Stories of Sri Krishnamacharya

Below you'll find the first newsletter from Jan. 2000 of (Sri Krishnamacharya's son) Sri T.K. Sribhashyam's 'Yogakshemam: School of Traditional Teaching of Indian philosophy, Ayurveda and Yoga'

Summary :

· Editorial : The birth of Yogakshemam Newsletter -T.K.Sribhashyam

· Yogakshemam - its signification - T.K.Sribhashyam

· Sri T. Krishnamacharya, from Muchchukunte to Thirumala - T.K.Sribhashyam

· About Guruji - Sri B.K.S.Iyengar

· My father’s medicine - T. Alamelu

· My childhood memories – T.K.V.Desikachar

· The daily life of my father-in-law Sri T. Krishnamacharya - Claire Sribhashyam

· My father’s tricks – Srishubha

· A memorable event with my grand parents – Navarâtri festival – Sribhagyam

· Sri T. Krishnamacharya’s daily evening drink.

Editorial: : The birth of Yogakshemam Newsletter

Born in 1982, the Yogakshemam School is represented in many European countries. You who are the students of Yogakshemam, you have many things in common in spite of the diversity, the particularity and the individuality in each of you. Even though you have little chances of meeting together and get to know each other, you cultivate, develop and transmit the same values, thus becoming a united family.

Even if you had learnt many common subjects, yet each group, each seminary and each session offers its own particularity. In no means, they have affected the spirit of unity that you maintain, but sharing your knowledge will only reinforce your unity. Form this is born the idea of a newsletter.

Yogakshemam is very happy to inform you that Yogakshemam Newsletter is published in France, Germany, Italy and in Greece in their respective languages. Yogakshemam Newsletter wishes to be a means of communication between India, your students and your friends. To maintain the spirit of unity, the layout as well as the contents would be as accurate as possible to the French edition.

As a mark of respect, the first number is entirely dedicated to Sri T. Krishnamacharya. We have collected the childhood memories of his family members. There will be some more in the next numbers. We hope that you would lend continuous support to Yogakshemam Newsletter as you have lent to the teaching of Yogakshemam and that you will also give it a very long life.

Yogakshemam – its signification

- Sri T. K. Sribhashyam

It is in 1982 that I had had the idea of opening a Yoga Teachers’ Training school with a stress on Indian philosophy and real devotion which were very dear to my father. All over one evening, I thought over a name that would reflect the objectives of this new school. The next morning, I was woken up by a poem of the Bhagavad Githa in my mind:

Ananyâs chintayantômâm

yé janâs paryupâsathé

téshâm nityâbhi yuktânama

yogakshemam vahâmyaham.

When I informed my father that this poem woke me up, he chose the name Yogakshemam for the school and had the grace to bless it for an expanding and eternal life. That is how, is born in Europe, Yogakshemam.

The word yogakshemam is derived form two words: yoga and kshemam. The word yoga has many meanings: (1) to unite, (2) to mix, (3) to create a relation, (4) meditation, (5) means, trick, (6) success, (7) to dress, enthronement, (8) unexpected earnings, new wealth, (9) will, (10) medicine, (11) physical force, (12) material riches, (13) planetary conjunctions’ influence on humans, (14) planetary interrelation in a native astrological chart, (15) the interactive action between the day of the week, the solar transit and an individual birth star, (16) stopping of the modification of the mental activities, (17) specific force of a combination of words in a sentence, (18) pride, (19) union with God. The word Kshema also has many meanings: (1) protection of what is obtained, (2) pleasure, felicity, sound health, (3) auspicious, well-being, (4) protection, (5) Liberation. It is also the name of one of the sons of Yama, the God of death.

The word yogakshemam signifies attainment of new riches and its protection. It also means having God’s vision and from that obtain the liberation.

This notion of attainment, of protection and of maintaining the felicity applies not only to what this world offers us but also to those of the liberated souls if not the Kingdom of Heaven. We find this notion from the beginning of Veda. But it is more direct in the Thaithiriya Upanishad and in the Bhagavad Githa. In the former, a reference is made to the supreme happiness coming from the knowledge brahman while in the Bhagavad Githa, Lord Krishna declares: Those persons, who think of nothing else and worship Me through meditation – the accession to and the maintenance of the welfare of such ever devout person, I look after.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya, from Muchchukunte to Thirumala

- Sri T. K. Sribhashyam

Muchchukunte is a small village in Andhra Pradesh of South India. This village in Chitradurga district is closer to Karnataka State. The word Muchchukunte comes from two Telugu words: muchchu meaning hidden, and kunta a lake. Muchchukunta is a village with a hidden lake.

Muchchukunte is the native place of Sri Krishnamacharya family. It is around this village that the family had very fertile land and comfortable houses earned by hard labour and from offerings from the kings of neighbouring states to Sri Krishnamacharya’s parents and grand parents. All the forefathers of Sri Krishnamacharya were great devotees of Lord Srinivasa of Thirumala and were so much dedicated to Him that they also became the ‘people of Thirumala’.

