MY STUDIES WITH
śR� KRISHNAMACHARYA
SRIVATSA RAMASWAMI
śrą Krishnamacharya during class at his residence in R.K. Puram. Photograph by Dr. Radhakrishnan.
SPRING 2007 13
for �sana practice in the morning and
for chanting or the study of texts in the
evening. I never got bored. Every class
was unique; there was always something
interesting, something profound.
My studies with Krishnamacharya
can be broadly classified into three
groups. There was a longish study of
Ha�ha Yoga, following his now famous
Viny�sa Krama, including individual
and specific therapeutic applications. I
learned several hundred viny�sas built
around very important classic poses.
There were preparatory viny�sas, then
movements within the �sana itself, and
pratikriy�s or counter poses. My first few
years of study were focused on general
�sana practice. I studied in a small group
made up of the members of my family
gathered in a large room in our house.
śrą Krishnamacharya came to our house
in the morning almost daily to teach.
He taught different �sanas to different
members of our family, depending upon
HENEVER śR� KRISHNAMACHARYA The arms should be close to the body the age and condition of each individual.
Wtaught me, prayer came first. but not touching the body, and the There was my eight-year-old kid sister,
Classes started with a meditative folded hands, inclined by about thirty energetic and supple. I was about
prayer (dhy�na łloka) to Lord Vi�óu degrees, should be held in front of the sixteen. My brother was around twenty
for the success of the session, followed heart or the sternum. With a straight and, at that time, in need of particular
by prayers to Lord Hayagrąva, the back and head slightly bowed, śrą attention. śrą Krishnamacharya gave
repository of all Vedic knowledge, and Krishnamacharya would be a dignified him special assistance. Then there were
to Lord K��óa. Next would be a prayer picture of peace and devotion. my thirty-five-year-old mother and my
appropriate to the topic at hand to In this article I would like to focus forty-five-year-old father to complete
Patańjali if it was a yoga program, to on what I studied with my guru, śrą the group. While there were some
B�dar�yaóa for a program on Brahma Krishnamacharya, rather than writing �sanas and movements that all of us
S�tras, to Kapila for a S�ękhya class, a historical account of him. Enough practiced, there were many that were
or the appropriate peace chant (ł�nti articles and books have been written different particular and appropriate to
p��ha) for upani�adic vidy�s and Vedic about his greatness; I think it is each individual. śrą Krishnamacharya
chanting programs. There would always important to know what he taught. It is had great skills of observation. He had
be a P�rva-ł�nti (beginning peace clear that he taught different subjects to a booming voice and a certain firmness
invocation), and following tradition, different people differently at different and authority in his instructions. It was
class would always end with a peace times. Here is an account of what I always fascinating to see him teach so
chant called Uttara-ł�nti, normally learned from him. many people differently at the same
the surrender łloka to Lord N�r�yaóa I studied with Pandit Krishnamacharya time, a feat in itself.
found in Vi�óu-sahasran�ma, and the (as he was known in Madras at that time) My father had my upan�yanam,
forgiveness or k�am�pana-stotra, if it from 1955 to 1988. Of course there a ceremony for initiation into Vedic
was Vedic chanting class. The way my were a few breaks, many times brief, studies, performed when I was ten.
guru maintained ańjali-mudr� while sometimes longer, but on the whole my At that age, I learned some �sanas at
saying the prayer was a point of study. study with him was nearly continuous school, well-known postures such as
He said that in this mudr� the palms for that entire time. After every break sarv��g�sana, padm�sana, matsy�sana,
should be slightly cupped while keeping I would go back to him and, without and a few others. But on the very first day
the hands together. There should be a hesitation, he would give me time to of my study with śrą Krishnamacharya, I
hollow between the palms sufficient to continue with the studies. Normally, I learned a yoga practice so different from
hold an imaginary lotus or your heart had two to three sessions per week, but what I had been taught and how I had
in a gesture of loving offering to the there were occasions when I had the seen others in India do yoga. He asked
dhyeya, the object of your meditation. privilege of going to him twice a day us to stand in tad�sana standing with
14 ISSUE No. 6
Srivatsa Ramaswami, Chennai, January 2007.
both feet together. After some wait in normal fifteen to sixteen breaths per
the pose, he asked us to keep our heads minute. My father used to like talking
down and slowly raise our arms, inhaling to Srinivasan; one day, after conversing
slowly with a  rubbing sensation in with him, my father mentioned that he
the throat.  Inhaaaaaaaaaaaaale, he was a worthy son of the great yogą śrą
said,  raise your arms slowly overhead; Krishnamacharya.
interlock your fingers and turn them
outward. To this day, that is how I COMPLETED MY UNDERGRADUATE
start my �sana practice and how I teach Iwork in electrical engineering
a class. It was the first time I had ever in 1960. By then I had been śrą
heard someone instructing to move the Krishnamacharya s student for about
limbs with the breath.  Exhaaaaaaaaale, five years. I had learned many of the
he said,  lower the arms with a hissing important poses such as sarv��g�sana,
sound in the throat. The hands should padm�sana, vajr�sana, and dhanur�sana
touch the sides as you complete your plus several pr�ó�y�ma methods. But it teaching the viny�sas, the breathing,
exhalation. It was so new and exciting. was time to take a job. As an electrical the counter poses, and rest pauses he
The seeds of Viny�sa Krama were sown engineer, I got offers to work as a trainee was more accessible and communicative.
