Yoga Learning In Nepal

One person beyond any compare may be said to be the undisputed Grandfather of Modern Yoga. He never left India during his lifetime, but the student he trained and guided at an early age in Mysore became instrumental in shaping the world of Yoga at large. Many people like to say they were associated with him, but very few actually had the privilege to study with him for longer periods of time. This brief article tries to shed some light on his early years in Mysore and his peculiar style of teaching then. Primarily I will be referring to the 'Yoga Makarandam' and 'Yogasanagalu' two early works by Krishnamacharya never translated into English, but I will also draw upon other valuable sources I feel give an honest portrayal of Krishnamacharya's life. Sri Vatsan, a lady who knew Krishnamachary towards the later years of his life portrays the legend in the following way:

Thus opens the first biography that was published on the life of T. Krishnamacharya. The book bearing the title: Sri Krishnamacharya The Purnacharya, gives a reasonably detailed account of his life, teaching and encounters with important figures over his lifespan of one hundred years It was published by the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) Chennai in 1997 eight years after T. Krishnamacharya's death as a tribute to his persona, life and great works in the field of Yoga. Other works have been published after that, but I feel this is the most straightforward honest account given of his life without too many political undertones sneaking in.

The styles of Yoga he has come to be associated with is of particular significance to the Western World, not only because they appear to be the most respected, but because they all appear to embody something genuine in comparison with many of the 'self-made' schools that promote themselves without being able to refer to tradition, lineage, history and context to the greater aspect of Yoga. What appear to be the strength of Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar Yoga and the KYM is that they all refer to Krishnamacharya as their head teacher, giving them a natural free-ride to some level of authenticity. Yet with an examination of each school it becomes apparent that all of the three schools differ radically in their approach to Yoga!

This is indeed a fascinating phenomenon: we have three different styles, and despite their basic similarities, they all display a different focus related to the physical practice of what is essential. In short Pattabhi Jois' approach is known for it's strong focus on doing the asana practice, Iyengar's focus seems to be more on the development of perfect alignment within each pose, whereas Desiakachar's takes a softer approach to the asanas and focus more on the healing aspects of it and integrates more Sanskrit chanting and basic Yoga Philosophy. Naturally they all glorify Krishnamacharya as their guru, yet the personality traits that they portray him with are far from similar. But in an attempt to give a coherent view of who this 'Grandfather' of modern Yoga really was, I have summarized the major aspects and events of his life that all schools generally agree upon and will later make some comments upon them:

The Yoga Kurunta is indeed an enigmatic book of the Hatha Yoga tradition. It is not referred to in any other texts, yet Krishnamacharya claims that this was the text he was taught my Rma Mohan Brahmacri. The meaning of Kurunta in Sanskrit is: "A yellow amaranth or Bavlevia, a plant which in Latin is named "Marsilea Quadrifolia" The Sanskrit Dictionary, Monnier-Williams says the plant is also known as "pitmlna" (that which has a yellow/golden glow) in Sanskrit. This translation is not very helpful to us, but it has been suggested Kurunta is a word from the Gurkha language. Despite the textual uncertainty many of Krishnamacharya students believe he memorized this text and learnt the essence of this particular Yoga from his preceptor.

The sources verily differ on what he was actually taught by this great Master, but in unison proclaim that he spent a minimum of seven years with this fabled legend. What the sources further agree upon is that when Krishnamacharya had completed his studies with him, his Gurudakshina (gift/donation for instruction) to Rma Mohan Brahamacri, was to promise to make this Yoga accessible to the normal householders and common men. According to legend, Krishnamacharya supposedly later turned down prestigious offers teaching Sanskrit at various reputed institutions and colleges in India in order to keep the promise to his Guru of making this Yoga accessible to all people. Now we may never be able to trace the lineage and the actual whereabouts of Rma Mohan Brahmacri's dwelling place and family, but what lives on through Krishnamacharya is nothing short of remarkable. Whether all of this was created by Krishnamacharya or the actual passing on of an ancient tradition embodied and preserved through Rama Mohan Brahmacharya, we can never know for certain, but we do know that this tradition of Yoga has had a fundamental impact on Yoga in the world and reinvented itself in India due to Krishnamacharya's teachings.

He further argues that none of the modern schools of Yoga can trace any consistent lineage or practice that may be traced back to the Classical texts on Yoga. Sjoman is right about the fact that there are no textual sources that properly are documenting the sana tradition, but he is wrong when he projects all his assumptions upon the schools of Krishnamacharya with sole reference to the text Sri Tattvanidhi as the key component in understanding the developments of Yoga. This text belonged to the archives of the Royal family in Mysore and was primarily an extensive text on folklore prevalent at the time. Although it displays 122 illustrious pictures on asanas, this is but a minor fraction of the text and with a further investigation of the great work it becomes apparent that the section of Yoga is just a minor parenthesis and by no means a lucid account on various aspects of Yogic practice. To therefore imply that this text could have shaped the actual evelopment of Krishnamacharya's styles of Yoga simply because he was associated with the Maharaja is not a valid argument. Just because Krishnamacharya was associated with the Maharaja there is no guarantee he would even read the text. Sjoman also undermines any of Krishnamacharya's previous experiences in the field of Yoga before he became associated with the Maharaja, and finally the majority of names of sanas listed out in

Yogasanas should be practiced along with vinysa] and not without them. The vinysa, from one to seven, are common to all the sanas By following the vinysa, there will be movement in the internal organs, the nervous system, veins, arteries, and joints; all impurities will be lost/perish and the muscles in those places will become strong and sturdy/powerful. If you do not follow this type of vinysa in the practice of Yoga, most likely your body will become feeble. It is a pity that some people, who do not learn Yoga through a guru, leave out the vinysa and give the entire Yoga Science a bad name. Therefore, how many vinysas are there for each Yogsanas? Which asana comes at what particular point of each vinysa? For which asana is there exhalation? For which asana is there inhalation? Where is their internal retention? Where is there external retention? What is the result? All these questions are accounted for and explained upon later in an illustration for the benefit of the practitioner. (Yoga Makarandam: 1935)

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