Yoga: India's Gift to a Troubled World

The world is celebrating the 11th International Day of Yoga today. For India, Yoga Day has become a symbol of the country's pride anthem. It is the sum of energy and enthusiasm. Today, the world is in the grip of unrest due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war and the Israel-Iran war. People are turning into zombies with missiles and bombs. The lives of millions are at stake. Humanity is groaning. Cities are deserted. Global peace is only a fantasy. The reason for this is not only terrorism and jihadi ideology but also the mentality of establishing its domination in the world. In such situations, yoga is the only way to build people and nation which can show the path to peace," he said. It was due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the United Nations General Assembly recognized June 21 as International Yoga Day. Since then, yoga has become an international festival. We were all amazed to see the overwhelming response of the people towards Yoga and the sight that we are seeing this year is even more amazing than the previous year, which establishes the acceptance, importance and usefulness of Yoga as a unique heritage of Indian culture.

The knowledge of yoga was born thousands of years ago, long before the first religion or belief was born. According to yoga teachings, Shiva is seen as the first yogi or Adiyogi. Many thousands of years ago, on the banks of the Kanti Sarovar Lake in the Himalayas, Adiyogi imparted his deep knowledge to the legendary 7 sages. These sages took this yogic science to many parts including Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and South America. Yoga is widely understood as an indelible cultural outcome of the Indus Valley Civilization (2700 BCE). It played an important role in the fundamental and spiritual development of humanity. The folk traditions of yoga are present in the Vedic and Upanishadic legacy, Buddhist and Jain traditions, philosophy, epic Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Shiva Bhakti traditions, Vaishnava religious traditions. Although yoga was practiced in the pre-Vedic period, the great sage Patanjali systematized the already existing yoga practices, its meaning and related knowledge through the Patanjali Yoga Sutras. World-renowned yoga gurus also contributed to the promotion of yoga, including Iyengar Yoga founder V.K.S. Swaminathan. Iyengar and yoga guru Ramdev are prominent. Baba Ramdev has become the brand ambassador of yoga at present. By the way, three types of introductions are given in yoga – Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga. There is a special system of hatha yoga, which was described in 15th-century India by Yogi Swatmrama, the compiler of hatha yoga pradipika.

In today's time, the need for yoga is more because the current lifestyle is very stressful and due to this, all kinds of diseases are increasing. In the hectic life of the present times, it has become more necessary to maintain balance and live in harmony with nature. Yoga teaches how human beings should consider themselves as part of nature and see themselves connected to the natural environment. Today, the world is adopting it, so it is being accepted only by seeing its importance. By doing yoga, a person becomes healthy. Yoga is such a divine medicine that anyone can use to fill the light in their heart. Just as the sun does not discriminate in providing its light, in the same way, anyone can get meaningful benefits by doing yoga. It goes beyond religion, caste, class, creed, high and low, big and small, rich and poor.

Still, controversies are raised about whether or not to do yoga. Whether the reason is political or social, those who create controversy should take a cue from the 46 Muslim countries who gave consent to India's yoga proposal in the United Nations. Among them were many radical religious countries like Iran, Afghanistan, which are more strict in following the rules of their religion. During yoga, there is opposition to the chanting of Om and performing Surya Namaskar. Yoga is secular and universal in nature, it does not change anyone's religion. The yoga gurus had given people the option to say 'Amen' instead of 'Om', but the people present there preferred to say 'Om' and people also performed Surya Namaskar. In the context of yoga, it is important to understand why the knowledge that teaches everyone to be conscious physically and mentally is being opposed. During the Corona period, people created immunity in their body by adopting yoga. Yoga awakens self-power and drives away diseases. Turns negativity into positivity. So take a pledge to adopt yoga in your life.