in me on that day with that movement. in a government-owned, lignite-based It was a great experience studying �sanas
Learning the various viny�sas was electric-generation company about 150 with him. Soon he added several �sanas
a lot of fun. Because I had done �sana miles from Madras or in a hydroelectric and viny�sas and pr�ó�y�mas to my
practice when I was even younger, the plant in the hilly regions of Nilgiris, practice.
learning was smooth. Integrating the about 350 miles from where I lived. After a while, another dramatic change
breath with movements and keeping the One day as my teacher was leaving took place. Desikachar asked me if I was
mind closely following the breath made for home after teaching classes in our interested in learning Vedic chanting
a profound impact on the practice. house, I told him that I was leaving from his father, as he was going to start
If yoga meant union, then the union Madras to take a job. He immediately studying with him. Before meeting śrą
of mind and body was easily achieved turned to my father and asked if he Krishnamacharya, I had studied Sanskrit
by using the breath as the harness to would find a job for me in Madras itself. and Vedic chanting for almost four years
unite them. In addition, this initial He indicated that his son Desikachar with a Vedic scholar in my house. With
training got one comfortable with the had also graduated in engineering and this scholar I used to learn chanting
breath in preparation for more involved would probably find a job in Madras. with my father almost every morning
pr�ó�y�ma and sowed the seeds of My father, who was a founding partner before dawn. We learned to chant the
dh�raó�, or meditation, with the breath in a leading stock brokerage firm, talked entire S�rya-namask�ra, taking about
spot (pr�óa-sth�na) as the focus of to some of his friends and arranged a an hour, and the Rudram Camakam, the
attention. few interviews for me. I took a job in a Vedic prayer to śiva. And there were the
In the summer of 1958 or so, I went motorcycle company. But for my guru s S�rya-namask�ra, Taittirąya Upani�ad,
with my parents to śrą Krishnamacharya s timely intervention, I would have missed and Mah�n�r�yaóa Upani�ad. Yes, I was
house in Gopalapuram. My guru s a lifetime opportunity of studying with interested in chanting with my guru,
family had just moved to Madras from a great soul. but I was surprised. How could a yoga
Mysore. We met his gracious wife, his śrą Desikachar s arrival in Madras teacher teach Vedic chanting? I had
eldest son, Srinivasan, his younger son brought about a few momentous always found that Ha�ha Yoga teachers
Sribhashyam, and the last daughter, changes. He soon started teaching, had no background at all in chanting or
Shobha. His second son, śrą Desikachar, still working as an engineer in his old texts, but had expertise only in the
had come for summer holidays outside job. One day, in a dramatic physical aspects of yoga. Anyway, I said
from Mysore, where he was doing development, śrą Krishnamacharya told that I was interested, and the next day
undergraduate study in engineering. my father and me that he was stopping Desikachar told me I could join him on
His father introduced me to him. teaching (he was in his mid-seventies an auspicious day chosen by his father.
My father developed a particular at that time) and that we could study Desikachar also said that henceforth I
liking for Srinivasan. One day, in his with his sons. I was sent to Desikachar would study both chanting and yoga
father s presence and at his request, and my father became Sribhashyam s with his father, as śrą Krishnamacharya
Srinivasan showed us łąr��sana. He student. It was a different experience said that he did not want me to have
stood in the pose for well over fifteen studying with Desikachar, who was two teachers. He himself would teach
minutes, absolutely motionless, with more or less my own age. It soon became me both �sanas and Vedic chanting.
exceptionally slow breathing. It was apparent that he was going to become Desikachar and I learned chanting
perhaps two breaths per minute for an extraordinary teacher. Even as he together for several years, but my �sana
the entire duration, instead of the stuck to the basics of Krishnamacharya s classes with my guru were one-on-one.
SPRING 2007 15
śrą
Krishnamacharya.
Photograph by Srivatsa Ramaswami.
śrą Krishnamacharya and his wife after class at his Mandavelli residence in the late 1960s. Photograph by Srivatsa Ramaswami.
