, mere strength is not enough. Practising yoga postures with strength alone is likely to involve forcing and straining. While this may put the body into an interesting shape (and possibly a hospital bed), it will not create a yoga posture. To achieve that, the practitioner must combine strength with the wisdom to know when he or she is pushing too hard, in other words should ally strength and solidity to the intelligence to know when and how to relax the effort in order to achieve the dual qualities of both sthira and sukha within asana. The yoga practitioner should become like an elephant.
Ganesh and his mouse
It is customary for Indian deities to be depicted with a “vehicle” – a creature on which they ride. So, Durga is generally shown riding a tiger, Saraswati a swan and so on. Ganesh’s vehicle is….a mouse (or a rat). Despite the bulk of his elephant’s head, and his huge appetite and large belly, Ganesh is able to ride on the back of a tiny creature. It is said that the mouse represents the ego, the mind’s desires and pride. Ganesh is depicted on top of the mouse to show the power that the intellect and discrimination have over the ego, desire and pride. Once again, we can relate this easily back to our yoga practice. Is our practice driven by ego, desire and pride, perhaps trying further to entwine our legs around our neck? Or is our practice ruled by intellect and discrimination, knowing how and when to listen to our body and to adapt our practice accordingly? In other words, are we a yogic mouse…. or are we Ganesh the yogi?
An alternative – and just as relevant - explanation for the mouse is connected to Ganesh’s reputation as a dancer. For despite his short legs, small feet and pot belly, he is renowned for dancing to the song of his divine mother. As a dancer, he is poised and balanced, yet so light on his feet that he is perfectly able to ride on the back of a small mouse without crushing it. In that, he once again can be seen as an analogy for our asana practice. For to help us cultivate sthira and sukha, we must find our stability, but from that place cultivate a lightness in our body and in our practice. As B.K.S. Iyengar says “when an asana is done correctly… there is lightness in the body and freedom in the mind. When an asana is felt as being heavy, it is wrong. You must try to impart a feeling of lightness throughout your body.” As asana practitioners, we should tread lightly. We must become Ganesh the yogi….
Trunks, ears and tusks
Let us return to the elephant head, where there is more symbolism.
First, Ganesh’s large elephant ears are said to hear all of our prayers and wishes, whether or not we direct them specifically to him. As a result, he is able to come to our aid and to remove any obstacles in our path.
Secondly, Ganesh is generally depicted with a broken tusk – usually the right one. There are numerous explanations for this, but perhaps the most common one relates to the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata is a huge story – occupying many volumes of printed text – and it is said that, before the epic was ever committed to writing, the sage Vyasa was the only person who knew the whole of the Mahabharata. Vyasa needed a scribe to write down the story – and happened upon Ganesh. After some persuasion, Ganesh agreed to take on the job of writing down the Mahabharata – but on condition that Vyasa dictated it all in one sitting. Of course, you can do this sort of thing when you are a venerated sage dictating to a god, so Vyasa agreed. The only drawback for Ganesh was that word processing had not been invented and neither of them had a pen…. So Ganesh broke off his right tusk and used that to write down the epic.
There are two important ways in which this story is significant for the modern yogi. First, Ganesh has come to be seen as the lord of the Sanskrit alphabet. The ancient Sanskrit language is the language which has given us all of the seminal yoga texts – such as the Yoga Sutras and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Ganesh is therefore seen as the lord of those texts – and, by extension, the lord of knowledge and learning (also symbolised by his large head). Another of his many names is Brahmanaspati (lord of knowledge and intelligence).
The Sanskrit alphabet is significant for us not just as the language of the ancient yogic texts, but also as the sacred language of mantra. Whether or not we have been initiated into a specific mantra by a teacher for use in meditation, many of us routinely chant mantras, or listen to teachers chant mantras, at the beginning or end of a yoga class – for example lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu. It is said that, when properly pronounced, each letter of the Sanskrit alphabet has a particular correlation within the subtle body and resonates with a particular energetic force. The yoga of chanting and mantra therefore is not just about having a good sing or providing a tool for meditation – it is also about affecting the energy flows within our subtle body, and our friend Ganesh, as lord of the Sanskrit alphabet, is the lord of all that power. Not only that, but Ganesh’s long, curved trunk is said to be a representation of the symbol of OM ( ). OM is said to be the source of, and to contain within it, all mantras. All sounds (including all mantras) in their dormant form are said to reside in muladhara chakra – which we have already seen is also the home of our elephant headed friend. Accordingly, chanting or repeating OM or any mantra is tantamount both to a meditation on Ganesh and an invocation of the latent power of the Sanskrit language.
Secondly, the Mahabharata contains within it the Bhagavad Gita – the song of the lord - which is both one of the most sacred Indian texts and also one of the key yoga source texts. The story of Arjuna’s dilemmas and troubles on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and Krishna’s guidance to Arjuna, are well known – suffice it to say for now that the Bhagavad Gita was one of the primary texts to enunciate the paths of karma and bhakti yoga (the yogas of action and devotion)….. and Ganesh was the one who wrote those lessons down for us.
Lord of uddiyana bandha??
The strong and stable Ganesh as the resident of, and lord of, muladhara chakra we have seen…. but the pot bellied Ganesh as lord of uddiyana bandha (the abdominal lock)?? For Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga practitioners, that is exactly what he is.
There are different ways of practising uddiyana bandha, which can be the source of some confusion to yoga practitioners. When uddiyana bandha is practised as a kriya (cleansing technique) the whole of the abdominal region – including the upper part of the belly - is drawn back and up during the pause after exhale. The abdomen is then released before the inhale begins. In the Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition, practitioners are encouraged to maintain a mild form of uddiyana bandha during the whole of the asana practice, to assist in building both inner heat and core stability. However, when the upper abdomen is drawn in and up, normal breathing becomes nigh on impossible, as the diaphragm is unable to descend properly on inhalation. Rather, the form of uddiyana bandha engaged during Ashtanga Vinyasa practice involves simply a mild drawing in of the lower abdominal area – the area from the navel downwards. With that part of the abdomen drawn in, it is perfectly possible to continue to breathe normally, deeply and rhythmically, allowing the diaphragm full freedom of movement – especially if the upper part of the abdomen is kept relaxed. In other words, not only can Ashtanga Vinyasa practitioners practise with a pot belly… they should practise with a pot belly, whatever its size!
Ganesh the paradox – and the yogi
Fundamentally, Ganesh is a paradox. He is heavy and has the head of an elephant, yet he is light enough to ride a mouse. He is wise and intelligent, yet is known to be devoted to sweets (am I alone in finding that comforting?!). He has short legs and small feet, yet is a noted dancer. He has a large, round belly, yet is a perfect example of the form of uddiyana bandha practised in Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga. For the western yoga practitioner, the one tusked, elephant headed one is not just the remover of obstacles to our practice and development and the guiding force behind our mantras. He is also a potent symbol and an important reminder that yoga is for everyone, irrespective of size, shape or form. Above all, if we can take his qualities of strength and stability onto our yoga mat, and combine them with his intelligence, compassion and lightness, we will truly be practising yoga…… Om Gam Ganapataye Namah.
Graham Burns
February 2006
Graham Burns is a London based yoga teacher who has studied intensively in the USA and the UK with many of the west's top teachers, most notably his current principal teachers Rod Stryker and Richard Freeman. A keen student of yoga history and philosophy, he is known for his humorous and light hearted approach to teaching, while still preserving the best elements of the yoga tradition. Graham teaches at London’s top yoga centres as well as teaching and mentoring students on one of the UK’s leading yoga teacher training programmes.
© Graham Burns 2006
