The Sanskrit Name for “Cow-Face Pose” – The Story behind the Pose Name

Many yoga poses are named directly after deities in the Hindu pantheon, or are named for the shapes that the gods took in the epic Hindu stories. Our online course, Gods of Yoga, teaches you how to weave these stories into your yoga classes. Here’s the story of the Sanskrit name for “cow-face” pose: Gomukasana

 

Cow-Face Pose, or Gomukasana, is named after a story of Krishna – “Go” means “cow” in Sanskrit (“Muka,” of course, means face–as in downward facing dog, adho muka svanasana), and Krishna is often referred to as Govinda (cow herder) or Gopala (protector of the cows.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

When Krishna was growing up as a cow-herder in Vrindavan, his life was full of joy and music. He always acted so calm and cheerful, that the God Brahma started to wonder if perhaps Krishna had forgotten that he wasn’t a mere human. So Brahma one day decided to test him, to see if he remembered that he really was God, and to see if he was always able to keep his peaceful demeanor.

As a challenge, Brahma stole all of Krishna’s cows from his field, and hid them, along with all the other cowherders, in a cave.⠀⠀⠀⠀

 

When Brahma returned to the field to see Krishna’s reaction, he expected to see Krishna in a rage. Instead, Krishna was happily herding his cows—all of his cows, and all of the other cow-herders, were still there!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Confused, Brahma checked the cave—but the cows were there too, exactly where he’d hidden them. How could they be both places at once?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Legend has it that Krishna duplicated himself, and took the form of both the cows and the herders, so that when Brahma stole them, he actually just stole copies of Krishna, and the real cows remained at peace.

Gomukhasana, or cow-face pose, is named after this story. In cow-face pose, though the legs are in a twist, the upper body remains calm and open—the cow face is like Krishna’s poker face. This pose teaches us to remain light and joyful, even when the world seems twisted and chaotic.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

 

If you love hearing the mythology of the asana, join me November 11-16th in Bali for The Gods of Yoga teacher training course (50hrs of continuing education for yoga teachers), co-hosted by a Balinese priestess, to learn all these stories through ceremony and hands-on experience on the Island of the Gods.