The initial T in my father’s name and in the name of all his children, stands for Thirumala, one of the holiest places of India situated in Andhra Pradesh, closer to Tamil Nadu, about 120 kilometres from Chennai. The word Thirumala comes from thiru or Sri and mala or Small Mountain. Thirumala or the holy mountain is the sacred place dedicated to Lord Srinivasa also called Venkateshwara, Lord of Venkata. Venkata is another name of Thirumala. Surprisingly, Thirumala is a Tamil language word and not Telugu which is the language of Andhra Pradesha. Telugu was the most beloved spoken language of Sri T. Krishnamacharya, next only to Sanskrit! Sri T. Krishnamacharya had not even a house of his own in Thirumala. He used to stay in Maths or religious monasteries or hire a room in a hotel. It was his custom to visit Thirumala once a year like millions of Hindus.

While our great master is called in the world of yoga as T. Krishnamacharya, he is known, recognised and respected in all the religious institutions and traditional Sanskrit universities as Muchukunte Krishnamacharya.

Being the eldest son of a large big and united family, he was the natural heir to the family properties. He loved to face intellectual and philosophical challenges all over India. To avoid being entangled by the obligations of family wealth and to be entirely free to answer to challenges, he left Muchchukunte offering all the wealth to his brothers, sisters and cousins to take shelter at Lord Srinivasa’s feet. In Hindu devotion, asking protection at the Feet of Lord is the most important devotional act. Lord Srinivasa is the Lord of Thirumala.

As Muchchukunte Krishnamacharya, as he is even now recognised, he was an intellectual giant where as Thirumala Krishnamacharya he was a spiritual master. In both the realms, he was unbeatable, yet both as Mucchukunte and as Thirumala Krishnamacharya, he lived a very simple living, so simple that no one, not even Indians, ever thought that they met such a great person. No where had he a house of his own.

He believed with an undaunted conviction that when one is at the Feet of God, peace, harmony and contentment would be his permanent home.

Was he the ‘hidden lake’ of Muchukunte?

About Guruji

- Sri B.K.S.Iyengar

My brother in law, Sri T. Krishnamacharya after initiating me in yoga, became my guru. Hence, my respect and reverence to him make me dumb to express on him.

He was a man with unsurpassable intelligence with a super sharp memory, an orator of his time, who could quote texts whether existed or non-existed instantaneously to establish his logic of Darshana. Many learned scholars had no iota of his quotes not knowing from where they come from. Yet, he was a very poor writer as an author. I have seen him making up his mind to put in black and white, but he never completed any of his undertakings. If his writings are preserved, one may see a few pages here and there on various subjects. The only printed book I have is his first part of Yogamakaranda in Kannada a few articles in booklet form.

I have seen him as a Pandita, heard him as a musician on a Veena (a musical instrument), a gardener, a wood cutter, chanter of Veda, a best cook, an astrologer and I don’t know to say what he did not know.

Often I have seen him as an intellectual wizard and noticed both the qualities of saint as well as bruteshness. His way of living was very simple.

He was happy to be always in a loins cloth, and often I have seen him going out with loin cloth (what we call langot) to buy things he wanted and have seen my sister (his wife) scolding him, which he never cared to listen.

One fine morning he was so harsh on me. He woke me up to water the plants. I got up, opened the tap for the tank to get filled. I was sitting on the parapet of the tank. He come out, saw me sitting and asked me to get out of the house and he went inside. I took his word literally knowing his nature, as he went in, I went out. It was dark. Having no friends nor relatives close by in Mysore; I made up to drown myself in the river at Sri Rangapattana. It was about 20 kilometres from Mysore. I strolled in the Palace garden and when the sun became bright, I walked towards the river Kaveri, desperate to end my life.

My brother-in-law might have become nervous in not seeing me at all. So he took a car from King’s uncle and searched for me. He must have anticipated that I may be on my way to Sri Rangapattana and found me half way, picked me up and took me back home.

The only question he asked me was “why are you out here”. I told him that I wanted to commit suicide and end my life to be free from slavery. He never spoke on the way.

If I had committed suicide, to day the yoga I learnt and practised would have gone into the thin air.

Soon he asked me to accept the job of a yoga teacher in Pune and am here since then.

My father’s medicine

- Srimathi T. Alamelu Sheshadri

It was an evening in 1939. I was probably 9 or 10 years of age. After school hours and play time, father’s first three children (my eldest sister Srimathi Pundarikavalli, my younger brother Sri T. Srinivasan and I) were to listen to the Vedic recitation chanted by some of father’s students. That was the method of training small children in those days to make learning easy and attractive. Father was there to rectify the mistakes.

When the class was going on, a stranger came running all on a sudden, with a little boy on his shoulders. The boy’s face was pale blue and was gasping for breath. I thought, the boy would die then and there.

