The relative ease with which 170 nations co-sponsored India's motion for observing International Day of Yoga in the UN, shows groundwork was ready. Yoga has spread worldwide. One should thank Raja Ram Mohan Roy for that
There is something coincidental that the first edition of International Day of Yoga (June 21) is being celebrated this year. This year marks the bicentenary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who established the Atmiya Sabha in Kolkata — a forerunner to the Brahmo Samaj. Simultaneously, he published two tracts in English titled, Abridgement of Vedanta and Kena Upanishads. These were the first of his several works in English, Bengali and Hindi to popularise Vedanta philosophy. It was the first attempt to bring the shelved knowledge of Vedanta (Upanishads) into the public domain. Thankfully, he had the advantage of a printing press. Roy aimed at intellectual and moral improvement of his countrymen through this exercise.
Swami Vivekananda, towards the end of the 19th century, took the propagation of Vedanta to its next level. He developed a concept of ‘practical Vedanta’. Vivekananda said that fictitious differentiation between religious and material life must vanish. Since Vedanta teaches oneness, that idea must enter into all our thoughts, and should be carried into practice. “All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. Know that there is no darkness around us. Take the hands away and there is the light which was from the beginning.”
This was because he was a person who had realised his spiritual self. He had realised through contemplation the profound truths of Vedanta and yoga that he was propagating. Even before embracing monkhood, through blessings of Sri Ramakrishna, he had attained the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi – described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra.
Incidentally, Vedanta and yoga are both metaphysics. They are amongst the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy — nyay, vaisesika, samkhya, yoga, mimansa and Vedanta. But neither yoga nor Vedanta was meant for public dissemination. Both were considered to be supreme science. They held the keys to the supreme gnosis — the realisation of atman (self), infinite knowledge and bliss.
The knowledge of Vedanta was restrictive, if not secretive. It was passed down from preceptor to disciple. Only the most sincere individuals would qualify for the knowledge. Nachiketa in Kathopanishad, who goes to the abode of Yama, exemplifies that sincerity. Yama — the lord of life, death and immortality — tries to deflect him with worldly promises. But he remains unflinching in his demand to learn the supreme truth. Therefore, in the end, Yama had to yield and instruct him into the closely guarded secret.
Something similar appears to have happened with yoga. For a long time, the principles of yoga were preserved orally by sages. Patanjali codified it in form of yoga sutras (aphorisms on yoga) around the second century BC. Despite this codification, yoga was not meant for all and sundry. It was meant for a few with demonstrative zeal, sincerity and endurance in order to realise the self. One could not be a yogi without withdrawing from chaos of daily life.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika, for instance, recommends a practitioner of yoga to live in seclusion from society. Yoga’s actual purpose was not help students or householders in day-to-day life. Hatha yoga — a combination of asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), bandhas and mudras (contraction of vital parts) — was meant for yogis to render their body and mind fit. Only a yogi with a sturdy and fit body can endure the strenuous practice of yoga.
There is a widespread misconception about the meaning of the word ‘yoga’. Yoga, they say, has been derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning to conjoin or yoke. Therefore, in spiritual context, it should mean the individual soul (jivatman) joining the supreme soul (paramatman). Even Swami Vivekananda and Yogi Srinivasa Iyengar have fallen for this misconception. It is because this definition is nowhere sustained by any classical texts on yoga. Only a few days ago this writer discovered the true meaning of the word yoga almost accidently. Max Müller’s book, Six Systems of Indian Philosophy; Samkhya and Yoga; Naya and Vaiseshika, argues a rational position.
Patanjali describes its various stages of culminating into kaivalya pada, the state of splendid isolation of the soul. Nowhere, one comes across, the definition ‘union’. Yoga, derived from the root word yuj, implies preparing oneself for hard work. Here the use of yuj (yoke) is metaphorical — to go in harness, to buckle-to.
The Bhagvad Gita expanded the categories of yoga. Karma (action), Jnan (discriminative knowledge) and bhakti (devotion) were included in the ambit of yoga. The strenuousness of yoga was underplayed. Even surrendering all cares to the divine, if one could do nothing else, assumed the form of yoga. The yoga of the Gita could be practised everywhere in daily life, even in the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
During the medieval ages, the cult of devotion (bhakti) flourished. But yoga got relegated to certain sects like the Nath cult. It assumed an esoteric, mystic and mysterious connotation. It was only in the 19th and 20th century that yoga began re-appear in public discourse.
Swami Vivekananda, alongside Vedanta, popularised yoga. A string of monastic and non-monastic personalities like Bishnu Charan Ghosh (Yogananda’s younger brother), Krishnamacharya Iyenger, BKS Iyenger, Swami Kubalayananda, Swami Shivananda, Swami Satyananda (Bihar School of Yoga) and Nilmoni Das (Ironman of Bengal) helped popularise yoga.
The relative ease with which 170 nations co-sponsored India’s motion for marking ‘International Day of Yoga’ in the UN shows groundwork was ready. Yoga has spread worldwide. But one should look back, and thank Raja Ram Mohan Roy.