This is a Vedic Chant to honor our teacher Sri Krishnamacharya, who opened the doors of Vedic Chanting to everyone. This post is for my classmate from KYM. This chant may not make sense to the rest of my regular readers of 0.0142, including Borat from Kazhakistan.

I was always aware that this word has been misused. Then it slowly dawns on me that another important word in Yoga has also been redefined. Either by PJ himself or his followers. I keep hearing conversations like, “I practice hatha yoga, not astanga” or the other way around. I ask the ayogis what is the difference. They tell me astanga is where one moves from one asana to the other with a vinyasa thrown in. Hatha is where one stays in a pose longer. Ok, Patanjali would be quite unhappy to hear the ayogis speak like this. Any physical yoga practice is hatha yoga, as far as I know. Flow, astanga, power, bikram, sivananda, Krishnamacharya KYM style, you name it. All of them are hatha yoga. So, astanga is nothing but a “style” of hatha yoga.

Then the next word incorrectly used is Vinyasa. The word Vinyasa according to Sri Krishnamacharya is coordinating movements with proper breathing and the sequencing of the asanas in an intelligent way with a purpose. Each of the important asana is practiced with vinyasas meaning variations and movements.

According to this definition by Sri K, astanga does contain the vinyasa for important poses like pascimottanasana, janu sirsasana, marichyasana and so on. Of course, it is completely based off of Sri K’s sequences. But, PJ has come up with a new definition.  The actual Vinyasa is called just an asana and the jump thru has been named the Vinyasa. I really have to wonder why.

Vinyasa according to PJ is the part surya namaskar A or the jump thru (chaturanga, upward dog, downward dog and jump thru) performed between each asana. He could have easily come up with new names for all this and not confuse with the classic definitions. For example, chaturangi-jump-like-a-proud-peacock for his vinyasa or chaturangi-fly-like-a-feather.

I am so not happy with PJ for getting three important words or concepts completely wrong. I know most people don’t care about such things, but I do.

This film was made in 1938. Sri Krishnamacharya was 50 years at that time.

I wouldn’t ask for my money back for the class, that’s just about how much I liked the class. I like my teachers lean and inspiring. That way, I know they are practicing their yoga, they are grounded and in touch with yoga and are not just talk. Isn’t the body a telltale of one’s yoga practice?

I would not trust a UI designer whose website looks so bad, who has never bothered to spell check the sample writing or when the links do not work correctly. The website of UI designer or a writer has to be simply good. That is what they do and I expect a high quality product from them.

On similar lines, I think a yoga teacher cannot be fat, essentially because all teachers are students forever. A serious yoga practice needs to be done with mindfulness and the bandhas. Practice with bandhas lead to good muscular control and the body tends to get lean. Unless the teacher is injured or suffering from some health condition, there is no way, a serious student can get fat.

The classic yoga texts are a great help in taking one’s practice from a beginner level to an advanced practice, which an asana teacher must be doing. The astanga yoga in the yoga sutras says clearly that greed is something one must conquer to get serious about yoga. Greed of food and anything else is to be avoided. Moderation is highly recommended. 

Sri Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Rahasya also discusses food and its moderation.

Āhara means food. But the root word har is to kill. You eat food to kill the hunger. If you do not take care, it can kill you in excess. Eat only when you are hungry and always in moderation.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika goes into such details about the diet and how it must be followed to gain a mastery of pranayama and asanas.

What do the readers think? Can a yoga teacher be fat? Or, am I wrong in expecting a teacher to be lean?

Patanjali’s Yoga Darshanam aka Yoga Sutras is the first authoritative work on Yoga. Patanjali (Puh-th-anjali) is not the author or the originator of Yoga. He is the one that compiled it in writing for the first time. He assembled the vast knowledge of Yoga from the Vedas, Upanishads and from the teachings of his guru.

The concepts related to Yoga are scattered all over the place in the Vedas and Upanishads. Yoga was taught in the oral tradition and had been in existence for many many years (millenia is the word used in some books). Patanjali did not just compile it from the Vedas. There were some Yoga concepts there and it had evolved to another darshanam (philosophy) called Sankhya and then in to Yoga at the time of Patanjali.

