Śrī S Sridharan
The following article is a transcription of a talk delivered by Śrī S Sridharan, Senior Mentor & Therapist of Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram at Śrī Lakshmi Venkateswara Temple, San Diego, United States of America on the 21st June 2024, on the birth anniversary of Śrī TKV Desikachar and as part of the 10th edition of International Day of Yoga celebrations.
When we refer to ‘core values,’ we largely refer to the believes, ideas, theory and practices which guides an individual on how to live their lives. Keeping this aside, what is Yoga? In my 45 years of experience, I am still trying to find out what Yoga is!
Yoga is one of the most ancient art and science of life. For an average person, Yoga is to be able to understand the principles of having a healthy mind and healthy body, which leads to a healthy life. This is indeed a core principle. Now, who invented Yoga?
Yoga’s roots are in the Vedā-s, the most ancient fund of knowledge. Vedā-s are largely divided into two segments, Karmakāṇḍa and Jñānakāṇḍa and Yoga appears in the Karmakāṇḍa portion of the Vedā-s. Starting from the everyday ritual like the Sandhyāvandanam to the most elaborate Homa done in Temples or anywhere, the Karmakāṇḍa already has the tenets laid, as to how to go about with the rituals. This includes the postures that one needs to adopt, the various Prāṇāyāma practices to be done, and Dhyānam as well. In fact, Śrī T Krishnmacharya was emphatic that Sandhyāvandanam was the best model of meditation.
In the Jñānakāṇḍa portion of the Veda-s, we have got Upaniṣad. Upaniṣad-s are many and if we take the Bhagavadgītā per se, it is considered to be a Yoga Śāstra itself. In Bhagavadgītā, we have the Karma Yoga, Jñāna Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Rāja Yoga and so on. We also have the Haṭha Yoga, Laya Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Kuṇḍalinī Yoga… so many of them. Where does Aṣṭāṅga Yoga fit in the whole scheme of things? Aṣṭāṅga Yoga is Rāja Yoga. Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, which is the topic of discussion here, is important and is found in the Itihāsa-s and Purāṇa-s. It was Patañjali who brought it down into one segment and compiled in Sūtra form.
The next question is what is the core value of Yoga and where do I find it?
The answer is pretty simple – we can find it everywhere. We can even find it even in Bhagavadgītā as Rāja Yoga – an ideal but simple and royal path. The word ‘royal path’ was coined by Swami Vivekananda himself as this royal path is for everyone no matter the background and even an average person could become a seeker in this path. It is a very well laid out path and the tools available on this path is the Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. In fact, in the first chapter of Yogasūtra, Patañjali gives us a lot of techniques.
Aṣṭāṅga Yoga is coming under the Darśana segment, a philosophical text which in turn comes under the Vedā-s. The message of Vedā-s have been reiterated across the six Darśana-s in the form of philosophical thoughts, but Yoga, on the other hand has a lot of practical tools which can be put to practice. This is where the core value lies. Yoga gives solution for the removal of suffering permanently.
The first chapter of Yogasūtra is the Samādhipāda. There are a number of commentaries and explanatory notes if one wants to read. It is one of the best psychological texts available in the world now. It gives us exactly what is in mind, how the mind works, and why it works like that. But it is not certainly easy to study the Yogasūtra-s and understand them. One needs to learn it from a teacher and we have our own Śrī T Krishnmacharya’s commentary Yogavallī.
‘Yoga is Saṃskāra,’ stated Śrī T Krishnmacharya states in his commentary to the first Sūtra. That is, if we want to purify ourselves, what is that we should do, why should we do, and why should we not do certain things – the entire spectrum comes under this explanation.
The second Sūtra is a definition to what Yoga is – Citta Vṛtti Nirodha. Citta is mind, Vṛtti refers to the various activities and Nirodha control. Vṛtti-s are the various fluctions of the mind both necessary and unnecessary. Nirodha refers to control. In Saṁskṛtam, Nirodha has two meanings, ‘Covering,’ i.e., my mind must cover only with what I am talking about and nothing else. The second meaning is ‘to stop,’ where the other thoughts are entirely stopped and this is exactly what we do in Dhyāna. Therefore, we are trying to find ways and means to train the mind to stop other thoughts and focus on what is in hand. In other words, the definition of Yoga points us to Dhyāna, the seventh Aṅga of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. Why should Dhyāna alone take this prominence and not any other tool like Āsana? Interestingly the word ‘Yoga’ itself means Dhyāna. One of the significant core values of Yoga, therefore, is Dhyāna and Patañjali addresses this as Vyūha (arrangement).