HE CHANTING EXPERIENCE WITH MY One of the first chants was S�rya- (paragraph wise) in the Vedas. It is
Tguru was extraordinary, even namask�ra, or Sun Salutation. It is the chanted mostly on Sundays, early in the
though previously I had had considerable first chapter in the �raóyaka (forest) morning around dawn and takes about
chanting practice. The clarity and depth portion of K��óa Yajur Veda. Both my one hour to chant. I had the privilege
he brought to his chanting were unique. teacher s and our family tradition was of studying and chanting with my guru
We learned chanting the traditional the same K��óa Yajur Veda and that on innumerable Sundays at his house.
way. He would teach one phrase that certainly helped. In my last class with him, in 1988, we
was then repeated twice by the student. Sv�dhy�ya, or, according to my chanted S�rya-namask�ra together. He
Then on to the next phrase, and so on. guru, study of one s own Veda, is an was in bed, incapacitated after a fall, but
This process would go on for an hour or important ingredient of yoga. The word with a booming voice he chanted the
so. Any correction required by way of sv�dhy�ya itself is a Vedic term. There is entire chapter from memory. That day
pronunciation or svaras (notes) would a chapter called Sv�dhy�ya-prakaraóa in he blessed me and wished me well. Since
be given right away. The same material Yajur Veda that tells about the efficacy that time I have chanted these mantras
was repeated for several days, maybe of study and chanting of the Vedas, almost regularly.
fifteen to twenty times. Then the teacher including the chanting of the great I have chanted this Vedic portion in
and the student would chant the entire G�yatrą-mantra. Reference to sv�dhy�ya several Hindu temples in the U.S. and
portion several times. The next portion as a duty can be found in Taittirąya at public places in Austin and Houston,
was then taken up for study. It normally Upani�ad  sv�dhy�y�t m� pram�da� Texas. I would chant one section, at the
took about one hundred hours of and  & ca sv�dhy�ya-pravacane ca  end of which many participants would
learning and practicing to complete one indicating that one should chant and physically do one s�rya-namask�ra,
hour of chanting. If the student then study the Vedas and also teach how to as they had learned it. One by one
wanted to memorize the portion, he chant the Vedas. The most important every section is chanted, followed by
would chant it another hundred times; chant that Krishnamacharya taught a namask�ra. In all there are thirty-
this is how chanting is taught in Veda was the famous S�rya-namask�ra, also two namask�ras interspersed with the
p��hał�las, or Vedic chanting schools. I known as Aruóa Prap��haka. It consists mantras. For health it is recommended
do not now remember the chronology of 132 paragraphs in thirty-two sections to turn toward the sun deity (�rogyam
of the chants I learned from my guru. and is said to be the longest chapter bh�skar�t icchet) while doing the s�rya-
16 ISSUE No. 6
śrą Krishnamacharya chanting.
SPRING 2007 17
namask�ra. These mantras, when chanted in Madras at prime time, went well. The important goal of R�ja Yoga. Mantra
aloud and with understanding, cleanse station then offered me more programs. Japa, or repetition of the same short
the body and the mind internally. There In the course of the next ten years I mantra such as the G�yatrą or Praóava,
are some beautiful passages poetic did almost thirty programs in Sanskrit. the śiva or N�r�yaóa mantras, over
and profound in this prakaraóa. The I would consult my guru before and over again, helps to reinforce
famous G�yatrą and the declaration of several programs, and he was always devotional fervor and the ek�grat� in
the immortality of the soul (am�tam enthusiastic and encouraging. For some the yogą. Mantra Dhy�na has similar
puru�a) are some of the mantras found talks he would dictate a lot of material. effects. Mantra Yoga and Bhakti Yoga
in it. For a program on Upani�ad K�vyas he were very important ingredients in
dictated an entire talk in Sanskrit. Other Krishnamacharya s yoga; every yoga
Y GURU TAUGHT SEVERAL OTHER programs I did included Ha�ha Yoga school would do well to add this
Msections of Vedic chanting: Pradąpik�, Sun Salutation, wedding dimension to the yogąc topics they
Sv�dhy�ya-prakaraóa, also known as vows, pr�ó�y�ma, meditation, and Sad- teach. Vedic chanting or sv�dhy�ya
Ku�m�ó�a-homa, extols the efficacy vidy� from Ch�ndogya Upani�ad. continues to be an important part of
of Vedic mantras; Citti-sruk, a chapter After all these efforts, a fledgling yoga practice.
containing a beautiful meditation on record company offered to produce
 the light, tattva; Pravargya-br�hmaóa, an audiocassette on the Yoga S�tras URING THE LONG, LONG YEARS OF MY
the three chapters of the Taittirąya which did not do well in the market. Dstudy with my guru, he seldom
Upani�ad, followed by Mah�n�r�yaóa The company, however, offered to do made any mention of his past, his
Upani�ad. He also taught three chapters another recording, as they liked my family, his studies, his experiences,
of the Taittirąya K�thaka, the source of chanting. They asked me to recite Lalit� or his former students. Except for a
the famous Ka�hopani�ad. It would take Sahasran�ma, a very popular pur�óic rare mention of his brother-in-law, he
about ten hours to chant it all. I think prayer. There are thousands of devotees did not refer to any earlier students.
