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Śaṅkarācārya Madhyāmam, Asmadācārya Paryantam, Vande Guru Paramparām, Alakhapurīnam Vande Śrī Devapurīnam, Kataha, Dīpa Nārāyaṇam Vande, Purīnam Mādhavaṁ Śubham, Parama Purī Maheśvarānandam Vande Viśvagurum Śubham, Antarāṣṭrīya Yogasyā Mahotsavam Samārabhe. Today, on the occasion of the International Day of Yoga, we commence this Antarāṣṭrīya Yoga Mahotsava. Since its proposal in 2014, this marks the ninth International Youth Festival. We are honoured to have with us Śrī Kapil Agarwal Jī and Mahārāj Śrī Hemant Jī. We are fortunate to have the founder and saṅgrahakartā of the Yoga in Daily Life system, our Viśvagurujī, who has made this timeless practice, originating from Śiva, simple and accessible for all. Today’s program is the fourth event of the day, following morning practice, a visit to Yog Sādhanā Ashram on the Mahāsamādhi day of Swāmī Ānandānandajī—a great friend of our Holy Gurujī—and an afternoon meeting. Now, we have the honour of a lecture from a retired Vice-Chancellor of two Āyurvedic universities, who has taught Āyurveda for 62 years. He will speak on yoga from an Āyurvedic perspective. Śrī Hemant Joshījī will translate, and we are also joined by Sanskrit professor Kamalchand Yogījī from the Nāthsampradāya and all dear devotees. Siddhīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Kī Chā. Guṇa tre vivedena mūrti tre mūpeyuse, tre buve tri netraye tri lokī batāye nāma. Param sammān nīya śraddhe, Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, Param Haṁsa Svāmī Śrī Maheśvarānanda Purī Jī Mahārāja, Evam anya sabhī mahānubhāv. Āj antarrāṣṭrīya yog mahotsav hai. Yeh bhodik prakriyā meṁ manāyā jāne vālā navam yog divas hai. Today is the 21st of June, International Yoga Day. Here in Runnī, we celebrate its ninth observance. The lecture will focus on Yoga and Āyurveda from the perspective of ancient Indian wisdom, exploring their interconnection and mutual complementarity. Yoga is an instrument to control your cittavṛtti—the fluctuations of the mind, the thoughts that continuously arise. From the Indian philosophical point of view, it is the mind that must be controlled, and yoga provides the techniques and methodologies to achieve this. In the Atreya paramparā, there was a great maharṣi, Caraka. Considering all philosophical processes, he also presented the form of an Āyurvedic darśana. Maharṣi Caraka, an originator of Āyurveda, developed a philosophy describing how the mind can be controlled. In Sāṅkhya Darśana, there are 25 elements or tattvas in our constitution, but Maharṣi Caraka accepted only 24. Other Āyurvedic authorities like Maharṣi Suśruta, author of the Suśruta Saṁhitā, consider 25 tattvas according to the Sāṅkhya view. However, there is hardly any difference between their philosophies; both are almost the same. Maharṣi Caraka took four fundamentals: Śarīra (Body), Indriya (Senses), Mana (Mind), and Ātmā (Soul). All twenty-four tattvas exist within these four. Āyurveda is the knowledge of life (Āyu), considered a combination of these four elements. Common bodily diseases are understood from the point of view of treatment, while mental diseases are considered separately. Yet, both are interlinked as they occur within our own body and affect each other. Diseases occur when the five senses absorb something adverse to their original nature—special words, touch, form, juice, and smell. A bodily disease cannot happen without a distortion in the mind. Therefore, to care for health and control disease, one must control the mind. The process for this is yoga. From Maharṣi Caraka’s viewpoint, Ātmā, Indriya, Mana, and Viṣaya (objects of sense) are directly connected. Only when these four connect does one gain experience from the viṣaya, resulting in either sukha (pleasure) or duḥkha (pain). In the Caraka Darśana, it is said there should be no initiation of taking up the viṣayas. Without initiation, one gains nothing and thus experiences neither happiness nor sorrow. When does this occur? Ātmā sthe manasi sthire: when the mind is stable and controlled in the Ātmā. This is Yoga. Tāṁ Yogam Ṛṣyo Vidhu Svayaṁ, says the Maharṣi: this is yoga. Yajña, Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra, and other yogic texts interpret it differently, but the ultimate meaning is the same: the mind must be controlled. Patañjali offers a different definition, but the core is to control the mind and stabilize it in the ātmā. Maharṣi Caraka states a crucial point: Vashi tath kurute karma yatkritva phalamashnute. Vashi means the soul. The soul performs the action and subsequently bears its consequences. Our soul experiences the result of our karma, as all darśanas state. Whatever action is done, one must tolerate or digest its result; it is inevitable. The soul is Nirvikāra—without modification. It neither experiences pleasure nor sorrow. How then does it experience the results of karma? The Ācārya explains this profoundly in simple terms, using an analogy from a thousand years ago: the constitution of India is like the constitution of our body. A chetanam kriyavach manas chetaita parayam. The mind is acetan (unconscious), but the kriyāvān (the one acting) is the soul. The soul is chetanāvān (conscious) and is therefore the kartā (doer). Without the soul in the body, the mind cannot exist. In the Indian Constitution, all activity occurs in the name of the President, but the actual work is done by the Prime Minister. Similarly, in our body, the sovereign is the soul (ātmā), like the president. Everything