PARIGHĀSANA (puh-ree-GHA-suh-nuh)
The pose we know today as parighāsana is actually the third in the yoga tradition to bear that name. The oldest version, which goes back at least 225 years, looks a lot like what today we call ardha navāsana (Half Boat) except in this pose the legs aren’t raised up off the floor. The second one, which I’m unable to date, looks a lot like paripurna navāsana (Full Boat) except here the forearms are crossed behind the head.
Our version of the pose is found in Light on Yoga, which was first published in 1966. Mr. Iyengar translates parigha as “gate latch,” which approximates the word’s primary definition, “an iron bar or beam used for locking or shutting a gate.” (For more on the definition of parigha, see the postscript at the end of the breakdown). The shape of the pose does look quite a bit like a bar fixed diagonally across a gate (as does the second one above, with its diagonally lifted torso and legs). It’s one of the few poses among the 198 in LoY that’s a true side bend, in which one side of the torso is stretched to the max, while the other side is deeply compressed.
TO BEGIN. Kneel down with your right side to a wall, about a leg’s length away, or lacking a wall, with a block a leg’s length off to your right side positioned at its lowest height (on one of its faces). If you’re using a block, be sure it’s set on the sticky mat so it doesn’t slide away from you when you press your foot against it. Stretch your right leg out to the side, press your heel to the floor and the ball of your foot to whatever support you’re using, so your toes point up to the ceiling. Position your left knee directly below the hip so your thigh is perpendicular to the floor. Pad the knee it with a blanket if needed. As always, be sure NOT to push the kneeling-side hip back; that is to say, with your right side to the wall, turn your torso a bit to the right so the left hip is slightly closer to the edge of the mat than the right. Rotate your right thigh so the kneecap is looking straight up to the ceiling. If you tend to hyper-extend your knees, put a block under the straight leg calf. You might also have a second block handy to support the underside hand.
THE PRACTICE. With an exhale, ROUND your torso to the right. If you’re used to lengthening your torso evenly side-to-side, as in Triangle, this may feel a bit odd. You’ll get accustomed to it soon enough and hopefully come to enjoy that satisfying stretch along the side torso. We tend to stretch the front and back of the torso, but rarely focus on the sides. Reach your right hand to the floor, or rest it on a block if the floor’s too far away. Brace your arm against the inner right leg and use the pressure to turn the UPPER torso to the left. When you feel ready, swing your left arm over the left side of your head. If you’re at a wall, press your fingertips against it. To go farther, walk your hand up the wall and slightly behind your head. Then push the wall forward, firm your left shoulder blade against your back and do a little back over the shoulder blades.
If you’re not at a wall, do your best to reach the top arm away from the torso. Be aware that this reach won’t be as effective as it would be pressing a wall. In either case, inhale into the left side to create more length, exhale from the right side to help it deepen. It’s best to hold your head in a neutral position. Stay from 30 seconds to a minute, then come up gracefully with an inhale. Turn around and repeat on the left side for the same length of time.
VARIATION. If you like, after rising from each side, you can turn the toes of the kneeling leg’s foot under to slightly raise the heel, then with an inhale, lean back for the heel with the same side hand. If the heel is too far away then use a block beside your foot at its tallest height to support your hand. You can then raise the off hand and stretch along the side that was just compressed. Stay for 15 to 20 seconds. Come up with an inhale, leading with the sternum, letting the head trail.
To go even farther, twist your torso toward the straight leg and lean back for the heel with the opposite side hand, again raising the off side hand. This will add a slight twist to the back bend. Again remain 15 to 20 seconds. To come out of this position, be sure to de-rotate the torso first before lifting up with an inhale.
You may note that in LoY Mr. Iyengar demonstrates the final pose with his hands, palms touching, resting on the top of the straight leg’s foot. I don’t believe it’s necessary to go to this extreme to achieve a useful stretch.
POSTSCRIPT. I’m pretty sure most languages have their quirks–certainly English does–and Sanskrit is no exception. The word parigha, which names the pose of this month, is a case in point. In BKS Iyengar’s Light on Yoga it’s translated as “gate latch,” which isn’t far off from the first entry in its definition, “an iron bar or beam used for locking or shutting a gate.” Nothing strange about that, but wait, we’re just getting started. The next entry is a little more general, “a bar, obstacle, hindrance,” which is exactly what an iron bar used as a gate latch is supposed to do. Then without warning our innocuous seeming gate latch/iron bar assumes a considerably more lethal function as “an iron bludgeon or club studded with iron.” It appears that the “gate latch” which is in place to keep people out can also be turned against trespassers on the property protected by that gate. The next entry is quite ingenious, it applies the idea of an obstacle or hindrance to a child presenting “a peculiar cross position in birth.” Apparently the poor baby is its own “gate latch,” blocking its way through the birth canal.
With the next two entries we leave the realm of the comprehensible and wade into murky backwaters of Sanskrit definitions. These often seem as if someone randomly tacked on definitions drawn from other, totally unrelated words just for the fun of making Sanskrit even harder to understand (of course we can’t discount the very real possibility that these definitions make perfect sense, rendered strange only because of some blindness in my kindergarten-level Sanskrit).
The first of the two is “a line of clouds crossing the sun at sunrise or sunset.” My best guess is the “line of clouds” is reminiscent of a bar fitted across the sun, making an always futile attempt to block our star’s rise or set. I invite your comments on this one, and while you’re at it, why on only “sunrise” and “sunset”? Second up is an entry which isn’t so much that it’s strange in itself, but in the context of the preceding definitions, which is: “two birds flying on each side of a traveler (regarded as an omen).” I Googled this set-up and found that, generally speaking, it’s a good omen, suggesting things like spiritual awakening, some hard-earned reward coming our way, or that you might be in love (though in my experience this might be either a good thing or bad). But this answer wasn’t specific to India, so the jury’s still out.
Bringing up the rear are some random entries. One makes perfect sense, “killing, striking, a blow,” just what we might expect from someone swinging an iron bar. But then we find our iron bar magically transformed into a “pitcher or water-jar,” most likely a fairly heavy one. Finally we’re told parigha is the name “of one of the attendants of Skanda,” the Hindu god of war, no doubt armed with an “iron bludgeon,” who is, nevertheless, in the end “a virtuous man.” Aham Brahman asmi.