I have spent more than 1,500 hours who recite this prayer every day in Hence, I was completely unaware of his
learning and chanting these mantras South India. Since I was not familiar background. There is a saying in India,
with śrą Krishnamacharya. with the text, I took a few months to  Never investigate the origin of a sage
I also learned to chant the Yoga study it and record it. The recording had (��i) or a river. I was happy simply to
S�tras; I like to chant the S�tras. One a very good response, and from then on, attend his classes, listen to him, and
day I was chanting the S�tras and also for the next twenty years, I recorded learn. I did not know for a very long time
a Vedic śiva chant when a Sanskrit all the chants I had learned from what his credentials were. But when,
scholar told me that my chanting was my guru, such as S�rya-namask�ra, soon after the chanting classes started,
very good. I then bought my first tape Sv�dhy�ya Prakaraóa, Taittirąya he indicated that we should study the
recorder and taped the S�tras; I used Upani�ad and other prayers, including texts of yoga and related subjects, I
the recordings to make improvements. the sahasran�mas of different deities like immediately grabbed the opportunity,
Then I had a final version. A friend of Vi�óu, śiva, Gaóeła, Subrahmaóya, not even wondering what he was going
mine suggested that, since yoga was Durg�, G�yatrą, Ańjaneya, to teach.
becoming popular, I should explore the R�ghavendra, and Hariharaputra. I also Coming from a sm�rta brahmin
possibilities of making an audiocassette, recorded the complete Sundara K�ó�a family, I had a rudimentary familiarity
and then took me to a leading recording (in ten volumes!) of the R�m�yaóa, with the Upani�ads and the advaitic
company. They heard the tape and running close to about 3,000 łlokas. approach to Ved�nta. So when
appeared impressed, but the marketing In all I made about forty recordings, Krishnamacharya started teaching some
department poured cold water on our several of them still selling about twenty of the Upani�ad vidy�s he thought I
enthusiasm, saying that because I was an years after they were produced. This should know, I was thrilled. He started
unknown entity, marketing was going was all possible because of the excellent with Sad-Vidy� (Study of the Reality), a
to be a problem. They then suggested grounding and encouragement given to chapter from the Ch�ndogya Upani�ad
that I might try to do some programs me by my guru, śrą Krishnamacharya. of S�ma Veda, and navigated through
over the national radio station so that Mantra yoga was a very important and the entire text. It is about the source of
people would get to know about me. I integral part of śrą Krishnamacharya s everything, knowing which everything
got the opportunity to give a talk in the yoga. Chanting, or mantra par�yaóa, becomes known. It is Brahman, the
Sanskrit program slot on Yoga S�tras. I especially of Vedic and other pur�óic ultimate, non-changing principle and
mentioned this to my guru and sought mantras, is practiced by hundreds of hence the only reality. The vidy� also
his blessings. He asked me to close the thousands of Bhakti Yogąs. When emphasizes that the individual Self and
door of his room, listened to my tape Sanskrit mantra portions are recited the Brahman are one and the same (Tat
of the S�tras, and blessed me, saying with an understanding of their Tvam Asi). Of course, being an exponent
that it was very good. The program, meaning, the mind achieves an excellent of Viłi���dvaita, his interpretation of the
broadcast over the national radio station one-pointedness, called ek�grat�, an Mah�v�kya the Great Saying was
18 ISSUE No. 6
somewhat different from the advaitic Similarly, when he taught the Taittirąya R� KRISHNAMACHARYA WANTED SOME
interpretation, but that there is one and Upani�ad, the difference in interpretation śof us to study yoga texts in
only one ultimate reality is an assertion of �nandamaya was very interesting. considerable depth as well. The Yoga
common to both interpretations, in He also taught me the first eight s�tras S�tras of Patańjali was the centerpiece
contrast to the dualism of Yoga and of Brahma S�tra. One day he mentioned of our yoga studies. Anything said or
S�ękhya. that he would teach the whole Ved�nta practiced that is inconsistent with the
Subsequently, other Upani�ads were from the advaitic point of view if I teachings of the Yoga S�tras should
taught. M�ó��kya Upani�ad of the wanted, but added that, while the advaitic be rejected, he said. He first taught us
Atharva Veda was taught in detail. The view might be intellectually challenging, it to chant the S�tras correctly and then
four stages of individual consciousness could never be satisfying. He taught Prałna went on to teach them, word by word,
as the manifestations of the only Self Upani�ad, Muódaka Upani�ad, �ł�v�sya giving the meaning and nuance of each
was emphasized, and the four aspects of Upani�ad, and certain important vidy�s word, its derivation, the generic and
Praóava the  a,  u,  m and finally the from Ch�ndogya and B�had�raóyaka the contextual meaning, and then the
fourth stage, the stage of immortality Upani�ads, such as Pańc�gni Vidy�, Pr�óa concept behind each of the s�tras. This
represented symbolically by the mantra Vidy�, Bh�ma Vidy�, Dahara Vidy�, took a considerable amount of time. He
Om were explained. The terms used ś�ó�ilya Vidy�, Pratardana Vidy� and said that the Yoga S�tras address three
in the text vaiłv�nara, taijasa, pr�jńa several others. He covered several chapters different levels of yogąs: the highest, the
and the turąya were considered from the Bhagavad Gąt�, śvet�łvatara mid-level, and the beginner.