The concept of Vyūha includes Heyam, Hetu, Hānam, and Upāyam. This is a concept that we use in KYM for Yoga Therapy. Heyam defines the problem, Hetu identifies the cause, Hānam is the goal that we want to reach to and Upāyam are the intelligent ways to reach the goal. In other words, this Vyūha model is the ancient model for solving any problem. This is the heart of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga.
What is the aim here with Aṣṭāṅga Yoga? The aim is not just at the physical level but the primary aim is to address the suffering – Duḥkham which is yet to come. Saṁskṛta words are so special because the Du and Kha in the word Duḥkham represents the areas below chest and this is where we hold our suffering. Uneasiness in the chest and abdomen followed by instability in body and breath, fear, fatigue etc., are pretty much the symptoms for this. We have also seen these symptoms displayed by Arjuna in the battle grounds of Kurukṣetra. What happened to Arjuna is an error of perception. There are two ways of perceiving, subjective and objective.
Subjective way of perceiving is in context of ‘me’ or ‘what is happening to me.’ Objective way of perceiving is looking at every situation objectively. Can I take perceive things objectively? This is exactly what the Yogasūtra says. The cause of our suffering is stemming from a subjective perception – “My child cannot do any mistake,” “I deserve to be treated this or that way etc.,”
This subjective perception is referred to as Avidyā in one word. This tree of Avidyā has branches and one of them is Asmita (ego). Ego is wrong identification of the problem. We say, “I am the best,” and the moment we say this, ‘best’ is already gone! In reality, we seek that identification. Otherwise, how will we head back home? We need an identification, “Am coming from here, my name is this, I am the son and daughter of so and so,” all of this is given by nature. All of these are called Kleśa-s. When the Kleśa-s are in excess, they are responsible for our suffering. Example, let us say I am a doctor and I am working for a renowned hospital. When I enter the hospital, everybody stands up to greet me and I am taken care of very well; but if I were to enter a Temple, and don’t get the same kind of treatment that I always get from my place of work – I get angry.” This ego – wrong identification is the cause of problem and there is also excess desire (Rāga). While some amount of desire is required in order to live optimally, excess desire also leads to suffering. In addition, this Avidyā also leads unnecessary hatred, Dveṣa. “I don’t like this person and if you ask me why, I may not even have an answer – a proper reason.” Again, some amount of heartedness is necessary, as we might end up doing things that are unnecessary.
Most of the time we act impulsively and regret later thinking we could have dealt with it better. But this certainly isn’t simple. Yogasūtra shows us the path from subjectivity to objectivity and the tools are given in Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. The result of such practice is right understanding, independence, and a sense of no one can hurt me nor I can hurt anyone (all these changes coming from a space of clarity). In addition, our dependence on external objects and individuals for seeking pleasure or otherwise is reduced. Upāyam, therefore are the various tools offered in the eight-fold path and wisdom attained in the process. The absence of suffering is the experience of the calmness of the mind.
The practice of Yoga (Aṣṭāṅga Yoga) removes impurities (wrong understanding), making the right knowledge shine and thereby resulting in ‘discriminatory knowledge.’ The first two limbs in this eight-fold path is Yama and Niyama, external disciplines and internal disciplines respectively and they have to be practiced 24/7. Āsana and Prāṇāyāma are practices to strengthen the mind and body and to prepare the person for the next steps. Pratyāhāra is the withdrawal of senses. The last segment of the Aṣṭāṅga Yoga is Dhyāna, Dhāraṇā and Samādhi. They are referred as a unit because without Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna cannot happen and without Dhyāna, Samādhi cannot happen. There is a link that is established across the three and together we call it as meditation/Dhyānam.
The most important word here is ‘Aṅga.’ Aṅga means parts of the body, and every part of the body is important for optimal functioning. Therefore, Yama and Niyama are arms of the vbody, Āsana is like the legs, Prāṇāyāma is like the trunk, Dhyāna, Dhāraṇā and Samādhi are like the eyes. Dhāraṇā is focus, which eventually leads to Dhāraṇā, which then eventually becomes Dhyāna and it becomes Samādhi. There should be an object of focus for Dhāraṇā and while anything can be an object, Śrī Krishnamacharya recommends the images of deities (Idols). One can choose any form of idol, very pleasing to the practitioner, and they are called Archa and they are meant for Dhyānam. That’s what Śrī Krishnamacharya says. One has to look at this beautiful Idol (chosen for this purpose) and draw our mind to the here and now to the object. Dhyānam is the ability to also recall this image of the idol. Is that possible? It certainly is but not simple.
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