Big Dipper and Postures of Yoga
By Arvind Bhagwath
Introduction:
Yoga is essentially a path to liberation from all bondage and as per medical research of recent years it has uncovered many physical and mental benefits that Yoga offers, corroborating the experiences of millions of practitioners. Yoga is beneficial for physical fitness, musculoskeletal functioning and cardio-vascular health and it basically helps to reduce depression, fatigue, anxiety disorders and stress.
However, from childhood days, I was always curious on origin of postures or positions practiced during any Yoga and as I learnt about Vedic astronomy in recent years, this curiosity led me to locate the positions of Big Dipper constellation and I felt that the position or postures of these constellations is related to postures followed in Yoga.
Just for curiosity, if you look at night sky towards the north near Pole Star, you will locate this Big Dipper constellation. Big Dipper is circumpolar constellations which complete one circle every 24 hours and these circumpolar stars (Big Dipper) never rise or set unlike other constellations. Early cultures have observed patterns of stars in the night sky to support in development of several mythologies and I would be interested to cover more on Big Dipper constellation in this paper and its influence in postures of Yoga.
As per Hindu scriptures, Big Dipper is known as constellation of the seven sages (Saptarishis). Pole star is represented as Dhruva Nakshatra and as home of Main Lord(Yagya Purusha) and these Big Dipper constellation which represent seven sages making offerings to the Yagya Purusha as Pradakshinam to ensure to ensure good (su) happens (asti) in all seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. The word swastika comes from Sanskrit meaning ‘conducive to well-being’ or ‘auspicious’. In Hinduism, the symbol with arms pointing clockwise (卐) is called swastika. If you try to locate the ancient Ramayana verse on ‘Dhruvam sarve Pradakshinam’ it refers Polaris as the pole star and these seven sages offer Pradakshinam.
The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit root swasti, which is composed of –
· Su (सु) — good, well, auspicious
· Asti (अस्ति) — to be or there is
In ancient Indian astronomy, the constellation of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) is called saptarishi, with the seven stars representing seven rishis, namely “Vashistha”, “Marichi”, “Pulastya”, “Pulaha”, “Atri”, “Angiras” and “Kratu”.
NOTE: Due to Earth’s precession cycle, location of Pole star (Dhruva) appears to have changed from earlier Puranic reference from tail of Shishumara (Draco) to tail of Ursa Minor (Current Polaris). In Ramayana we have verse on ‘Dhruvam sarve Pradakshinam’ it might be referring Thuban as Pole star based on 14 stars of Draco mentioned instead of Ursa Minor.
Ancient Vishnu Sahasranamam and commentary from Adi Shankara is very interesting which refers Dhruva(Pole star) at Shishumara’s tail end. This was possible only when Pole star was Thuban( 2800–2400 BCE). Below is night sky of 2800 BCE visualized using Stellarium. Stellarium is a planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars.
Reference link for SB 5.23.3: purport: https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/5/23/3/
Circumambulation is the act of moving around a sacred object or idol. Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice (known in Sanskrit as Pradakshinam). It is also present in other religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Reference : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumambulation
Origins of Mandala art comes from Axis Mundi/Mandala concept of circumpolar stars.
Refer this link for locating Saptarishis(7 Sages) using Stellarium : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q19gZiVKy9w
If you observe the night sky around Pole star from Arctic region or Northern Hemisphere night sky, it appears that all visible planets that includes Sun and Moon, Saptarishi (Big Dipper) offers circumambulation to Pole star.
Most of ancient scriptures describe Mount Meru/Lingam as the Central Pivot of the Universe and the entire cosmos revolves around it. Almost every religion has the same philosophical concept and the ideas looks exactly identical. Below image shows very close similarities like milk offering rituals to Axis mundi/mandala stone structure in ancient Greek and current Hindu religion.
Reference : Axis mundi — Wikipedia
Unlike Hindu cosmology, even Jain and Buddhist scriptures mention the Mount Meru model as shown above, but Dhruvaloka is particularly not mentioned. In Norse mythology, they talk about a World Tree that connects Heaven, Earth and Hell just like Meru. For Egyptians, Meru was something like Pyramid that supported God re-birth Myth as the Egyptians believed that the unmovable area the stars circled was heaven, the pyramids were built to align north with a single, perfectly aligned vent.
Greeks referred the location of union from earth to Heaven(circumpolar constellation) with structure of omphalos, “the navel” of the earth and they localized Omphalos(Stone of Delphi) as the central point from which terrestrial life originated in ancient Greek temples of Delphi and for Hinduism, it is referred as Linga(Union between Purusha and Prakrati).
The concept of mandala has supported in development of Human calendar and architecture concept for construction of almost all ancient religious structures.
Just as an example, Surya Namaskar is included in the regular routine of prayer and worship. Surya Namaskar means prayer of Lord Surya. Surya Namaskar is an ancient system of Indian exercise. Stand facing the east at dawn and peacefully chant the mantras to pray Lord Surya. There are twelve postures involved in Surya Namaskar and with all these twelve positions, every part of the body gets ample exercise and the positions followed in Surya Namaskar is almost exactly like Big Dipper Alignment as shown below. It appears that Ancient Vedic Sages might have precisely practiced the Big Dipper movement in form of Yoga.