identical with Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Upani�ad, and Kau�ątaki Br�hmaóa The first chapter is for the most
Sa�kar�aóa and finally Parav�sudeva, the Upani�ad. All these studies took several evolved yogą, someone on the level of
ultimate reality, following the Bh�gavata years. My guru said that to understand a Yog�r��ha of the Bhagavad Gąt�, a
or Vai�óavite approach. I learned a lot Ved�nta, one should study several of the yogą who can get into sam�dhi by dint
comparing the Advaitic and Viłi���dvaitic Upani�ad vidy�s, as they answer different of the yoga s�dhanas of his previous
interpretations, seeing their similarities questions that arise about the same birth. Such a yogą is in the final stages
and the differences between them. ultimate reality. of his yogic journey, riding on the back
śrą Krishnamacharya being honored by Srivatsa Ramaswami s father at his house on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday.
SPRING 2007 19
of the yogic horse on the royal path to It was his opinion that in Kali Yuga the My guru thought that the practice of
ultimate salvation. most important yama was brahmac�rya. inducting young men into the celibate
The beginning-level yogą, the manda However, here the interpretation of orders in monasteries and mutts was
adhik�rą, would do well to start with brahmac�rya is not complete celibacy, fraught with dangers and is unworkable
Patańjali s Kriy� Yoga as explained in the but sex within the bounds of marriage, in Kali Yuga. According to Dharma
beginning of the second chapter. This Kriy� as propounded in several texts like S�ta ś�stras, only the kramasanny�sa pro-
Yoga by itself does not lead to kaivalya Saęhit� of Skanda Mah�-Pur�óa. For gression brahmac�rya; then g�hastha
true freedom but prepares the yogą to a brahmac�rą, or one in the student (family life), then v�naprastha (retired
be able to get into sam�dhi, the condition stage of life, complete celibacy should life), and finally sanny�sa, if one is really
necessary for yogąc achievement. He can be be practiced. But there are many yoga evolved is practical in this Kali Yuga.
compared to a beginning rider who wants practitioners who wish to be celibate all After completing the S�tra study,
to mount a horse here the horse of yoga. their lives, but it is just that a wish. śrą Krishnamacharya began it again,
Such a person is described as  yog�ruruk�u, They are attracted by the ultimate goal covering the entire text of the Yoga S�tras
one who is desirous of doing yoga. of yoga like Kaivalya and, following the along with the commentary of Vy�sa,
The intermediate-level yogą does the yoga theory of Patańjali, would like to be which took over two years to complete.
more involved A����ga Yoga, the more total celibates all their lives. But a mere Yoga S�tra is a profound text, logically
comprehensive eight-limbed yoga. wish is not sufficient grounds to remain composed, dense with information.
A����ga Yoga not only prepares the without marriage, according to my guru, Every yoga student, and especially every
yogą but also leads him through the quoting the Dharma ś�stras. Everyone yoga teacher, should study the S�tras.
various siddhis, up to and including up should marry after the student life. There now seems to be more interest
to the understanding of the Self, the Only one who is spiritually evolved and among yogąs in studying it.
mother of all siddhis. is a nai��hika brahmac�rą a complete
śrą Krishnamacharya would point out celibate can to take to sanny�sa, the S READERS MAY KNOW, MY GURU S
that, in Kali Yuga, the main or the only celibate life of a renunciate. A nai��ika Arange of studies and scholarship
means of spiritual salvation is surrender brahmac�rą is one who is a celibate was not confined to yoga. He wanted
to the Lord, or �łvarapraóidh�na. He in  thought, speech, and deed. Thus to equip his student with adequate
remarked that �łvarapraóidh�na is mere abstinence is not sufficient cause knowledge of other sibling philosophies.
mentioned in all the three levels of to remain unmarried. Several religions He taught S�ękhya K�rik�, said to be
yoga, viz., Nirodha Yoga of the first induct many youngsters into celibate one of the best-composed philosophical
chapter; and Kriy� Yoga and A����ga orders. Even though, through strict texts. Its author, �łvarak��óa, is
Yoga of the second and the third practice and discipline, many manage considered to have been an incarnation
chapters. Surrender to the Lord, or the to practice abstinence all their lives, they of the famous Sanskrit poet K�lid�sa.
appropriate �łvar�r�dhana (worship of cannot be called nai��hika brahmac�rąs, Profound and succinct, this text has
the Lord), such as p�j� in Kriy� Yoga, a prerequisite for sanny�sa lifelong become the standard work on S�ękhya
doing A����ga Yoga with a sense of celibacy. Only a person who does not (one of the six schools of classical
total surrender to the Lord, or constant even dream of sex can qualify for a Hindu philosophy). My teacher taught
meditation on �łvara with a sense of celibate life. According to my guru, this the entire S�ękhya K�rik�, along with
devotion for the highest level each is almost impossible in Kali Yuga, so all the commentary of Gau�ap�da and
forms a complete �łvarapraóidh�na yog�bhy�sąs yoga practitioners should also occasionally that of V�caspati
practice in yoga. get married and live within the bounds Miłra. Actually, the theoretical basis
As a Bhakti Yogą, my guru was not of a wedded life. of yoga is S�ękhya. The Bhagavad
particularly in favor of some of the There is an interesting story about Gąt� starts with the discussion of the
sam�dhis, such as asamprajń�tasam�dhi nai��hika brahmac�rya. Sage śuka, the S�ękhya philosophy. It is the first
(sam�dhi without qualities).  What son of Vy�sa and a Brahmajń�nin, was Vedic philosophy that talked about the
is there in asamprajń�tasam�dhi? he walking along the banks of a river. At a Self as the observer and hence distinct
would ask. He implied that the idea of bathing ghat, several women were in the from everything experienced. It is the
salvation during one s lifetime, like the river. śuka passed by. A few moments later constant observer, non-changing, hence
advaita ved�ntin s jąvanmukta stage or Vy�sa was passing by and immediately all eternal and immortal.
