Alexander the Great, Ganesha’s strength and Gordian knot

Untying the Gordian knot is a mysterious expression if you don’t know its origin.
It is used in the case of facing an extremely complicated problem, which, apparently, has no solution.
But only apparently, we need to look at the problem from several points of view in order to understand its solution.

It is a legend that makes us think of the ability, specific to Ganesha (which can be developed through the secret methods of Abheda Yoga), to overcome all obstacles, showing sometimes impetuosity, sometimes ingenuity but always showing an invincible perseverance and an ability to intuit the right practical solutions for unblocking.

The origins of the term take us to the period of Alexander the Great, pupil of Aristotle and husband of Roxana, a great conqueror who, although young (apparently) proved such skills that amazed and conquered people from two continents.

As the story goes, before our era, the Macedonian conqueror was heading with his army to the Phrygian capital, Gordium (in today’s Turkey).
In the city, they encountered an old chariot whose yoke was tied to what a Roman historian later described as
“Several knots all so closely connected with each other that it was impossible to see how they were fixed.”

Phrygian tradition says that that cart once belonged to Gordius, the father of the famous King Midas – the king cursed by the gods so that anything he touches turns into gold. To an oracle, the man who could untie gordius’s knots would have been destined to become ruler of all Asia.

According to the ancient chronicler Arrian, the impetuous Alexander was immediately “seized with a burning desire” to untie the Gordian knot.
After working to untie him, however, without success, he turned away from the gnarled ropes and proclaimed: “It does not matter how these ropes will be untied.” After these words, he removed the sword from its sheath and halved the knot in one blow.

In another version, Alexander Macedon would have simply removed the central axis that passed through the yoke, loosening the knot enough for it to be able to untie it. Whatever method he used, the young king was immediately hailed as the one who cleverly fooled the ancient challenge.

That same night, Gordium was disturbed by a lightning storm, which Alexander and his men understood as a sign that the gods were rejoicing. The prophecy of the Gordian knot may have been true, for Alexander the Great went on to conquer Egypt and large parts of Asia before his death at the age of 32.

One of the first mentions of this phrase was observed in the work of Shakespeare, who wrote of Henry V that he was appreciated for his ability to “undo” the Gordian knot of politics.

Also, the phrase “cutting the Gordian knot” is now used to describe an unusual creative solution or ingeniously solving a seemingly insurmountable problem.