He placed the young boy on my father’s lap, prostrated to my father praying him to save his son. Father took his pulse. He told me to get some warm pepper rasam from my mother. I came with rasam in a glass and give it to father, who still holding the boy’s pulse. The image of the boy on my father’s lap, taking his pulse and uttering prayers gave me the idea that he was transferring his own life force (prâna shakthi) to the boy. He fed the boy small quantities of the rasam. I couldn’t believe my eyes: The boy started breathing and his blue face disappeared. A few minutes later, he got up from my father’s lap and managed to stand and started walking slowly. We were all stunned. The stranger was speechless. With tears in his eyes he bowed down before my father. My father advised him to pray God with faith and reverence for the welfare of his son and continued his Vedic recitation class.

Some of my father’s method of curing the needy still remains a mystery in my mind.

Pepper rasam: A soup made out of little pepper powder, cumin seeds powder, a small quantity of jaggery, salt to taste and curry leaves. This mixture is boiled in diluted tamarind water for about five minutes.

My childhood memories

- Sri T.K.V. Desikachar

My first recollection of an even involving my father and myself is that once my father asked me to go to the Yogashala in Mysore. I was playing with friends. I said ‘no’. He came to catch me. We had eight coconut trees in our house and I climbed in one of them. He waited and left. Later when I cam down he caught me and tied me in baddha Padma Asana using a thin rope. I was in this posture before he untied me, after an hour.

One evening he took all of us to a movie called ‘Chandralekha’. I remember this because it was full of circus event. It is hard to believe that my father took us to cinema.

One more memory. One day my father and myself were walking on the street. A few Brahmins were coming in the opposite direction. The moment they saw my father they ran away. I asked my father why they ran away. He said that they were scared of him because he corrected their chanting in one of the religious ceremonies that took place recently. Later I came to know that they were Ghanapâtis.

Once we were playing in the street. We were targeting to hit with a stone a person coming in the opposite direction, carrying a bundle of grass on the head, thinking that the person must be some villager. As he approached us, we found he was my father carrying green grass for his cow. We fled from the scene.

The daily life of my father-in-law, Sri T. Krishnamacharya

- Claire Sribhashyam

When I started to visit my in-laws, my father-in-law was already very aged and yet lived to his own rhythms. He would wake up at 4 in the morning and would go to bed around 7 in the evening.

One of my best souvenirs was to be woken up every morning around four by the sound of the prayer bell announcing the beginning of his prayers. This daily morning ceremony that lasted an hour and a half was indeed a great feast for me. At times, I would wake up earlier and wait for the prayer bell to ring.

My mother-in-law would wake up a little later to open the door for the milk maid who brought us milk every morning shouting, below our windows, “pâl”, “pâl” (“pâl” in Tamil language means milk). Then she would prepare coffee for all of us and one by one we would all get up.

At the end of his long prayers, he would prepare his breakfast: wheat semolina roasted and cooked in water with some spices, coriander leaves and grated coconuts. He would share his preparation with children before sitting on the veranda to eat. He would spend some time reading the day’s newspapers while waiting for his students. At times, he would retire to his room to read or to give lessons. Once in a while, he would come to see me and talk or play with my daughter Sumitra or give me some advice on how to bring up young children.

In the afternoon, he would stay in the veranda to eat a fruit, often an orange or some grapes. He would never eat anything without first giving to children, young or elderly.

In the late afternoon, around 6 p.m., he would sit on the swing in the garden and watch the street life. Then, he would retire to bed after having drunk a glass of milk prepared with sugar, saffron and some cardamom. Everyone was attentive in not making too much of noise so as not to disturb him. And, next day at 4 in the morning, it was he who would give the departure sign for the new day by his prayer bell.

Ever since, I visit my in-laws, he had always had the same punctual rhythm. If, I did not hear the prayer bell at 4 in the morning, I was overcome by a slight anxiety! I would come out of the bed to see what he was doing. Felling that I was worried, he would say, with a smile, that he was late that morning.

My father’s trick

- Srimathi Shubha Mohan Kumar.

I consider this opportunity as blessings showered upon me to write about my parents. I happen to be the last child (6^th) of my parents Prof. T. Krishnamacharya & Mrs. Namagririammal. I also happen to have born after almost 11yrs of my elder brother Sribhashyam. So you can well imagine how I was pampered and treated by all of them in our family. So in those early days of my childhood I was almost a VVIP. So was my background with extremely loving parents and very affectionate siblings around me all through. There are lots of memories to cherish while I was living with them. I would like to share the memories of my early days with my loving father. In those days 1959-60 I was in 2^nd or 3^rd year in school. I was into my fathers classroom on and off. It was all playful then. In those days he would go to triplicane to give yoga lessons to a family. He kept calling me to accompany him. Initially I used to refuse, so he ended up buying a very nice read satin kurtha and pajama so that it would attract me. Yes! For the sake of the new red dress I started going with him. Like any child I did stop after sometime so he would promise me that he would gift me something if I accompanied him. He used to take me in a cycle rickshaw one mode of transport in those days. The rikshaw ride was a long one about 30-40 min, so both my father and rikshawman would usually have a conversation about Indian politics which I was least interested. My mind would actually be wondering as to what new I would get, so that I could show-off. The class would go on for an hour or so. He would ask me to show a couple of postures. Some how the hour would pass, now was my time, appa used to take me to the fancy store and keep up his promise. He would reward me with a bead necklace, rubber/plastic bangles etc., as a child I loved it mainly because so very colourful and attractive. Each time I was reluctant to go because I was busy playing with my friends in the neighbourhood. So to pull me out from play and drag me he would always tempt me by saying “ u can have the gift of your choice”. He never made a stiff face, no matter what gift I chose. This became a routine which I cherished because of the time I used to spend with my father, the long ride around the town and not to forget my incentives at the end of the day.