Patanjali wrote this knowledge in the form of Sutra. A Sutra is made up a few words and they are hardly a complete sentence. They are concise but full of meaning. The entire Yoga Sutra is less than two thousand words, but there is enough content in it, to study this over a life time. They are so rich in meaning that so many commentaries have been written about them.

It takes a genius to write Sutras, as they are extremely difficult to write. They are so profound and deep in their meaning. Although Bhagavad Gita mentions Yoga, it is Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras that talk about how exactly a restless mind can be brought to peace and extraordinary wisdom can be attained. It is so precise in explaining how certain things can be achieved, the Sutras look like algebraic equations. I could always draw a nice flow chart for all the concepts being explained.

There are four chapters with about 50 Sutras in each (in all, there are 195 Sutras). Out of these, there are 2 Sutras that talk about asana, 5 Sutras about pranayama. Pranayama gets a little more respect with 5 Sutras than asanas with just 2. The rest of the 188 Sutras are for the mind. It is simply about understanding the mind, the issues of the mind and getting over them. Of course, if you showed up at a so called yoga class, you would think it is just about asanas. I am sure Patanjali would not approve of any mass produced yoga class with asana being the poster child.

The Sutras are short so it can be memorized, passed on to the students in a simple form as a chant. The meaning is what is so complex and it is intentionally written this way. You can’t give a diamond to a monkey. The student needs to prove that he is worthy first of all to receive such precious teachings. The words are there for everyone to see, but its meaning cannot be grasped so easily.

Sri Krishnamacharya calls Yoga Sutra the heart of Yoga. The heart, hrdya, is that which does not change and Patanjali gave a permanent definition and form to yoga in his Sutra. However the prana to the Sutra is brought in by the teacher that explains it to the student. TKV Desikachar studied Yoga Sutras with Sri Krishnamacharya seven times over thirty years. Every time they studied it, Sri Krishnamacharya could explain it so differently, they were progressively enriching depending on how ready the student is to take in all there is to say. Sri Krishnamacharya says there is an ocean between the atha and iti, the first and the last syllables of the Sutra.

More to follow in the future posts as I am smitten with Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

One such class was Vedic Chanting. I had a faint idea what it was and I thought, I simply have to put up with this class for the greater good. I thought it was something like the Hindu priests chanting in the temples, which always looked meaningless to me. After a few classes, it slowly dawned on me that this class was turning out to be so much fun, that it was one of my highlights at KYM. I have hardly come across anything since Yoga, that I have been so impressed with.

The premise of Vedic chanting sounds simple enough. You have to repeat what the teacher says, in exactly the same way. The meaning of the chant will not be provided until much later after the students have mastered the chants. I was handed the print outs of the chants and asked to repeat after the teacher. In the Vedic times, the student had to listen intently to the teacher and repeat it. If a mistake was made, the passage had to be recited again until there were no mistakes. This style of teaching was intended to keep the direct link between the teacher and the student. Strict rules are observed to preserve the sanctity and that the Vedas had to be learnt only from a teacher.

It is believed that no human has the authority to modify the contents or even the way these voices were heard long ago. If a mistake is made during recitation, the meaning could be altered and the purpose of the chant. I should mention that the Vedas are written in Sanskrit. My teacher tells me that the chants that we are learning in the class must have sounded exactly the same way thousands of years ago. I am not sure if women were chanting in those days. I can only imagine young boys learning how to chant in the gurukula.

Now I will come to what is so different about Vedic chanting compared to a bhajan or any other recitation. Vedic Chanting has specific rules and it can be said in only that way. Whereas a bhajan can be sung in many different tunes. Or Bhagavad Gita slokas can be recited in different styles by different schools. Essentially there are no strict rules elsewhere and there is freedom to come up with various styles and tunes. Even though Vedic Chanting sounds musical, it is not music per se. Vedic Chanting has only 3 notes (udatta, anudatta, svarita) compared to 7 needed for music.

