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| Home > Hatha Yoga and Shiva Shakti > Symbolism in Yoga
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| | Symbolism in Yoga
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 Ancient Indian culture in infused with myrth and symbolism to carry its great wisedom. A prime example is the practice of bathing at the place where two or three rivers meet: in addition to the act of washing`s being a metaphor for inner (psycho spiritualism) purification, the conjunction of rivers represents the convergence of Ingla and pingala nadis at the Ajna Chakra in the human subtle body.
Just like this example, much of symbolism is carried out as it is without much of an interpretation. It is said by Brhaduranyaka Upanishad "The gods are fond of the cryptic, as it were, and dislike the evident."
Yogic symbolism is the result of much Indian epic poetry. The Bhagavad-Gita, is well known for its psychological symbolism. The very battlefield of Kurukshetra may be taken to signify the human mind or heart. In between the forces of dharma (`righteousness` or `order`) and Adharma (`unrighteousness` or `disorder`), stand Krishna and Arjuna, representing the Paramatman and Jivatman respectively, the latter aspiring to become one with the former but uncertain of which course of action to take.
An analysis of India`s other great epic, the "Ramayana", also reveals an elaborate fabric of yoga imagery. The principal characters, Rama and Sita, are again symbolic of the Paramatman and the Jivatman respectively.
Sita is kidnapped by the demon Ravana, who stands for egoism, vice, desire, attachment and sensuality, his ten heads representing the five sense capacities plus the five action capacities of the human body. She is carried off to the `underworld` called Lanka and kept prisoner within Asokavana, the garden which represents the world of sensual experience. There she dreams of being reunited with Rama, and devotedly concentrates her mind upon him. Eventually, Rama is able to rescue his consort from this state of captivity and to bring her back to her true home, so that she may realise her true identity. This he does with the aid of Hanuman, the Lord of monkeys, who represents prana, the `vital force`. This entire picture symbolizes the goal of yoga. Union of the jeevatma which is kept captive by demonic instincts, with the Paramatman and realise its true worth.
It is indeed very difficult to separate history from myth, and myth from factual wisedom. Tale of origin of hatha yoga is one just example in the lines of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Both history and mythology are used as tools for the elocution of a deeper and longer-lasting truth that of the identity of jivatman and paramatman. Hence, when Siva is invoked in the opening sloka of a hatha text, it is as the highest Self of the writer and reader and, at the same time, as the greatest of yogis, who have discovered and achieved the highest of human existence.
In the commentary on the Hath Yoga Pradipika, Vishnudevananda cautions the reader to `never take anything literally in Yoga`, thereby implying that there is always a symbolic meaning to be found. This advice is a bit hard to follow in the symbol rich texts of hatha yoga, and there are certain narration written purely for literal meaning. Yet the advice shouldn`t be ignored for much greater awareness related with the knowledge.
Following just the literal meaning can be pretty fatal fot any being. one example is the animals (and sometimes even human`s and child`s) sacrifices as rituals in minor community. The texts have asked for the humans to sacrifice their animal instincts or vices, and not to create the bloodshed. It is but a common knowledge that many human vices are acknowledged with animals as the symbols.
So, if the danger exists that great harm may be caused by taking a symbolic description too literally, what justification can there be for such a style of expression? There are, I think, four chief answers to this question:
First, the illustrious yogis who achieved a state of supra-phenomenal knowledge from such an `absolute` perspective i.e. a `perspective` that encompasses and transcends all (conditional) perspectives, tend to ignore any distinction between the literal` and the `figurative` . Such distinctions may be meaningful from a mundane and relative point of view. But, from a viewpoint which sees only one literal truth that being the supreme Reality (Brahman) it may be supposed that all phenomena will take on a merely symbolic appearance; and for this reason, it may be assumed, the utterances and writings of renowned yogis are devoid of clear boundaries between the `actual` and the `metaphoric` when discussing the phenomenal world.
Hence its often the case that with regard to hatha treatises it is a delicate problem to distinguish between the "concrete" and the "symbolic," tantric Sadhana. Primarily because its goal is precisely the transubstantiation of every "concrete" experience. As this statement suggests, the goal, at least as expressed in hatha- or Tantric yoga, is to sanctify the body and to ritualise every action it performs.
A second reason for the extensive use of symbolic description in yoga texts is its worth. Since the aim of yoga is to go beyond the understanding of reality, the human faculties of reason and language are viewed by the authors or compilers of yoga material primarily in terms of their instrumental value in unlocking the door to Self-realisation.
The rich and in-depth meaning has to be understood by the yogi himself to uncover all the aspects related to the self and the knowledge. When only rationalized and easily understandable meaning is given, many underlying possible meanings may be ignored, for it is through symbol and metaphor that multidimensional meanings can be revealed, some of which may bypass the censoring mechanism of the rational mind.
Third is the fact that much of the subject matter of yoga texts is of a nature more `subtle` than gross physical matter, and hence purely a physical description is impossible. The constituent aspects of the subtle human anatomy outlined in the yoga treatise the nadis (channels), chakras along with the modes of `force` or `energy` that pervade it the pranas (vital airs) and the Kandalim-sakti (coiled power)are simply not susceptible to ordinary description, and a more innovative use of terminology is required.
The fourth main reason derives from the esoteric nature of much yoga material. That is, many of the doctrines and techniques expounded therein have tended to be regarded as `secret` or `occult`, and hence suitable to be known only by the fully initiated. Injudicious propagation of such ideas opens the door to their corruption and dilution, and allows powerful techniques to be practised by those to whom they may prove harmful due to ill preparedness. In order, then, to keep the uninitiated largely in the dark concerning the intricacies of yoga, the textual material is frequently concise to the point of inscrutability and veiled in opaque terminology. True to its purpose, it is so deeply embedded in an elaborate narratives in the great Indian epics that only an initiate could scrape away the exoteric flesh to reach the bony esoteric core of the story.
After all discerning power is a great responsibility.
The practice of passing on the knowledge only to the deservedly or worthy disciples extends back to the Upanishads and is certainly prevalent within the hatha tradition.
Shiva-Samhita specially cautions that:
"This yoga-shastra, here being taught, is to be kept secret; and must be revealed only to those seekers of enlightenment who are sincere devotees."
Hath yoga Pradipika also states that yogis who wish to attain Siddhi (perfection) should refrain from broadcasting their knowledge of hatha, `for it is potent when concealed and likewise turn impotent when indiscriminately revealed.` Irony being that if we apply this proclamation to the Hath yoga Pradipika itself, it would seem that the credited author/compiler, Svatmarama, by revealing the hatha-vidya, has broken his own code. But the intention here is more than clear. The Hath Yoga Pradipika, and similar treatises, were originally intended only as aids to the instruction of yogi-Shishya by yogi-guru, and not to be made available to the wider, uninitiated population.
Inspite of much of knowledge revelation in texts, the exponents of hatha-yoga are keen to emphasise the importance of going beyond the written or spoken texts by putting its teaching into practice.
`Yoga-Siddhi is not acquired by merely reading the Shastras, practice (Kriya) alone is the cause of perfection.` -Hath Yoga Pradipika.
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