It started with a fish. Or so the story goes.
The hatha yoga that we practice at Ku has a fascinating genesis. Being so old there are numerous variations but there is a basic narrative.
Hatha yoga is generally believed to emanate from the Hindu god Shiva. The Shiva Samhita, one of the fundamental hatha texts written roughly 400-500 years ago, is a compendium of yogic lore, effectively an address by Shiva to his wife Parvati.
This may be how the fish enters the story. Legend has it that one day a man was out fishing on the shores of the Bay of Bengal in north-eastern India. Suddenly he hooked a huge fish which dragged him under the waves and swallowed him whole, the man's good karma luckily keeping him alive and intact in the belly of the fish.
Around the same time, Shiva decided it was time to share the secrets of hatha yoga with Parvati. To avoid being overheard he made a house at the bottom of the sea so they could talk undisturbed. However after the lesson had begun Parvati dozed off un-noticed and while he talked and she slept, the fish containing the fisherman had swum up to the house and the man was furtively listening in.
Every time Shiva asked his wife if she understood what he was saying, the newly-enlightened fisherman replied truthfully "yes I do". Shiva assumed it was Parvati and carried on to the end of his lesson. Finally she awoke and when they realised that a stranger had been eavesdropping Shiva used his yogic vision to see the man inside the fish. He accepted that the man now irreversibly held the secrets of hatha yoga and so ordered him as a new disciple to remain inside the fish for twelve years and practice what he had learnt.
Finally after years of solitary contemplation the fish he had been inhabiting was caught by some fishermen. Thinking that such a heavy catch must contain gold and silver they quickly cut it open and the man jumped out. Given the name Matsyendra or "lord of the fish" he came to be worshipped as a siddha, one who has achieved spiritual realization and possesses supernatural power. He is also now recognised as the human progenitor of hatha yoga.
Every time Shiva asked his wife if she understood what he was saying, the newly-enlightened fisherman replied truthfully "yes I do". Shiva assumed it was Parvati and carried on to the end of his lesson. Finally she awoke and when they realised that a stranger had been eavesdropping Shiva used his yogic vision to see the man inside the fish. He accepted that the man now irreversibly held the secrets of hatha yoga and so ordered him as a new disciple to remain inside the fish for twelve years and practice what he had learnt.
Finally after years of solitary contemplation the fish he had been inhabiting was caught by some fishermen. Thinking that such a heavy catch must contain gold and silver they quickly cut it open and the man jumped out. Given the name Matsyendra or "lord of the fish" he came to be worshipped as a siddha, one who has achieved spiritual realization and possesses supernatural power. He is also now recognised as the human progenitor of hatha yoga.
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