the similar asamprajń�ta stage of the the women rushed to grab their clothes Another philosophy he was keen to
yogą, were not goals that would interest to cover themselves. Vy�sa stopped and teach was Ny�ya and the later version,
a yogą like himself. Rather what was asked them why they were unconcerned Tarka. He started teaching Tarka
meaningful was to meditate on the Lord when the young man śuka passed by, but Saęgraha, a compact text on Vedic logic.
(Bhagavad-dhy�na) all one s life, so that not so when the older man passed. The With Tarka/Ny�ya, S�ękhya, Yoga
the yogą, when he passes away, reaches women replied that they knew śuka was and Ved�nta, śrą Krishnamacharya gave
Vaikuó�ha, the abode of the Lord, and an absolute nai��hika brahmac�rą and his student a well-rounded education in
transcends the cycle of saęs�ra. never had any thought of sex. different Vedic darłanas.
20 ISSUE No. 6
He was keen to impart knowledge (param�tm�). Some of the other texts systems, such as gymnastics, martial
contained in Ha�ha Yoga texts. He taught that he referred to and taught in portions arts, or even performing arts. Some of
Ha�ha Yoga Pradąpik� in detail, except included Gher�ó�a Saęhit� and śiva the basic tenets, like slow breathing and
portions of the last chapter and some Saęhit�. When I was studying with mind focus, are being put aside. People
of the third, which he said contained him, N��hamuni s Yoga Rahasya was breathe heavily, sweat profusely, do no
obnoxious practices inconsistent with not published, but he frequently quoted breath work at all, and call it modern
the teachings of s�ttvika yoga and the from the text and after a while taught a yoga, sometimes even under the banner
Yoga S�tras. He said this text contained few chapters from it. He quoted portions of Krishnamacharya s yoga.
considerable technical detail but very little about �sanas that are helpful during
tattva, or philosophical consideration. I pregnancy and yogic procedures helpful OMETIME IN THE 1960S OR 70S,
thought he indicated that some claims of for contraception and family planning SMaharshi Mahesh Yogą came to
this text were exaggerated. For a particular (mitha santana). Several of these łlokas Madras, before his TM became popular in
procedure, the author Sv�tm�r�ma were found in the version of Yoga Rahasya the West, and gave a talk about TM. There
claimed immortality (chirańjąvitva) as published later, but many of the łlokas was a large gathering, and I attended the
the benefit. My guru then asked,  Where he quoted in class were missing from the program with my father. My guru came to
is Sv�tm�r�ma now? indicating that final published version. know of my attendance. When I went to
some of these claims should be taken I thought that, since yoga is an ancient his class the next day, śrą Krishnamacharya
with a grain of salt. He also taught Yoga subject, the nuances of the system could told me at the outset that he believed he had
Y�jńavalkya in detail. It contains some be understood by studying the old texts. enough resources to teach me and take care
wonderful insights into the practice Nowadays yoga students seem to spend of me. He said that I needed to cooperate
of Ha�ha Yoga and gives the definition very little time studying the texts; they with him. If I went out and listened to
of yoga as the union of the individual appear to be reinventing yoga by drawing different versions and interpretations of the
soul (jąv�tm�) and the Supreme Being inspiration from other physical training ł�stras, I was more likely to be confused
śrą Krishnamacharya being introduced by a young Srivatsa Ramaswami at a public lecture.
