अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाःavidya-asmita-raga-dwesha-abhiniveshah kleshah A meditative sage sits thoughtfully against a stunning mountainous backdrop at dusk. These principles of Patanjali are not only applicable to yogic life, but also to worldly goals. Patanjali says that there are only five sources of all our miseries. There are five and only five sources. All our miseries can be … Continue reading Five sources of all our miseries
यमनियमासनप्राणायामप्रत्याहारधारणाध्यानसमाधयोऽष्टावङ्गानि॥२९॥Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi - are the eight limbs (Yogasutras - 2:29) image credit : unsplash The first section of the Patanjali Yoga-sutras was Samadhi Pada . It describes the ultimate destination of Yoga. After 'where to go', logically speaking 'how to go there' should be told. The second section of … Continue reading Eight Limbs of Yoga
After going thorough my previous posts in this BlogChatterA2Z series, the reader by now must have got some idea about yoga. Now it is time to explore the formal definitions of yoga. According to Maharshi Patanjali: योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः - Yogaschittabritti Nirodhah If the reader is clear about the Sanskrit words chittah, britti and nirodhah, there is … Continue reading Defining Yoga
This post is for the reader who is in a hurry to have a little taste of yoga. In my previous posts I explored certain aspects associated with the philosophy of yoga. But yoga has been mostly promoted as a kind of healthy lifestyle choice. Many want to keep it that way - just a … Continue reading Common Yoga Protocol
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युतO Achyuta ! Place my chariot at the middle of both the armies. You may wonder - what has Arjuna, or for that matter the Bhagavad Gita to do with yoga? Let us not forget that the first chpter of the Bhagavad Gita is named as Arjuna Vishada Yoga, the second chapter … Continue reading Arjuna’s Despondence
This will be for the third time that I will be participating in Blogchatter A2Z challenge. The uninitiated may ask – what is this Blogchatter A2Z challenge? Blogchatter.com, is India’s primary web portal that provides networking and publicity support to the blogging community. Come April and the blogchatter team throws open the A2Z blogging challenge. … Continue reading Theme reveal – Blogchatter A2Z 2026
Without giving the right context it is difficult to talk about spiritual traditions of India. That is also the difficulty one faces when planning to write any short article on spirituality. First of all spirituality and religion are not the same thing. As Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, 'Religion is the banana peel and … Continue reading Yogavashistha – the path of pure knowledge
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com धृतराष्ट्र उवाच धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः। मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय।। dhritaraashtra uvaacha dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavah / maamakaah paandavaashchaiva kimakurvata sanjaya // Dhritarastra said : Assembled in Kurukhetra - the field of dharma, determined to fight it out, what did Pandu’s sons and mine do, O Sanjay? Bhagavad Gita //1:1// … Continue reading questioning is the key
We live in the times of market economy. Seeing that yoga has caught the fancy of all and sundry, multi-billion dollar multinational industries have grown around it. Then, to make it more marketable, customer friendly and gain the competitive edge, these days all kinds of body contortions and conceptual distortions go in the name of … Continue reading Hatha Yoga Pradipika
India may have hundreds of X factors that distinguish it from other countries. For this post I have taken three broad factors which in themselves will cover a whole range of other factors. Of course India has also many negative aspects. But when we talk of X factors, it should be positive. After going through … Continue reading The X-factors of Hindustan
PEBBLES AND WAVES 