THE STORY OF GARUDASANA | How Eagle Pose Got Its Name

GARUDASANA | Eagle Pose

Here’s another pose that I always looked at and wondered, how on earth does that look like an eagle? If the arms were outstretched, sure–but wrapped up like this? An eagle? And when have you ever seen an eagle cross its legs?

 

Garudasana, Eagle Pose

 

As it turns out, “Garuda” doesn’t translate to eagle from Sanskrit, but instead, is the name of a particular demigod, a partially anthropomorphic sun-bird ridden by the protector god Vishnu as he travels through the universe.

Vishnu riding Garuda

 

So why is that pose named after Garuda?

It all has to do with Garuda’s shape-shifting abilities.

 

The story has it that Garuda’s father, the sage Kashyapa had two wives: one, Garuda’s mother, Vinata, Mother of Birds, and the other, Kadru, Mother of Serpents (called “nagas”). The wives were jealous of one another and often sought to outdo the other. Pleased with his wives, Kashyapa offered them each one wish (to be granted a “boon”). Kadru went first, and she wished for a thousand sons. But Vinata was more clever–she wished for just two sons, but that they would be more powerful than Kadru’s thousand.

 

Kadru’s thousand serpents hatched first, while Vinata’s two eggs remained unbroken. Desperate for her sons to hatch, Vinata broke open the first egg, and her eagle son Aruna was born, but prematurely, and with depleted powers–he was destined to only be as bright as the morning sun, and went on to serve as the charioteer of the sun God, Surya. He made his mother promise not to break open her second egg until it was completely ready, so that his brother would have the chance to be born as resplendent and powerful as a thousand suns.

 

Art by Ketut Madra, an amazing Balinese artist

 

The birth of Vinata’s partially-formed son, along with Kadru’s perfectly formed thousand serpents, made Kadru feel powerful and superior. There was no way Vinata’s one remaining son would hatch as powerful as her serpents. So through trickery, she forced Vinata into slavery, to serve her and her thousand naga sons forever.

 

And then Garuda was born.

 

When Garuda burst forth from his shell, he shone as bright as a thousand noon-time suns–so bright and powerful, that the gods believed him to be the god of fire, and thought he would surely bring about the destruction of the universe. He was so bright that the gods had to shield their eyes and beg him to reduce himself in size, lest he blind the whole world. Immediately, his powers were so great, that he could shrink himself to the size of a small eagle, so that others could live in his presence, unafraid.

 

Garuda

 

When he saw that his mother had been enslaved by the nagas, Garuda sought a solution. What was it that the nagas most desperately wanted, and could he trade it for his mother’s freedom?

 

Kadru admitted that the nagas were seeking amrta, the nectar of immortal life, which was kept guarded by the most powerful gods, its care entrusted to the god Indra. If Garuda could steal the amrita from the gods, the nagas would free his mother. Though it seemed an impossible task, Garuda vowed to bring the amrita to the serpents.

 

 

This is where we see Garuda’s great powers. To guard the amrita, the gods had set up a sort of obstacle course, and to get through it, Garuda had to shape-shift.

 

First, there was a wall of fire that reached to the sky. Garuda made himself huge, so that he could suck as much water from the ocean as possible, and spit it out onto the fire. He passed the first obstacle.

 

Next, there was a spinning wheel, filled with knives and spikes, impossible to pass through. So Garuda shrunk himself in size, to the size of a tiny bird, wrapped his wings around himself and dove through the very eye of the torture wheel. He passed the second obstacle.

 

Lastly, there were two poisonous serpents guarding the amrita, so deadly, that a single look into their eyes would ensure one’s demise. So Garuda made himself huge again, and he flapped his wings, kicking up dust and blowing it into their eyes. He passed by them with ease, and stole the amrita.

 

A victorious Garuda. Art by C.M Vitankar

 

On his journey home, carrying the pot of amrita, Garuda was visited by a number of gods. First, Vishnu came to him to tell him how impressed he was with what he had done. Vishnu asked Garuda to become his mount (called a vahana), to carry him through the cosmos, and Garuda agreed.

 

A famous giant statue of Garuda carrying Vishnu, near where I live in Bali

 

Then, Indra came to him.

 

Indra begged Garuda not to give the amrita to the nagas, as it would only make them more powerful, cruel, and immortal. Garuda told Indra that he had to deliver the amrita in order to free his mother. But perhaps he could prevent them from actually drinking it. Together, they devised a plan.

 

When Garuda arrived with the amrita, the nagas were desperate to drink it. But Garuda reminded them that, before drinking such a sacred nectar, they must perform a ceremonial cleansing ritual, to ensure their purity before the drink. He set the pot down in front of them, officially delivering it and freeing his mother, and convinced the snakes to take their ritual bath. As soon as the serpents’ backs were turned, Indra swept in and stole back the amrita. In their rage and desperation to drink the nectar, the nagas licked at the ground, hoping to catch a single drop, but the remnants of the amrita did nothing but burn their tongues in half, causing all future serpents to have forked tongues.

 

So this pose.

Garudasana arms

 

It doesn’t look like an eagle.

 

But if we start in tadasana, spread out, big, and we then compress ourselves in, wrapping limb over limb, we embody the shape-shifting ability of Garuda–the ability to make ourselves small, then to burst back out into tadasana again, making ourselves large.

 

The story and the pose represent a metaphor for a concept that is central in yogic philosophy–that we are simultaneously human and vast divine beings, atman and brahman, mortal and eternal. We are big (tadasana), divine eternal souls, having a small (garudasana) temporary experience.

 

Just as Garuda burst forth from his shell, as bright as a thousand suns, so too is our eternal nature. And just as the gods had to beg him to reduce himself in size, so too are we in these temporary human bodies. But the power remains within us, if we simply remember our true nature.

 

Going from big to small

When I teach garudasana, I like to start from a wide stance, as if about to go into goddess pose, with the arms out wide and the legs outspread–to allow us to feel big, to take up space, to be resplendent and unabashed like a thousand suns. Then, shifting onto one foot, to wrap ourselves up into eagle pose, Garuda shrinking to survive amongst the mortals–only then, can we explode back out into our bigness, releasing the pose, to feel again our vast nature.

 

Give it a try sometime and see how the pose feels different after knowing the story 🙂

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This story mostly comes from the Mahabharata, with details in the Garuda Purana. If you want to learn more, and how to weave these stories into your own yoga classes, join us for The Gods of Yoga YTT immersion in Bali.