SPRING 2007 21
and perplexed than better informed. And about 700 �sanas. With infectious there were significant differences between
it would then be more difficult for him to enthusiasm he started teaching me more what I had learned from him and other
remove my doubts. I stopped shopping viny�sas and �sanas.  Have you taught established teachings. I thought I might
around then and there. this �sana, this viny�sa? he would ask. never get the Viny�sa Krama across,
śrą Desikachar founded the now Over a long period thereafter, he taught even though my teacher had become
famous Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram me more and more viny�sas. I would a legend in the yoga world. I decided
sometime in the 1970s, I think, with the practice them, then go and teach them to write another book, giving all the
blessings of his father. Since it was founded in the class. It was wonderful to learn viny�sas I had learned from my guru and
as a charitable trust, it required three and teach at the same time. In the their sequencing, along with the equally
trustees. A close friend of Desikachar s course of the next few years I learned important breathing aspect of each and
and I joined as trustees, with Desikachar about 700 viny�sas in about ten major every viny�sa. Once I had the book
taking the chair as the managing trustee. sequences. This formed the basis of my ready, with about 1,100 color pictures,
After few months, once the organization teaching Viny�sa Krama. it was difficult to find a publisher. My
was in place, I left the trust. During my My personal life required that I stay in agent told me that there was a general
short tenure, there was a request from a Madras, so it was convenient for me to do perception that there were enough of śrą
hundred-year-old English magazine called my work, study with my guru, and teach Krishnamacharya s well-known students
India Review to write a series of articles at Kalakshetra. I taught at other places in teaching his complete system. He asked
on yoga. The magazine was struggling Madras, the public health center, the yoga me to write a page about how what I
financially, and some philanthropists brotherhood, and so on, teaching patients taught was different, why it was unique,
were trying to revive it in consideration and medical personnel, middle-aged and how it might be a better system. So
of its great role during the Independence and older people. By teaching different I wrote a page explaining the unique
movement. I was asked to write articles for populations, I was able to adapt the features of the Viny�sa Krama system
it, so I began writing one article a month, Viny�sa Krama to meet the requirements as I had learned it from my guru. The
as a trustee of the Mandiram. I wrote on of people of different ages and conditions. book was published by Marlowe and
one sequence of �sanas every month based But I had no idea what was happening in Company, titled The Complete Book of
on my studies with my teacher. I would the outside yoga world. Viny�sa Yoga.
write the article, then get photographs I stopped teaching at Kalakshetra by
of me doing the poses. I would give the 1995. I had started coming to the U.S. O WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS OF VINY�SA
articles and the photographs to my guru for brief periods to visit my sons, who SKrama that I teach, based on the
for approval. With Desikachar he would were working here. I did a few workshops teachings of my guru?
go through the article and approve it. It here and there, teaching Viny�sa Krama. 1. Do �sanas with a number of viny�sas,
was then forwarded to the magazine. Many liked it, but since they were short- or variations, in succession. It is the art
Even after I left the Mandiram, I term programs without an established form of yoga practice. Viny�sa means
continued to write for the magazine, procedure to follow, it did not stick. By art, and it involves aesthetic variations
submitting about forty articles in all. Several 2000 I submitted a manuscript titled, within the specified parameters.
sequences were covered, with the correct  Yoga: An Art, A Therapy, A Philosophy 2. The basic parameters used in Viny�sa
breathing for each and every viny�sa. to give as much coverage as possible Krama are steadiness of the posture, a
By that time after twenty years of to what I had studied with my guru. I calm mind, synchronizing the breath
studying with my guru I was teaching followed the thought process contained with slow movements of the limbs, and,
yoga at Kalakshetra, a well-known Indian in Patańjala Yoga S�tra, explaining the while in the postures, having the mind
arts college, teaching South Indian Sam�dhi P�da, then the A����ga Yoga. closely following the breath.
Bharatanatyam dance and Carnatic In the �sana section, I included about
music, boutique painting, dance, 200 viny�sas very similar to what I UT YOU MAY ASK,  IF YOU SAY THIS
drama, etc. The students were young, in had published through India Review. Bis an ancient system, where are the
their teens and early twenties. They were It contained considerable information references to these ideas in the old texts?
highly talented, and a challenging group about yoga as therapy as well. When the Where did śrą Krishnamacharya find
to teach. Each student was required to book was published with the title Yoga these methods? Don t say Yoga Kurunta;
study yoga twice a week for two years. for the Three Stages of Life, many felt it we know about it. Where else can you
In about six months I realized that I was rather dense and heavy, and since find references to these concepts?
had taught them virtually everything I many were not familiar with viny�sa as I Viny�sa Krama was the mainstay of
had learned, some 200 to 300 viny�sas portrayed it in the book, there were not Krishnamacharya s teaching of Ha�ha
and several breathing exercises! I many buyers. I also found that people Yoga. The word viny�sa is used to
turned to my teacher and explained my were not interested in my viny�sa program indicate an art form of practice. This
predicament to him. Is there anything of Krishnamacharya because the system word is used in several arts, especially
more I can teach? I had read in his book was well known through other famous in South Indian Carnatic music, a fully
Yoga Makaraó�a that he had learned students of my guru. But I found that evolved classical music system. Viny�sa
22 ISSUE No. 6
Krama indicates doing �sana with in for happiness (prav�tti) and the effort by the snake around the lord s neck. So
multiple aesthetic variations within to remove unhappiness (niv�tti). Every ananta-sam�patti would mean focusing
the prescribed parameters. Yoga was being does this all the time. One set the attention on the breath or pr�óa.
