Bahiranga Yoga Bahiranga Yogaa part of Ashtanga yoga through yam, niyam, asan and pranayam is excellently capable of eliminating four kinds of grievances.
यमनियमासन प्राणायाम प्रत्याहार धारणा ध्यान समधयो अस्टावंगानि
Yam (rule), niyam (regulation), asan (yogic posture), pranayama (breath exercise), pratyahar (retreat), dharana (concentrate), dhyana (mediatate) and Samadhi (union with supreme spirit) are the eight limbs of yoga.
- Prevention of sorrow is achieved through yam
- Prevention of melancholy is achieved through niyam
- Prevention of trembling of body parts is achieved through asan
- And respiratory problems are prevented through pranayama
Prevention of sorrow through yama
One who follows the principles of yam will always remain free from sorrow. He learns to stay unaffected by the sorrows.
- Yama – अहिंसासत्यास्तेय ब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहः यमाः
Ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (to not steal), brahmacharya (celibacy) and aparigrahah (modesty) are the five concepts of yama.
A Ahimsa: Non-violence (ahimsa) is considered the first and foremost eradicating factor of sorrow. Only the one who abides by the rules of ahimsa can live a happy, peaceful and blissful life. On the contrary, neither can anyone establish peace and happiness in one’s life with violence nor can we abolish suffering from their life. The eternal rule of nature is that if we hurt others, we will in turn be rewarded with similar suffering. It was truly quoted by Jesus that one who kills other with a sword will be killed by others with the same sword. So one who kills others using gun will die by the same reason. Thus non-violence is the only resort to lead a happy, peaceful and prosperous life. And as a consequence of non-violence you will be left with no rivals and thus all your foes sacrifice the grudge against you and become your ally.
B Satya (truthfulness): The second approach for the removal of suffering in one’s life is being truthful. Satyameva jayate is the well know axiom which means the truth is eventually the winner. And as a consequence, success brings happiness into your life. On the other hand one who lies can never live happily. It is because one lies will have to continue to lie throughout his life in order to support his afore said lies. And this becomes the main cause for discord in one’s life. Once the truth is proved, the seeker will be blessed with the support of divine soul and as a result gets relieved of all the sufferings of his life.
सत्यम ब्रुयात् प्रियं ब्रुयात् ना ब्रुयात् सत्यं अप्रियं
It means that one should only speak truth that is pleasing to others but should not speak something which is not pleasant even if it is true. Also one should never speak anything which is not true as anything which is not true cannot be pleasing.
C Asteya (to not steal): Asteya means not to steal. One who never steals will be blessed with all the happiness and pleasure in the world. It is the rule induced by nature. On the other hand one who steals will always be haunted by fear and insecurity that he might get caught. And one who is scared can in no case live happily. Moreover he will have to face the consequence of his sin one day for sure. Thus to not steal by mind, actor word is known as asteya. Thus through the practice of asteya the seeker will be endowed with best qualities such as discretion and asceticism.
D Brahmacharya (celibacy): Brahmacharya is the blend of two different words ‘brahma’ and ‘charya’. Charya is to follow and Brahma denotes the eternal supreme spirit. It is the highest form of consciousness, superior to all the forms. One who constantly seeks the supreme consciousness is called brahmachari.
ब्राह्मणी चरित इति ब्रह्मचारी
Through the practice of brahmacharya, the seeker reaches a state where his mind dwells only in the supreme consciousness continuously and never reverts back. This state is called brahmacharyavastha.
The seeker eventual achieves an ability to receive strong position in celibacy. Pitamah Bhishma and Shri Hanuman are the evident instances of such state.
Observing sexual abstinence in all forms such as through mind, speech and body and continuing to seek the supreme conscience is the main theme of brahmacarya. It is inevitable to follow brahmacharya in order to eliminate suffering from one’s life. Most of the people who achieved great success in the world are found to have followed brahmacharya. A common man’s life flows away with the flow of time. But the life of a seeker of supreme spirit is not of such kind. The total time of his life is invested on the path to enlightenment. The seeker may also reach a state where he is capable of controlling even time similar to the way in which man has learnt to block the flow of water and generate energy which eradicated darkness from the world. This also made water storage at large quantities possible which can be utilised for irrigation purposes in agricultural based countries like India.
In a similar way one who follows brahmacharya will be capable of controlling time without getting influenced by it. With such ability he would he serves the country in such a way that world commemorates his acts. Such a person is never afraid of death. Because it is said that – यवाद बिन्दुः स्थिरो देहे तवन्मृत्योरभयमकुतः It means that until the brahma (the spirit) exists in this physical body one need not be afraid of death.
According to Bartruhari Maharaj – तृष्णा न जीर्णा वयमेव जीर्णाः which means the materialistic desires, ambitions or aspirations will never grow old. They stay young throughout the life. But the human body ages with time and tend to lose energy and become weak. In such a state any person who is weak gets influenced by these desires but will lack energy to achieve them. Thus as a result his life fills with misery. On the contrary one who makes proper use of time when it is available and learn to control his senses through the practice of yoga will learn to be strong and not get carried away by the fascination of desires even in the older ages. Such person will be able to live his life peacefully in the stage infirmity too.
One who disregards the path of brahmacharya will be left with no inspiration, enthusiasm, energy and strength in life. His life is barren and dry. His life flows away with time without any motive. His life lacks the basic essence and pleasure of life. If one tries to implement brahmacharya for 41 days, he can identify his strength and efficiency. It helps him to boost up his self-confidence also. If he continues to follow brahmacharya for 6 months, he can see a major changes taking place in his life. In order to observe brahmacharya one need not stay away from his family. One can very well continue to stay with his family and discard all his duties and responsibilities. He can break the rules of brahmacharya for the progress of his family when required. Meticulous implementation of brahmacharya becomes the prime duty of every individual as brahma is life and brahma itself is everything in the universe.
E Aparigraha (modesty): This forms the final reason for the removal of suffering from one’s life. Acquiring wealth and properties more than required for leading one’s life is called parigraha. On the contrary leading life only with the wealth necessary to lead comfortable life is called aprigraha. Parigraha becomes the cause for many social problems. This might eventually lead to war and hostilities. Today there are many rich people in the world, but the count poor is more than them. This calls for an imbalance in the society. Thus a seeker should leave behind the greed to amass wealth and try to live a comfortable life with contentment. This makes his life happy prosperous eventually.
Our yoga teacher training in India also comprises of a special schedule for ashtanga yoga. We request everyone who is interested to avail this opportunity and fill their life with joy.