I am quoting the next section from one of the books by KYM on Vedic Chanting.
The Vedas are called Sruti, meaning that which was heard, because they are believed to have been the voice of the Lord. On the other hand, Smrti meaning that which is remembered, refers to all other works. All Smrti-s are credited with an author, usually a great sage, while the Lord is considered the author of the Sruti-s.

After many years of listening to butchered Sanskrit in the west, it felt like honey listening to the teachers at KYM say it just the right way. I understand that the English speakers or non-Indians cannot get the right pronunciation, but I think with effort and being conscious, some of the problems can be overcome.

After weeks of reciting the chants, the teacher let us in on the meaning of the chants. Most of the chants were asking for knowledge, to let go of the ego or better health. I was most impressed with it because it was so fun and that it felt like pranayama. I needed to have a good breath control to chant it the correct way. The posture had to be correct, I cannot lie down or slouch. I have to keep my spine straight to say the chants correctly, especially where I need to aspirate, like dh in dhimahi. It is a forceful sound that comes from the belly.

Sometimes there will be lot of rules to remember to say it the correct way. It felt like math, cannot do a mistake. If a mistake is made, then it is obvious that I am thinking of something else. It requires complete attention to remember all the rules and say it the right way. What fun!

There are some chants that make me so calm and drowsy. Then there are other chants that will energize me so much, I feel hungry at the end of the chant. I think chanting makes one drink extra water and keeps the appetite very healthy.

Vedic Chanting is part of KYM only because Sri Krishnamacharya who was a Vedic scholar among other things, believed in the spiritual aspect of sound. Deeply rooted vocal sounds link us to the source. When we recite Yoga Sutras, we form a link with Patanjali. Chanting is one of the best ways to elevate ourselves, even if we don’t understand the meaning.

The motto of KYM is

Heyam Hetu Anaaghatham

This means, avoid the suffering that is to come.KYM is within the bustling city of Chennai, unlike other Yoga places that are usually outside the city limits. At the KYM, I notice a lot of Indians waiting for a class along with western people. This is a very good sign for me. I have grown tired of Yoga places in India that cater simply to western people. There are no group yoga classes at KYM, which is a first for me in all the years that I have been practicing Yoga. Sri Krishnamacharya believed every person is different from the other and cannot be taught the same way.

Anyone that needs a yoga class has to get a consultation from the therapist who is also a Yoga teacher. A practice session is designed specifically for the student after figuring out their background, age, health, injuries and the goals. Quite a few people come to KYM following their doctor’s advice. The student’s record is kept track of with all the classes the student takes. The classes are taught in such a way that the student does not get dependent on the teacher. The classes designed for the student is meant for home practice. The student is guided by the teacher and specific advice is given.

Designing a home practice for a student is a beautiful thing. Again, this is a first for me. All the other places I know, create a dependency on the yoga class taught in a group setting with cool newage music, latest colorful outfits, chanting hindu bhajans and sometimes use extreme heat and mirrors! At KYM you will not find any of this. The key is to be independent with guidance provided from time to time as needed.

Yoga is a journey from dependence to independence

I have enjoyed the group classes at other places which has its own energy and a nice space to practice. But, I see a lot of meaning in teaching a class to just one student, whose specific needs are met. I have realized this is the best way to learn Pranayama from a teacher who can correct the student in the early stages. Pranayama done incorrectly can be meaningless and could even be harmful when overdone without knowing its effects. Asana and Pranayama are equally important in a Yogic lifestyle.

I am at the KYM participating in a four week workshop called Heart of Yoga. A few of us from my class had signed up for individual classes and I realized the classes prescribed for each student is very different from the other. Some people had a lot of pranayama, some had to chant mantras while performing Surya namskars or other asanas, some were given a specific breath ratio to follow, some people with injuries were given a special course to heal.

KYM specializes in teaching Vedic Chanting. I am so impressed with this, I will be wrting a separate post on this. After attending many fast food style, one size fits all- McYoga places, it feels good to take in the gourmet yoga at KYM, as there can be no shortcuts in Yoga.

I am lovin’ it!