I did not realise during those early days of my life as to why my father was taking me along. Now looking back on the memories my I realise that my father wanted to spend sometime with the kid of the family. He was a father who loved to give what his child asked whether it was important or not for him as long as it made his beloved kid happy. He was a simple plain and a friendly father. So, as a father, was this great personality Prof. T.Krishnamacharya - yogâchârya.

A memorable event with my grand-parents - Navarâtri festival

- Srimathi Sribhagyam Srinivasan (grand daughter of Sri T. Krishnamacharya)

Any festival for a child carries vivid images of splendour and grandeur of fun and frolic. As a small girl, the festival of Navarâtri also called, the autumn festival of nine nights was the most endearing one. It was full of gaiety ad piety, all the more so, because, I would celebrate it with my grand-parents in Madras.

Navarâtri is celebrated to mark the victory of Lord Sri Râma hero of the epic Râmâyana, over Râvana, the terrible demon king. In other words it is a victory of good over evil.

During this festival, the house was decorated. The major attraction for me was the exhibition of dolls of all types, with the king and queen given the pride of place arranged on well decorated steps. Small springs, gardens were added here and there to give an aesthetic look. A sacred silver pot, called Kalasha with a coconut surrounded by mango leaves is kept on the top representing the Goddess of Victory.

I can never forget the whole-hearted involvement of my uncle Sribhashyam. He would often chip in with new ideas to make it more artistic.

The delicious lunches prepared by grand-mother for everyone including grand-father’s students were simply superb! Her offerings to the Goddess was very special for me as I used to be with her during her prayers.

For my grand-father these nine days were days of severe austerity, special prayers, reading the epic Râmâyana for six to eight hours with explanation of each chapter to his students. The fact that he could do so much at his age, without forgoing his daily routine shows his perseverance, dedication and will-power!

The culmination of this nine day long festival of Navarâtri was done on the tenth day., by celebration the coronation of Lord Sri Râma. With grandfather leading the prayers, the whole atmosphere would be electrified as if by a divine presence.

I enjoyed such precious moments with my grand-parents.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya’s daily evening drink

Almond milk

Ingredients :

25 cl of milk

2 green cardamoms

2 spoonful of almond powder

2 filaments of saffron

Sugar according to taste

Cooking time : 10 minutes

Dip the saffron in some lukewarm water for 20 minutes.

Crush cardamoms into fine powder. Put it in the saffron water and mix well.

Boil the milk and add the saffron water with cardamom in the milk. Continue boiling the milk in a low heat for 5 minutes mixing it once in a while.

Put out the fire and let the milk cool. Drink lukewarm.

You can add sugar according to taste along with the saffron water.

http://www.yogakshemam.net/English/newsletter/Newsletter01.html

A poem by Sri T. Krishnamacharya from 'Yoganjalisaram'

"O! sluggish mind, praise the Lord Gopala and the Lord Hayagriva, after your prayers to the Guru! To what purpose are the ways of this age if the body be weakened and the blood made impure?

When the truth is known ignorance cannot be, when the mind is pure there is no disease, when the breath is mastered there is no death, therefore, surrender to Yoga.

In the practice of Yoga one can emphasize the body, the mind or the self and hence the effort can never be fruitless.

Master your breath, let the self be in bliss, contemplate on the sublime within you.

Thus speaks Yogi Tirumala Krishna"

"Memories of a Master" By A. G. Mohan with Ganesh Mohan

Memories of a Master

Sri T. Krishnamacharya brought enormous wisdom and devotion to the discipline of yoga. Here we get a glimpse into his life and teachings.

By A. G. Mohan with Ganesh Mohan

Often described as the father of modern yoga, Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) is today best known among contemporary American yogis as the teacher of such yoga legends as B. K. S. Iyengar, the founder of Iyengar Yoga, and K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009), the founder of Ashtanga Yoga. Krishnamacharya taught many people who went on to propagate and influence the practice in the West, including his son T. K. V. Desikachar, Indra Devi, and others. But while he laid a beautiful foundation for our practice, few of us know much about him.

