A SACRED OCCASION TO CONNECT LIFE WITH FESTIVITIES

Yoga is the great tradition of India, which once gave our country recognition as a world leader. Today, it is even more important as an ideal lifestyle because through it we move towards a healthy body and a healthy mind.

Maharishi Arvind was a great yogi and described yoga practice as very important for a holistic view of life, he had once said that if a person adopts yoga, he is completely transformed. He gets connected to the festivity of life with feelings of positivity.

It is to be understood that yoga is not a therapy, yoga is the biggest medium of self-development. This is the method of meeting the supreme element which provides inner light to the person. That is why, from the very beginning, sages, saints and noble people have been associated with the tradition of yoga.

I remember, on 27 September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed to celebrate Yoga at the world level in the United Nations and 177 countries then became its co-sponsors. The proposal to celebrate World Yoga Day was passed in record time. On 11 December 2014, the proposal to celebrate Yoga Day on 21 June was approved by 193 members of the United Nations. Considering this great tradition of India useful for the whole world, World Yoga Day was declared on 21 June. I believe that this is the global acceptance of our traditions and culture.

Yoga means to connect. In our country, Maharishi Patanjali was the first to codify the Yoga Sutras by organizing various meditation practices. If you go into the Indian culture of the Vedas, you will come across the tradition of Yoga there too. Hiranyagarbha preached Yoga at the beginning of creation. Rishis like Patanjali, Jaimini etc. later made it accessible to everyone. From Hatha to Vinyasa and from Dhyan to Pranayama, Yoga has been enriching and fulfilling life.

In such a time when the mind is constantly wandering in the blind race of materialism, Yoga is also very useful for mental peace and satisfaction. Maharishi Arvind has written that Yoga does not mean to renounce life but to face the problems and challenges of life with courage by believing in divine power. In Arvind’s view, Yoga is not just to practice difficult asanas and pranayama but about surrendering oneself to God without any expectation and transforming oneself into a divine form through mental education.

Yoga is connected to the mind along with the body. If the mind is healthy, the body automatically moves towards health. In intuition, a person comes face to face with the ignorance within him. Yoga helps in this. I have experienced it many times. If the modern generation joins the yogic routine, if it is made compulsory in schools and colleges, then many complexities related to life can be solved very easily.

Swami Vivekananda had advised the yogis of his time that their conduct itself should be a proof. What he meant to say was that yoga should be kept away from commercialism. It should not be associated with miracles, but should be seen as a welfare for humanity. This is the biggest need of the hour.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna has said ‘Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam’. That is, yoga is the method of achieving efficiency in any work. Mahatma Gandhi has practiced Anasakti Yoga. There is Kriya Yoga in Patanjali Yoga Darshan. Yoga has been a part of our sacred lifestyle since the beginning in all forms like Pashupat and Maheshwar Yoga. Adopting it means, restraint of the mind’s tendencies and a healthy body and healthy mind. This is also the biggest need of today.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Kalraj Mishra The writer is Governor of Rajasthan