Last week I shared stories related to Shiva, the destroyer deity in the Hindu trinity. This week and next, I’ll share stories of the god Vishnu, who is the “protector” or “preserver” god.

Vishnu often feels very close to us, because he comes to earth in the form of various avatars to help humanity get back on track when we’re in danger of falling out of alignment with dharma. If you’ve ever felt the presence of the gods Rama or Krishna, they’re both Vishnu in interactive form–I’ll write about them over the next few days.

But for today, to introduce Vishnu, here’s a somewhat unusual pose with a great story behind it. Not “Jane Fondasana,” but rather, Anantasana, the pose of the snake Ananta, or what’s colloquially called “Reclining Vishnu Pose.”

Anantasana or “Reclining Vishnu Pose”

Vishnu in the cosmos is depicted in this way: lying in rest on his thousand-headed snake, Ananta Sesha (or Adishesha), with his beloved wife, the goddess Lakshmi, at his feet. We’ll focus today on Ananta.

Vishnu lying on Ananta Shesha

Many of you are hopefully familiar with a pivotal text in yoga called the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, 196 aphorisms that describe the 8-limbed path of yoga. I’d be happy to make a post about these sutras in the future if you’re interested, but for now, just know that the philosophy of yoga is far greater than the poses we practice in modern studios. “Asana” is just one of those eight limbs (the others involve things like spiritual restraints and practices, energy work, and how to meditate for union with the divine.) And not only that, but when the sage Patanjali authored the Yoga Sutra ca. 400 AD, he wrote very little about how asana should look or be. The word “asana” itself in Sanskrit simply means “to take one’s seat,” so when asana was included as one of the eight limbs of yoga, it likely just referred to the act of sitting for meditation. It wasn’t until a few centuries later, in the tantra era, that specific yoga poses were described in detail by the tantric yogis, in texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and Gheranda Samitha.

In fact, the ONLY thing that the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali say about asana is this: sthira sukham asanam (2.46), “be seated in a way that is stable and comfortable.” (For those of you following along with the Sanskrit: sukhasana is that same root word as sukham, aka “comfortable seated position.”)

A variation of sukhasana, comfortable seated pose

Ananta Shesha (the many-headed snake) is seen to be the physical embodiment of this sutra. In order to provide the perfect resting place for Lord Vishnu, Ananta must be both stable (sthira) and comfortable (sukha). In the same way, our yoga poses are meant to be sthira and sukha as well–to balance ease and effort. This sutra is often used as a marker for PROGRESS in modern asana: if you’re in side plank pose and your arm is shaking like crazy under the weight of your body, you haven’t yet achieved sthira and sukha, and should work on that pose until it’s stable and comfortable before moving on to a harder variation.

A stable, comfortable seat

Alright, so with that background in mind, here’s story time:

One day, Lord Vishnu was lying in rest on his snake Ananta Shesha, who was both stable and comfortable, while watching the god Shiva perform his dance of bliss. Vishnu was so affected by the power of Shiva’s dance that his body began to vibrate and grow heavier and heavier and larger and larger, and Ananta struggled to keep him afloat. When the dance had ended and Vishnu became light again, Ananta was amazed, and begged Vishnu to explain what had made him undergo such extreme changes. Vishnu explained that it was the power of yoga within the dance, and Ananta begged him to learn more. So Vishnu and Shiva decided to make Patanjali a great sage of yoga.

“Pata” means “falling” in Sanskrit, and “Anjali” is the mudra of prayer hands–the two words make up the name Patanjali. The story continues that an elderly yogini down on earth named Gonika had prayed her whole life for the gods to give her a child with whom she could share her knowledge of yoga. Childless in her old age, she continued to pray, kneeling down with her hands in prayer (anjali mudra), until one day, a tiny snake fell from the heavens and into her arms. As she looked down, it transformed into a half-human, half-snake, and she named him “Patanjali.” This was Ananta Shesha in avataric form, sent by Vishnu and Shiva to share the lessons of yoga with the world and help preserve dharma. She raised him as her child and taught him all she knew, and he went on to pen the Yoga Sutras.

A gorgeous depiction of Gonika and Patanjali by the artist @Saragrahi_art on IG

If you’ve ever chanted the Invocation to Patanjali, (“yogena chittasya….” etc.) the whole second verse (“abahu purushakaram…”)  describes the sage as being part snake, and statues of Patanjali frequently depict him as such.

A statue of Patanjali

So, anantasana or reclining Vishnu pose looks like Lord Vishnu in repose, with the foot that’s rising overhead representing the thousands of heads of Ananta. It’s an oddly difficult pose to balance in, giving us an opportunity to practice sthira sukham asanam like Ananta Shesha.

Anantasana

The pose can represent an openness and desire to learn the deeper philosophy of yoga, in the way Ananta did when he begged Vishnu for the chance to learn. It also evokes the sense of balance required of us in both yoga and the rest of our lives, to balance ease and effort, comfort and challenge, rest and work.

I know it’s not super commonly taught in flow classes, so if you haven’t tried it, give it a go! And see if you can find sthira sukham asanam (comfort and stability) within the pose.

<3

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If you want to learn more, there’s a Gods of Yoga spiritual immersion and continuing education course coming up in Bali! I’d love to have you there xo Megan