A scholar of the Vedas, Sanskrit, yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and more, Krishnamacharya spent seven years studying yoga with a Tibetan master whose ashram was but a small cave. Upon returning to India, Krishnamacharya honored the promise he'd made to his teacher to spread the knowledge he had received, and began to teach. He never wrote a definitive manual, but he spent his life offering something so profound that it continues to be embraced by people around the globe.

Here, A. G. Mohan, a student of Krishnamacharya's for 18 years, shares his memories of this humble but exacting teacher, so that we might better understand who he was and the essence of what he taught. 

-The Editors

Demonstration

Krishnamacharya would usually sit in his chair while I practiced. Sometimes he stood to observe me more clearly. There was little space in the room; only one person could practice comfortably. The limited space wasn't an issue, though, because all asana lessons I had with Krishnamacharya were one on one. In the years I studied with him, I never saw him teach asanas to a group of students. One reason could have been that he was not running a yoga school and therefore did not have a group of students to teach. But more pertinently, most students who came to him to learn yoga were motivated by ill health and could not be taught yoga effectively in a group.

Usually, Krishnamacharya did not demonstrate asanas to me. As a rare exception, I recall a class in which Krishnamacharya mentioned that there were 32 variations of Headstand. This seemed excessive to me, and I must have looked a little doubtful. He considered my expression for a few moments. Then he said, "What? It looks like you don't believe me?"

Krishnamacharya gestured toward the middle of the room. "Fold the carpet and place it here," he said. Then he proceeded to demonstrate all 32 Headstand variations! At that time, he was about 85 years old. As I observed over the years as his student, it was in his nature to rise to the occasion when faced with a question—that is, if it was a meaningful question from a serious student.

Anjali Mudra

Some photos of Krishnamacharya show him placing his palms together in a gesture known as the Anjali Mudra. This gesture looks like the Indian form of greeting, in which people bring their palms together and say "Namaste," which means "salutations to you." These gestures are not the same, though. In Anjali Mudra, the palms are not flat against each other; the knuckles at the base of the fingers are bent a little, creating a space between the palms and fingers of the two hands. When done properly, the shape of the Anjali Mudra resembles a flower bud that is yet to open, symbolizing the opening of our heart. This signifies the potential for and intention to progress toward greater spiritual awakening.

We can use the Anjali Mudra in most asanas where our hands are outstretched and parallel to each other. Instead of keeping our hands apart, we can bring them together in the Anjali Mudra. This helps to set a peaceful inner attitude during the practice of asanas.

Additions like Anjali Mudra help ensure that asanas bring us humility rather than an ego boost from achieving the form of the asanas. Krishnamacharya greatly valued humility. The following anecdote illustrates this. A famous singer of South Indian classical music (Carnatic music) once came to Krishnamacharya complaining of weakness in his voice. The singer was very worried that he might lose the ability to perform in concerts.

Krishnamacharya prescribed some herbs and taught the singer some simple asanas and breathing. In a few months, the singer's voice improved significantly and he was able to perform again. He returned to Krishnamacharya to thank him. Evidently proud of his recovered abilities, the singer said, boastfully, "My voice has been restored—listen!" He was about to show off his prowess when Krishnamacharya stopped him. "I know you are a renowned singer," said Krishnamacharya. "But you will remember, I taught you Jalandhara Bandha [in which the head is bowed so that, classically, the chin touches the sternum]. God has gifted you with a wonderful voice, but keep the bandha in mind. We must keep the head bowed and live with humility."

What's in a Name?

Yoga poses are named in various ways. Some are named after animals and birds, some describe the body position of an asana, and some are named after mythological figures. Some asanas are named after ancient sages or derive from mythology, with uplifting stories behind them. For instance, Bharadvajaasana is named after the sage Bharadvaja; Visvamitraasana is named after the sage Visvamitra. Bhagirataasana is another.

Bhagiratasana? I can hear yoga teachers searching their memories for this unfamiliar name. This isn't a new asana. It is widely known as the "Tree Pose" (Vrksasana), a balancing asana in which you stand on one leg with the arms overhead and the other leg raised off the floor, bent fully at the knee and rotated outward at the hip, with the foot planted on the opposite thigh below the groin. Bhagiratasana was Krishnamacharya's name for the Tree Pose.

Bhagirata was a famous king in Vedic mythology. His forefathers were performing a ritual known as the asvamedha, in which a horse (asva) played an integral part. By a turn of events, the horse mistakenly ended up at the hermitage of a sage. The forefathers caused much disturbance to the sage in retrieving the horse, so he cursed them, reducing them to ashes.

To revive the forefathers, the river Ganges, which was in the heavens, would have to be brought to the earth to flow on their ashes. Bhagirata's grandfather and father were unable to undertake this task, so Bhagirata took on the responsibility, leaving the management of the kingdom to his ministers. Forsaking all the comforts that went with his royal station, Bhagirata retired to the forest, leading an austere life and practicing deep meditation, seeking the grace of Brahma, the Creator. Brahma told Bhagirata that he had no objection to the Ganges' flowing down to earth but that Bhagirata would have to request this of the Ganges.

