Yoga Pose Mythology: Carried by Water, Carried by Love
- Tuesday Irby
- 10 hours ago
- 3 min read
Have you read the previous post on boat pose as a steady seat in unsteady waters?
Well, boats are not only utilitarian vessels that carry us across the water from one place to another; they can also become spaces of love, passion, and romance.
The love boat Soon will be making another run The love boat Promises something for everyone Set a course for adventure Your mind on a new romance And love won’t hurt anymore It’s an open smile on a friendly shore The love Welcome aboard with love
~Love Boat theme song by Jack Jones, 1979
Imagine a beautiful summer night. The sounds of evening surround you as you and your sweetheart drift lazily across a lotus-covered pond in a rowboat.
Can you picture this romantic scene in your mind’s eye?
Can you hear the crickets chirping and the night birds singing sweetly?
Feel the gentle breeze carrying the soft scent of lotus flowers that surround your boat.
Remember the taste of your lover’s kiss.
Austerity, renunciation, and deep meditation in seclusion lay out one path of yoga on the journey to enlightenment. I have pondered, many times, what it might be like to let go of everything—to retreat to a mountaintop and sit in stillness for eternity, at peace. Perhaps you have, too.
However, that is not the path for me, and I would venture to say it is likely not the path for you either. We live in a very modern society and time in history, so we follow the path of the householder.
The householder carries responsibilities both within and beyond the home that do not allow for meditation through eternity. We have work, hobbies, family, friends, and lovers who require our time and attention.
Kṛṣṇa, the eighth avatar of Viṣṇu (the god of preservation), is known as the embodiment of compassion, protection, and tenderness—the Lord of Love, and a devoted husband. Kṛṣṇa had many wives, most of whom he married out of a sense of duty.
There was Princess of Vidarbha, Rukmiṇī, whom he married to save her from a forced and loveless union.
Satyabhāmā was given to him in gratitude after he identified her uncle’s killer and restored her family’s most precious jewel.
We cannot forget the tens of thousands of women who came to him seeking sanctuary after he defeated Naraka, the demon-king who had held them captive in his harem.
Yet none of these wives held Kṛṣṇa’s gaze and heart in the way that the lovely milkmaid Rādhā did. All of his wives could see it, and so could anyone who witnessed them together. Theirs was a rare and eternal love.
Kṛṣṇa is a devoted and dutiful husband and father. He ensured that his thousands of wives and children received the time, attention, and affection they needed by manifesting himself in many forms.
Yet he reserved his true divine Self for his beloved Rādhā.
It is said that on moonlit nights, he would take Rādhā on romantic boat rides beneath the stars—moments that were shared only with her. In modern times, in Kṛṣṇa temples, depictions of Kṛṣṇa and his consorts are taken on moonlit boat rides, simply for the pleasure of this dutiful and romantic deity.
Like the moonlit journeys of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā, boats can remind us that even within the fullness of our responsibilities, there is room for connection, tenderness, and devotion. Perhaps this, too, is part of the path of the householder—not only to meet the demands of daily life, but to make space for love, to be present for it, and to be carried by it.
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You can also find Tuesday in weekly classes on Tuesdays at 7 PM ET and on the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 PM ET. Her Sunday Sanctuary class is free on the first Sunday of each month.
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