Swami Ramswarup Ji Yogacharya
Yog is Samadhi/Realization of God and not asan, prannayaam etc. Yajurved mantra 26/3 preaches-
Oh! God (Upyaamgreeheetaha Asi) You are realized/ known by practising Yam, Niyam, Asan, Prannayaam, Pratyahaar, Dharnna, Dhyan and Samadhi i.e., eight parts of Yog Philosophy. So, the main aim of practising the said philosophy is to reach at its eighth stage i.e., Yog/Samadhi and not merely doing asan etc. Here the dealing of five senses i.e., hearing, seeing, smelling, touching, tasting is stopped. (Yog Shastra Sutra 1/2 refers) where there remains no scope to laugh, crack jokes, spend fun, dance on music, lie on or inside water etc., having no concern with Yog.
Eight parts of Ashtang Yog are:-
Five Yam are:- Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Asteya (abstaining from theft), Brahmacharya (celibacy), Aparigrah (non-acceptance of unnecessary materialistic articles).
Five Niyam are:- Shauch(purity), Santosh (contentment), Tapah (religious austerity), Swadhyaye (to do name jaap of God and study of Vedas and Shastras), Ishwar Prannidhan (to dedicate all the deeds to the God).
Ashtang Yog begins from Yam and Niyam, because Yajurved 11/1 states that the devotee should first purify his mind and intellect by the practice of Yam and Niyam, then only the practice of asan etc., starts. Yajurved 40/8 also emphasis that God is the purest. So, to realise Him, a pure mind and intellect are required. But at present this eternal, Vedic fundamental is being oversighted.
Asan:- Trying to keep the body still, devotee must sit on asan regularly for a long time till attains divine pleasure.
Prannayaam:- Sitting on asan, when movement of inhaling and exhaling stops.
Pratyahaar:- When devotee’s mind becomes stable and senses stop making relation with their respective subjects.
Dharnna:- To focus chitta/mind at any part of the body.
Dhyan:- Continuous focus on a particular part of a body.
Samadhi:- When the devotee realises only his motto i.e., God and forgets himself and his body.
Difference between Dhyan and Samadhi-
Dhyan means when a devotee knows himself and continuously is focusing on naval etc., and thinks about God only. At this stage, he knows himself and God only but reaching at the stage of Samadhi, he even forgets himself and his human-body.
Being a tradition, Patanjali Rishi also after studying Vedas and practising Ashtang Yog regularly attained Samadhi and thereafter only had command on Yog Philosophy and thus wrote Yog Shastra. This clarifies that Patanjali Rishi has not donated Yog Philosophy to the world, as is being popularized but the donor of the said education is only Almighty God. Actually, the self-proclaimed Yog gurus are mostly not following the above Vedic tradition. So, they are deviating the people from studying and understanding the eternal Vedas’ knowledge whereas in ancient times, the people made their future bright by following it. Self-made Yog paths are always harmful to public. So, it is necessary to emphasis over the main aim of Yog Philosophy and not attract the public to do mere asan, prannayaam etc., to improve health.
Thus keeping aside the asan, prannayaam etc., if the people are even taught only about Yam, Niyam (which have innumerable divine qualities and are the starting point of Yog Philosophy) and are made to get perfection in it, the character of our political leaders and citizens will become exemplary which would make the nation strong, where there will be no addiction, rape cases, injustice, corruption, theft, murder, violence, ravages of hatred, casteism, poverty etc. So, the Vedas stress upon the need to maintain Brahmacharya which is a part of Yam, in the absence of which senses remain uncontrolled and fear of spreading sensuality and other vices may occur.
Yog Shastra sutra 1/14 states long practice of asan and prannayaam, that too with faith and respect, automatically gives relief from diseases etc., to attain the main motto of Yog Philosophy i.e., realisation of God otherwise Vedas preach that daily performance of agnihotra especially Yajyen destroys pollution and diseases, gives peaceful long life and wealth etc., for which in Samved mantra 362 also, God inspires us to perform Yajyen daily, saying – “Archat Prarchat”.
Yajurved mantra 7/4 describes the divine assets of Yog which a Yogi attains in Samadhi. The following assets are neither being popularized nor being seen in any of the so-called Yogis.
For example- Can anybody reduce his form into molecule etc., which is the first asset of Yog named Annima?
The divine assets are- Annima, Laghima, Mahima, Prapti, Prakaamya, Vashitva, Eesheetatva, Jahaan Kaamavasaayitva Vahaan Satyasankalpataha.
So, it is not surprising that somebody is doing several types of asans, prannayaam or any mudra especially Udyan Band where the stomach is taken inside and made about to touch the back because he has not attained Yog/Samadhi and thus has no control on his five senses, say four Vedas and Patanjal Yog Shastra. So, he is free to do any sin and go against Vedas. But surprising matter will be this where a devotee attains Yog/Samadhi wherein he gets “Rayaha Eshaha” i.e., above said Yog assets and “Somam Pahi” i.e., he protects the stage of his realization of God and divine pleasure. (Yajurved chapters 7 and 11 refer).
Once I did Udyan Band before my Guru Maharaj, photo of which is placed here. My Guru Maharaj saw the scene and within a fraction of time, he shouted with anger and scolded me that such type of mudra is practised alone in a lonely place and is not to be shown before anyone. The spreading of Yog knowledge throughout the world is the most important and beneficial task for the public but must be spread keeping in view the rules and regulations of Vedas. Again, we must know that such eternal knowledge can’t be made professional.
It is but natural that nobody likes to see or praise a deshaped look of his/her children, parents, relatives etc. Then, how do we accept and praise altered/changed form of Vedas and Ashtang Yog? It is because, we very well know the real features of our children, parents etc., but due to lack of Vedas’ knowledge, we donot know the real form of Vedic Ashtang Yog Philosophy and hence the problem.
So, the Government and public must try to stop the tradition of blind faith.
(The author is based at Ved Mandir, Tika Lehsar Yol Bazar, Yol Camp, Kangra)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