considered one of sixty-four ancient of our efforts is always directed toward Thus this s�tra means that while
arts. Hence if you approach yoga �sana achieving happiness and the other toward practicing �sana, one should do smooth
practice as an art, that methodology is eradicating unhappiness. But the third inhalations and exhalations and focus
Viny�sa Krama. The beauty and efficacy type of effort relevant here is the effort the attention on the breath. Since
of yoga is eloquently brought out by of life (jąvana-prayatna). What is effort Viny�sa Krama involves several aesthetic
Viny�sa Krama. of life? It is the breath or breathing. Now movements into and within yoga
What about breath synchronization, we can say that prayatna-łaithilya is to postures, to achieve the coordination
another important ingredient of make the breath smooth. Thus in �sana of movement, breath, and mind, one
Krishnamacharya s Viny�sa Krama? practice according to Viny�sa Krama, should synchronize the breath with the
What about mental focus on the breath the breath should be smooth and by movement with the help of the focused
while doing �sana practice, central to implication long (dąrgha). mind. By such practice, slowly but surely,
viny�sa yoga? None of the yoga schools The other part of the s�tra refers to the union of mind and body takes place,
teaches yoga in this manner and no sam�patti, or mental focus. Where or on with the breath acting as the harness.
classic Ha�ha Yoga texts mention breath what should the mental focus be? It is to But why don t other texts talk
synchronization in �sana practice. be on ananta (ananta-sam�patti). Now about it? There is a saying,  Anuktam
Where can one find references to these? we have to investigate the contextual anyato gr�hyam. If some details are
This was one of the few questions I meaning of the word ananta, translated missing from one text, they should be
asked my guru: Is Viny�sa Krama an old, as  endless or  limitless, which many gathered from other complementary
traditional practice? śrą Krishnamacharya writers equate with infinity. So some texts. Ha�ha-yoga-pradąpik� explains a
quoted a verse indicating that reference schools tend to say that while practicing number of �sanas but does not mention
to this practice can be found in a text �sanas, one should focus the attention breath synchronization and other basic
called V�ddha S�t�pata and also in the on infinity, which is inappropriate parameters. But Ha�ha-yoga-pradąpik�
Yoga S�tras of Patańjali. There was no and impossible, at least for the vast proclaims that its instructions are
point in looking for an obscure text like majority of yogąs. Ananta also refers to like a prerequisite for the R�ja Yoga
V�ddha S�t�pata, but Yoga S�tra was at the serpent, �diłe�a, whose incarnation practice of Patańjali. These two texts
hand. But where is the reference? There Patańjali is believed to be. So some are therefore compatible. Thus we can
are hardly two S�tras explaining �sana, schools suggest that one should focus on conclude that Patańjali gives the basic
and there is no reference to breath in a mental image of �diłe�a or Patańjali. It parameters of �sana practice (and also of
them or is there? may be possible, but it is uncomfortable the other a�gas like Pr�ó�y�ma), but for
Going back to my notes on Yoga to think that Patańjali would write that details we have to refer to compatible
S�tra classes with my guru, I found one should focus on his form for the texts like Ha�ha-yoga-pradąpik�, Yoga-
a very interesting interpretation success of �sana practice. So what might Y�jńavalkya and others.
of the s�tra, Prayatna-łaithilya ananta symbolically signify? The word
anantasam�pattibhy�m. The word ananta can be considered to be derived Y GURU śR� KRISHNAMACHARYA WAS
prayatna, very commonly used in from the root,  ana  to breathe (ana Mlike a many-faceted diamond,
India, basically means  effort. śaithilya łv�se). We are all familiar with the group each side brilliant in its way. Different
indicates  softness. So Prayatna- of words pr�óa, ap�na, vy�na, etc., individuals saw different sides of him
łaithilya could mean  mild effort ; hence names of the five pr�óas derived from in different ways and took whatever
you find that many writers on the Yoga the root  ana. So in the s�tra, ananta appealed to him or her. I was fascinated
S�tras declare that the way to achieve could mean  breath ; ananta-sam�patti by whatever he thought I should know
perfection in a yoga posture is to  ease is then translated as  focusing the mind and therefore taught me, and I found
into the posture effortlessly. This is on the breath. In fact Ananta, or the that in �sana practice, the Viny�sa
easier said than done. There are hundreds serpent king, is associated with air. Krama method was most beneficial and
of practitioners who cannot relax enough Mythologically the cobra is associated satisfying. I am sure a few others also find
to be able to easily get into a posture with air; there is a common mythological it so. With his deep scholarship, immense
like the Lotus, for example. So we have belief that cobras live on air. If you look wisdom, and abundant compassion, śrą
to investigate the meaning of the word at the icon of Na�ar�ja (the dancing Krishnamacharya reveled in making the
prayatna as used by the darłanak�ras śiva), you will find all five elements of ancient benevolent teachings accessible
in those days. Prayatna according to the universe (earth, water, air, fire, and to ordinary mortals like us.
Ny�ya, a sibling philosophy to yoga, is space) represented symbolically in śiva.
a bit involved. Ny�ya explains prayatna The matted red hair represents fire, the
of three kinds (prayatnaę trividhaę Ga�g� in his tresses, the water element;
proktam). Two of them are the effort put the air element is said to be represented
SPRING 2007 23