As per Vedic mythology, Aditi (Daughter of King Daksha) with sage Kashyapa (Son of Marichi) had 33 sons who are referred as Devas. Twelve are called Aditya including Surya that form 12 months of Hindu calendar, eleven are called Rudras and eight are called Vasus. Aditi (Sanskrit: अदिति “limitless”) is mother of the gods (devamata) and all twelve zodiacal spirits from whose cosmic matrix, the heavenly bodies were born. She may be a feminized form of Brahma and associated with the primal substance (mulaprakriti) in Vedanta. She is mentioned nearly 80 times in the Rigveda.
Hence the 12 Adityas or Devas (Sun Gods) are the energies of the Sun placed in various zodiac signs that forms 12 months of a year and Sun Salutation is offered to these Sun Gods.
Sri Vidyashankara temple of Sringeri, India is one such beautiful example on Mandala concept with perfect cosmic plan like any other ancient Hindu temples or Pyramids of Egypt. This temple was built in the year 1338 A.D. As shown in picture below, in the eastern half of the structure is a mandala with twelve pillars (popularly known as rashi stambhas), marked by the twelve signs of the zodiac. The rays of the sun fall on each of them in the order of the twelve solar months. On the floor is a large circle, marked with converging lines to indicate the direction of the shadows. Primary deities are placed in garbhagriha that rises with shikhara, Maha padma and Kalasha is placed in Top with alignment of Axis Mundi.
We can find several such Yogic postures in relics of Ancient Egypt and below are few such examples that explains the mythology of Ancient Egypt that are associated with Sun God(RA).
28 Nakshatras and 28 Celestial Deities
When coming to lunar mansion, in classical Hindu astrology, the 28 Nakshatras are the signs of a lunar-based zodiac, in compliment to the twelve-sign solar-based zodiac. The Moon travels approximately 27.3 days to complete its orbit around the Earth relative to the “fixed” stars (the Moon’s sidereal period, hence the 28 Nakshatras, also referred to as “Lunar Mansions”.
In other words, 360-degree rotation is divided in to 27 nakshatra signs 13 degree and 20 minutes each. Padas are 3° 20' extensions of each Nakshatra, which articulate and augment the expression of each Nakshatras overall quality. 28th Nakshatra is Abhijit Nakshatra is an auspicious time in the Hindu Calendar.
Formation of each Nakshatra is important and as an simple example, I would cover Orion as Cosmic Dancer and this formation of Orion happens during Winter Solstice (Dec-Jan), Arudra Darshan is celebrated and Shiva is represented as Nataraja as shown below which might be basis on origin of ancient dance steps of Bharatanatya.
Ardra is the name of a nakshatra in Hindu astrology, the sixth depending on numbering scheme used. The Sanskrit name Ārdrā translates to “green” or “the moist one”. It is associated with the star Betelgeuse (α Ori). The presiding deity is Rudra, its symbol is a teardrop, and the ruling planet is Rahu. In Tamil and Malayalam, Ardra is referred to as Tiruvātirai and Tiruvātira respectively.
Thiruvathira or Thiruvathirai or Arudhra Darisanam is a Hindu festival celebrated in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Thillai Chidambaram 10 day Festival is held during Thiruvathirai. On the 9th day night Maha Abhishekam will be done to Lord Nataraja. It takes place on the full moon night in the Tamil month of Margazhi (December–January) and this is also the longest night in a year. If you observe the moon and its Nakshatras crossing one by one, we understand the significant days of these festival and uncover new layers of meaning. It starts with Rohini‑Hyades on the 8th day, and of Mriga‑shiras‑Labda Orionis on the 9th day and finally during the night after the 9th day we see the full moon in Arudra-Betelgeuse.
Arudra or cosmic dance of Nataraja represents five activities — Creation, Protection, Destruction, Embodiment and Release. It is essentially a Shaivite festival and celebrates the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva, which is represented by the Nataraja form. Arudhra (Thiruvathirai in Tamil) signifies the golden red flame and Shiva performs the dance in the form this red-flamed light. Lord Shiva is supposed to be incarnated in the form of Lord Nataraja during the Arudra Darshan day.
Similarly, take reference on Hasta Nakshatra which is the 13th Nakshatra as per Hindu astrology. The Hasta Nakshatra ranges from degrees 10–23:20 and falls in the Virgo sign and in Abhinaya Darpa (a descriptive primer for dancers) mentions that the dancer should sing the song by the throat, express the meaning of the song through hand gestures, show the state of feelings in the song by eyes, and express the rhythm with his or her feet. Hence as ‘hasta’ form a distinct coded language which brings a unique poetic element while performing classical Indian dances that basically tries explaining the ancient Indian mythology in form of dance.
Similarly, we have Mrigashirsha (Head of a deer) hasta expression in dance that exactly corresponds or appears like 5th nakshatra of lunar mansion in Hindu astronomy. The term Mṛgaśira (मृगशिर) a composite of two Sanskrit words, mṛga (मृग) meaning animal/beast and śira (शिर) meaning head
Conclusion: Based on these observations of star constellations, it appears that ancient Vedic Sages might have precisely practiced the movement of key constellations in form of Yoga and same goes with origin of ancient dance postures that could have originated based on postures of several of these 28 constellations which has been primarily used as ancient art of explaining cosmic mythology to people from ancient times.
Additional Reference: https://ancientstarmyths.blogspot.com/