So, Bhagirata returned to his meditation again, praying to the Ganges, who appeared before him and agreed to flow down to earth. But, she said, the earth would not be able to bear the force of her descent, so Bhagirata must first find someone to bear the force.

Bhagirata next did meditation on Shiva, asking him to bear the force of the Ganges. Shiva appeared before Bhagirata and agreed. Finally, the Ganges descended to earth, but in the midst of doing so, she was overcome with pride in her own power and thought to display her might by washing Shiva away by landing on his head.

Knowing what the Ganges was thinking, Shiva imprisoned her in a lock of his hair and would not release her to earth. Bhagirata undertook meditation once more, requesting Shiva to release the Ganges. Shiva appeared before him again and agreed to release the Ganges, which then flowed along the earth. Again, reveling in her might, the Ganges swept past the hermitage of the great sage Agastya, causing havoc in the surrounding area. Seeing that his disciples and other living beings were distressed, Agastya drank the entire Ganges in one sip, as he would do with a handful of water in his daily ritual. Yet again, Bhagirata meditated and prayed, requesting Agastya to release the Ganges. Agastya granted his wish. At last, the Ganges flowed over the ashes of Bhagirata's forefathers. In all, Bhagirata spent thousands of years in austerities and meditation with unwavering concentration, never discouraged by the numerous obstacles he faced.

What does this story have to do with Bhagiratasana? Bhagirata was supposed to have meditated for all those years standing on one leg!

Krishnamacharya called the Tree Pose Bhagiratasana because of the values in this story. He said, "When doing Bhagiratasana, keep the great Bhagirata in mind. Bring tireless perseverance and steadfast concentration to your practice."

Once, Krishnamacharya asked me, half seriously, "Do you know Dhruvasana?" The story of Dhruva is well known in Vedic mythology—that of a young prince who undertakes rigorous meditation—but I had never heard of the pose. He smiled and continued, "It is like Bhagiratasana, but you must not stand on the whole foot—you must stand only on the great toe!"

Non-acquisitiveness and Contentment

In the effort of accumulating material possessions and wealth, in protecting the acquired, in their decline, in the latent impressions they leave on the mind, and in the unavoidable harm caused to other living beings—in all these there lies unhappiness. Thus the yogi practices non-acquisitiveness.

Krishnamacharya never accumulated much money. In class, many a time he would say, "Why do we need money beyond a point? If we are free of ill health, enmity, and debt, is that not enough for a fulfilled life? In searching for money, we lose our health. And if we are unwell, how can we be peaceful? Similarly, a person with enemies will never sleep easy, nor will a person in debt. Be free of these and you will be at ease. Too much money only leads to less peace."

I remember an instance in the later 1980s when I lost my watch. I was attending Krishnamacharya's classes as usual but without a watch on my wrist. Krishnamacharya had taken note of it over one or two weeks. One day, he brought out a watch and offered it to me. When I demurred, he said, "You are doing a lot for me. One should never be indebted. Take it."

I felt that, compared with the teachings I had been receiving from him for years, what I did for him was nothing. But to receive a gift from him meant a lot to me. I had the watch for years, until it stopped working. It was not only because I did not have a watch that he wanted me to take it. It was also because of his principle that he should be without obligation to anyone as much as possible. He never wanted to feel that someone had done something for him and that he had not reciprocated.

He often quoted, from the Mahabharata: "In chasing wealth there is unhappiness, as in protecting wealth earned. Again if the guarded wealth declines, there is unhappiness. Indeed, all wealth is but unhappiness!"

Devotion and Rituals

Nowadays people speak of "love, love." What is it? True love is devotion to the Divine. Such devotion is when we have such longing and care for the Divine as we have for our own body.

The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, the most authoritative text on yoga, defines yoga as complete stillness of the mind. In such a state of mind, there is no unhappiness at all, ever. This state can be reached by practicing the eight limbs of yoga. Among the various practices, devotion to the Divine is offered as one. Being inculcated into the tradition of Vaishnavism [a form of Hinduism in which God is worshipped as Lord Vishnu], which is rooted in devotion, Krishnamacharya preferred to follow his path of yoga by linking it with the Divine.

The practice of devotion is optional in the practice of yoga, but it is not brushed aside, or even relegated to second place in the Yoga Sutra. If there is such a thing as a shortcut in the sutras, it is not kundalini arousal or any other esoteric practice. It is devotion. In Sutra II.45, the commentary of Vyasa states, "Through the practice of devotion, samadhi [the focus of mind that is the goal of yoga] is closest." The unemotional and precise work of Patanjali, with its equally precise commentaries, leaves no space for exaggeration or misstatement. The statement means what it says.

Devotion is one of the best ways to help keep the mind focused and peaceful. It can be a powerful support to meditation and to a steady life. But it must be done with a suitable conception of the Divine. As a caution, we must be aware that devotion practiced with a psychologically incorrect relationship to or image of the Divine can only lead to mental disturbance, not mental steadiness. We must understand the purpose and nature of devotion and how an appropriate attitude toward the Divine should be fashioned before entering into such practice.

