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You can view excerpts from this interview in our
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Intro: Where is the
delusion when truth is known? Where is the disease
when the mind is clear? Where is death when the
Breath is controlled? Therefore surrender to Yoga
- T Krishnamacharya in
Yoganjalisaram.
 Yoga
was in the family.. Krishnamacharya was born in
Karnataka in 1888 and belonged to a family of
distinguished ancestry. Among his forebears was the
9th century teacher and sage Nathamuni, who was a
great Teacher who created remarkable works, such as
the Nyaya Tattva. In his youth, Shri Krishnamacharya
experienced insights around some of these teachings
in a mystic dream whilst on a pilgrimage. He was
Sankhyayogasikhamani, Meemamsa Ratna, Meemamsa
Theertha, Nyayacharya, Vedantavaageesa, Vedakesari
and Yogacharya.
His son TKV Desikachar, had the
privilege of living and studying with his father.
For over 45 years, TKV Desikachar has devoted
himself to teaching yoga and making it relevant to
people from all walks of life and with all kinds of
abilities. His teaching method is based on
Krishnamacharya's fundamental principle that yoga
must always be adapted to an individual's changing
needs in order to derive the maximum therapeutic
benefit. In addition to the three decades of yoga
training he received from his father, TKV Desikachar
holds a degree in structural engineering. One of the
world's foremost teachers of yoga and a renowned
authority on the therapeutic uses of yoga, TKV
Desikachar continues to oversee Krishnamachari Yoga
Mandiram's work and guiding the faculty of KYM. H
Ramakrishnan interacted with him on behalf of
Chennai Online..........
“People are looking for a panacea
for their health problems. My father was able to
reduce the physical suffering of several people.
This system cannot give you any instant remedy. But,
it can provide slow but steady relief. My father
could help people come out of several ailments like
paralysis, diabetes, partial stroke, asthma and
structural problems. He would choose the appropriate
practice for each person. When they find
improvement, they would tell others that when nobody
else could cure or even lessen their suffering,
Krishnamachariar could do it. They would advice
others also to learn Yoga practice from my father.
It is a kind of mouth to mouth communication,
reaching a lot of people the world over. We do not
believe in advertisements,” says Desikachar, who
continues his father’s practice of one-to-one
teaching.
He then elaborated several
aspects of Yoga. Yogaha Sannahana. According to our
ancient tradition, Yoga means, to prepare – to
prepare for something. Upayam, the step by step
approach.Dhyanam,meditation. Sangathi, to link
consciousness. Yukthi, strategy.”
Yoga at KYM transcends religious
connotations. “We never emphasise on the religious
aspect of Yoga. People of all communities –Muslims,
Christians and others came to study Yoga under my
father. Nothing was imposed on them. He respected
their faith. When my father was invited to teach the
Nizam of Hyderabad, he spoke to him in Urdu. The
Nizam was so impressed that his entire family
practiced Yoga. People of all faiths come to
Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram as there is no
religious inhibition. That is why the present Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu Mr. M Karunanidhi practices
Yoga everyday without fail. He has total faith in
that. On several occasions he has eulogized the
benefits of Yoga. I recite what he can easily
comprehend. I don’t recite ‘MItraya namaha’.
Instead, I recite ‘Gnayiru Poatrudhum’. He likes it
that way and talks highly about the benefits of
Yoga, “says Desikachar.
There are other VIP students as
well. And one such is J Krishnamurthy. The year was
1965.In Switzerland, a French man was attending a
talk by JK. He found that JK was having some health
problem. He told JK that he had also some physical
ailments for which the Great Yoga Master, Prof.
Krishnamacharya gave easy solutions. The Frenchman
recommended the Master to JK.
“In December that year, when J
Krishnamurthy was in Chennai, he sought an
appointment with my father for learning Yoga
practice. The very next morning we went to him and
upon his request demonstrated a few Yoga, breathing
and Asana practices. Krishnamurthy was so impressed
that he instantly requested my father to send one of
us (his children) to him for guiding him on Yoga.
 Next
day, which is on January 1 1966, I went to him. I
requested him to show me what he was practicing. He
went for the headstand. Mind you, he had a stiff
neck. While doing the headstand, he would spit some
bile and phlegm. I saw that there was something
inappropriate. I sought my father’s advice. ‘You
please request him to stop all that he has been
practicing. I am going to suggest some very mild
practices,’ said my father and gave me some
instructions. I started guiding him the way my
father wanted me to, twice a day. After a month he
saw remarkable improvement in his health. He took me
to Rishy valley for a couple of weeks. Then, he
wanted me to go with him to Switzerland to continue
teaching him Yoga practices. I told him I would do
so, provided my uncle and a very famous Yoga Master
Mr BKS Iyengar approved of it. JK got my uncle’s
concurrence. Krishnamurthy practiced Yoga from the
age of 68, until he breathed his last at the age of
92.”
Desikachar then detaied how his
revered father received advanced training in Yoga.
“It was from Rama Mohana Brahmachari. And, that is a
very interesting incident. My father went to North
India after studying Sanskrit. The then Viceroy, who
was at Simla had some health problem. His son, a
Doctor, could not cure his ailment. My father could
bring relief to him through Yoga practices.
Overwhelmed with joy, the Viceroy wanted to repay
his debt of gratitude. He helped my father to visit
Manasarovar in Tibet to learn advanced Yoga from
Rama Mohana Brahmachari. My father spent seven and a
half years with him learning all aspects of Yoga. My
father could stop his heartbeat for two minutes. He
acquired several such Yogic powers.”
Asked about the first book on
Yoga that his father wrote, he said, “The then King
of Mysore, Nalvadi Krishna raja Wudaiyar practiced
Yoga under my father’s guidance. He was cured of his
diabetes. The King asked my father to write a book
on Yoga. Thus the first book was published in 1931.
He wanted others also to benefit from the knowledge
of my father and he started a Yoga School. It was a
very successful experiment. But after the demise of
the King, it could not be run.”
About how this Mysore-man landed
in Chennai, he recalled, “Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer ,
a famous jurist and one of the architects of Indian
Constitution suffered from a stroke. Professor
Krishnamacharya came to Chennai to help him recover.
The disciple-circle enlarged and they wanted the
Master to stay on in Chennai. Then we started this
Mandiram.“
You can view excerpts from this interview in our
video link |