Devotion is an internal attitude of trust and love for the Divine. All the other practices of yoga—for example, asana, pranayama, and control over the senses—are essential to bringing the mind under control. They support devotion and are supported by it. By external worship and ritual we reinforce our internal attachment to the Divine. Krishnamacharya followed the traditional Vaishnavite lifestyle, which included rituals and worship, throughout his life. After his early morning asana practice and bath, he would perform his rituals, which included pranayama. Then he would do the pug (worship), directed at Vishnu's avatar, Hayagriva. As part of the puja, he would ring a bell that weighed a kilogram or two, sometimes waking his family members!

Krishnamacharya sometimes expressed sadness over the decline of ancient practices and authentic dedication to the deeper practices of yoga. "So much of the traditional knowledge we had, even what I have seen in my early days, is now gone, lost...."

In one class, when discussing the Yoga Sutra, Krishnamacharya noted that punaranveshana (literally, "to re-search," or "to search once more") was needed now. He felt the ancient practices that had declined over time needed to be explored once more and their value brought out.

"Subjects are of two categories," he said. "One category can be learned merely through words, by listening and understanding—these are theoretical subjects, like the rules and analysis of grammar. The other category needs to be practiced, like music, cooking, martial arts, and yoga as well. Nowadays, the practice of yoga stops with just asanas. Very few even attempt dharana and dhyana [deeper meditation] with seriousness. There is a need to search once more and reestablish the practice and value of yoga in modern times."

Excerpted from From Here Flows the River: The Life and Teachings of Krishnamacharya, by A. G. Mohan with Ganesh Mohan (published by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, 2010; shambhala.com).

"Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God."

Sri Muchukunte T. Krishnamacharya

"Bliss, Essential Nature of Man" by Sri Krishnamacharya's son Sri T.K. Sribhashyam

Bliss, Essential Nature of Man

We accept joys and sorrows as facts of worldly life yet we search for means to be free from our sorrow. But we do not realise that our true nature is blissful. Joy is the intrinsic nature of the Soul (Atman) and it is sorrow which is alien to it and comes from outside the Soul. So the main object of spiritual endeavour is to gain the knowledge of the soul as a result of which sufferings of the material world will not afflict us anymore and the inner joy expresses freely.

Self-knowledge and bliss are interdependent and are the two sides of the same coin – that is, the reality of our existence. Most of our problems arise due to the transient nature of the source of our happiness. Even the knowledge of a state in which it is possible to experience eternal joy gives a sense of peace within when one embarks on the spiritual quest.

It is essential to understand the difference between Self-knowledge which is eternal and objective knowledge which pertains to the material world which is not so. How do we acquire knowledge? The senses bring a lot of innumerable sensory data to the mind but they do not by themselves result in knowledge and it is the mind which provides us the knowledge.

When the Sun arises everyone wakes up and goes about their activities; so also, in the presence of the mind the sensations result in knowledge. Empirical knowledge lasts as long as the sense impressions stay in the mind or till the mind retains them in memory. So it cannot be eternal and does not pertain to the Self.

The knowledge of the soul is acquired when the mind is freed from the sense data. Meditation wherein the object is divine and not secular is one of the means to separate the mind from the external sense data. This separation lets the bliss shine in our heart and soul, because the very nature of the soul is bliss.

The common mistake one makes while undertaking spiritual quest is to seek the knowledge of the soul as any other secular knowledge since the familiar process of acquiring knowledge is related to objects in the world.

But spiritual knowledge is that of the soul, and it is not material.

Another mistake one makes is the fear that the acquisition of the knowledge of the soul and the resultant bliss would exterminate all our sense activities thereby losing all our life experience of the past and the future.

Meditate without fear and live the life of bliss – even if it be for few moments of our daily life.

http://www.yogakshemam.net/English/homepage.html

"On Patanjali" By Srivatsa Ramaswami

On Patanjali

By Srivatsa Ramaswami

Patanjali is a name that generates awe, veneration and inspiration among experts of disciplines like Yoga. That his work “Yoga Sutra” is considered to be the most authentic work on Yoga by conventional Yogis is well known. But he is also considered to be one of the greatest original contributors towards the development of the classical language Sanskrit. Then there are many practitioners of ancient medical system, the Ayur Veda who consider him as ‘Caraka’, the author of one of the earliest texts on Ayurveda, the Caraka Samhita. There are many experts of Indian traditional dance who consider Patanjali as an exceptional exponent of Indian Dancing system.

How is it possible for one person to excel in many disparate and original disciplines, as the old timers believe? Is it possible that there were different Patanjalis who lived at different places at different times who wrote different texts under the name of Patanjali, as some of the modern historians would aver?

A brief of account of Patanjali’s story may be in order. One of the popular stories refers to Patanjali as an incarnation of Adisesha, the serpent king, who acts as the couch of Lord Vishnu. Once, Lord Vishnu after He came out of His divine slumber narrated the vision of Siva’s cosmic dance which He experienced in the divine dream. He also said that Lord Siva wanted Adisesha to take a human birth and prepare an authentic work on Sanskrit grammar, as the human race was going through a crisis without a proper structured language. Lord Siva had earlier created the original basis for Sanskrit grammar through 14 sutras (aphorisms), called Maheswara Sutras, said to have emanated from the sounds of the hand drum (damaru) of the Lord during the Cosmic Dance. Panini who witnessed the dance wrote an elaborate text in 8 chapters the entire work of grammar, based on Siva’s 14 Sutras, but because they were terse and ambiguous, could not take roots among the people. Now the Lord wanted Patanjali to write a detailed commentary on Panini’s works so that Sanskrit would become accessible to mankind.

Adisesha in due course took a human form, born/adopted to/by a great soul, Gonika and therefore also known as Gonikaputra. He was known as Patanjali, as he is said to have descended or fallen (pat) from heaven, answering to the prayers (anjali) for a worthy son by Gonika. After leading an ascetic, yogic life, Patanjali felt ready to start his life’s mission. He traveled to Chidambaram, in South India, which boasts of the famous dancing Siva temple. There were other great souls, divine beings, sages and yogis all ready to watch the cosmic dance. Siva directed Patanjali to watch the dance carefully so that he could completely understand the Maheswara aphorisms and write a proper commentary to Panini’s work.

Patanjali went into yogic Samadhi, so that the divine dance could be experienced, so did the other yogis gathered around there. He watched the dance minutely grasping the nuances of the Siva Sutras as the sounds emanated from the drum (damaru) of the dancing Nataraja. And when the dance reached a crescendo, everyone in yogic trance was swaying with the dance of the Lord and in raptures. When the dance stopped, they experienced oneness with the Lord, the supreme consciousness, the ultimate reality. This they realized was the advaitic oneness of the Vedantins or Nirodha Samadhi of the Yogis.

Patanjali then left the place and very carefully wrote a great commentary (Maha Bhashya) on the Panini’s wok after getting all the clarifications by minutely watching the dance of Siva. To cut the story short, Patanjali had to really work hard to propagate his work. Since he was the sole repository of the knowledge at that time, he had to teach as many people as possible. An interesting episode is mentioned about how Patanjali reached a larger student population. He stood behind a curtain separating him from the large student population sitting in front of him. He assumed his original form of a thousand headed (hooded) cobra, and taught each of the students, one on one. It helped him teach and answer questions individually. He was a thousand teachers at the same time. Without closed circuit TV, Internet and the print facility, it was the best possible solution at that time!

Then he also wrote the Yoga Sutras, meant to clean the mind and weaken the influence of Rajas and Tamas, and become very Satwic and ultimately transcend all the three gunas and attain stage of Kaivalya or spiritual freedom. He is also credited with another important work on Ayur Veda, the ancient medical system.

Let us get back to the original question. How can one individual get the expertise needed to write three authoritative and original texts so important to humanity? The answer is that he got all the knowledge from Lord Siva the Iswara. In fact Patanjali says in Yoga Sutras that Iswara is the ultimate repository of all knowledge, and by meditating on Him all knowledge can be obtained. And as mentioned earlier, the basic informations or cues of Vyakarana or grammar came from the dancing Siva’s drum. It is also believed by musicologists that the basic seven musical notes also came from the Lord’s drum. Patanjali, after watching the dance of Siva became a great dancer himself, and again classical dancers in India revere Patanjali as a great dancer. There is a beautiful onomatopoeic poetic work in Sanskrit attributed to Patanjali, called ‘Siva Tandava Stotra’.

When Patanjali went into Samadhi, not only was he able to witness the Cosmic Dance, but also got to experience the ultimate state of Yoga, the Nirvikalpa or Nirodha Samadhi. With that experience and the grace of the Iswara he was able to write an authentic text on Yoga. Lord Siva is also known as Yogiswara, the Lord of all Yogis. He is also known as Bhaishajya or one who has the wisdom of Curing. And Patanjali could get the necessary expertise on Ayurveda also from Siva and thus wrote a medical text par excellence.

A civilization is said to be at its best when the people enjoy good health, express themselves clearly and profoundly, through a perfect language and have clear and pious minds. Bhartruhari, a great scholar and grammarian emphasizes the purity of the three basic human activities, of mind, body and spech, called the tri-karanas. And Maharshi Patanjali is believed to have written three great texts and evidence in terms of a eulogy is to be found in the ancient prayer said by thousands of yogis all over the world, daily, as they start the yoga sadhana.

yogena cittasya padena vācām
malaṁ śarīrasya ca vaidyakena
yopākarottaṁ pravaraṁ munīnāṁ
pataṁjaliṁ prāṁjalirānatosmi|

Through Yoga, of the mind, by grammar, of language
Through medical science of the body,the drosses,
The one who eradicated, to Him of the lineage of sages,
To Patanjali, I remain offering my salutation