happens in the soul’s name, but the actual doer is the manas (mind), the prime minister. If you wish to act or to stop an action, it is the mind that executes it. To stop the mind, the soul must command it. The technique for this is known as samādhi. The process for controlling the mind culminates in samādhi. Yogīs have developed, expanded, and taught these techniques step by step. The sequence must be followed: Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi—these are the eight aṅgas. The first step, Yama, has five aspects: Satya (truth), Ahiṃsā (non-violence), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (celibacy), and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness). This is difficult but essential. There are three primary desires for the body: Prāṇa iṣaṇā (the desire to sustain life-force), Dhanaiṣaṇā (the desire for wealth to protect the body and prāṇa), and the desire for the teachings and techniques from gurus like our Viśvaguru Swāmī Maheśvarānandajī Mahārāj, which one wishes to realize. One should perform actions that yield good (śubh) results, free from ill effects. To perform good actions, one must control the three guṇas within the body: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Rajas and Tamas are undesirable as they can cause harmful effects. If they follow Sattvaguṇa, everything becomes orderly and beneficial. Sattva is always good, with no ill side effects. Ṛṣis insist that one should control rajas and tamas and cultivate sāttvic feelings. By utilizing rajas and tamas in a sāttvic manner, actions yield beneficial results. Some believe we should perform good deeds to enjoy their fruits over many births in higher yonis. This is an initial mental desire. However, when one truly follows sattva-tattva, desires cease. One then acts without hoping for results—niṣkāmabhāva. By properly following yama, niyama, and pratyāhāra, the subsequent steps follow. Today, many consider āsana to be yoga. While it is an initial part, there are difficult āsanas categorized as Haṭha Yoga and others beneficial for further steps. According to Caraka, any action that stabilizes the mind in the soul is good. Successfully controlling and stabilizing the mind within the soul yields eight types of aiśvarya (supernormal powers or attainments). These eight aiśvaryas are: 1. Āveśa: The ability to enter another’s body. 2. Knowing what another person is thinking. 3. Complete command over one’s own desires and aversions regarding food or other subjects. 4. Dṛṣṭi: The power to see through walls, rocks, or mountains. 5. Enhanced hearing prowess, to hear faint sounds or shut out unwanted noise. 6. Śmaran: Perfect recall of events from the distant past. 7. Kānti: A radiant aura or divine lustre, as seen in depictions of Lord Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, which realized yogīs also possess. 8. The power to become visible or invisible at will. These may seem extraordinary, but they are normal for yogīs and accepted in ancient wisdom. Just as one could not have imagined the internet 60 years ago, these powers are attainable through sādhanā. Maharṣi Caraka called this Dhyāna Cakṣu (the eye of meditation), through which sages perceive past, present, and future. Jñāna Cakṣu is like a laboratory where experiments yield justifying results. The fundamental aim is to maintain health. From the Āyurvedic medicinal viewpoint, the core directive from the Maharṣi is to control the mind. Maharṣi Caraka emphasized a special point: Se sārīra se yoga kyā? Yoga requires a body. Without a body, yoga is not possible. If one acts according to niṣkāmabhāva, controlling the mind under the soul’s direction, why does one still experience the results of past good and bad actions? This leads to the final part of the discourse. Ki nabhuktaṁ kṣīyate karma kalpakoti śatāyir api—action not experienced is not destroyed even over countless eons. There are two explanations. First, if an action is performed, its result is bound to occur; it must happen. Therefore, even yogīs who have entered samādhi may still experience in their bodies the results of actions from previous births. This explains why realized Maharṣis and Yogīs might suffer from fever or disease. Second, an analogy: a potter’s wheel continues to spin for a time even after the driving rod is removed. Similarly, even after controlling the mind, one must suffer the consequences of previous karmas. Thus, yoga, practiced according to any philosophy, is part of Āyurveda, as the techniques to control mind and body are found within Āyurveda. Āyurveda explains both philosophical and medical aspects, including treatment. According to Maharṣi Caraka, one moves from Avyakta (the unmanifest, like Brahma) to Vyakta (the manifest individual). From that manifest state, one returns to the unmanifest, and the cycle continues. Births recur because one does not control rajoguṇa and tamoguṇa, which requires great effort. This duality is called parāśakti. By controlling it through yoga and stabilizing the mind in samādhi, the cycle of birth and death ceases. In conclusion, I offer salutations to all Maharṣis and Maharṣi Patañjali, and to our Gurudev, Swami Maheśvarānand Jī Mahārāj. Ācārya Pūrva Kulapatījī explained in Hindi, and it was interpreted in English. Regarding karma, I recall two quotes from the Bhagavad Gītā. By the fire of knowledge, actions from previous births can be burned. With the grace and blessings of His Holiness Gurujī—Guru Kṛpā—we can burn those past actions. This is our Śraddhā (faith). Śraddhā mān labhate jñānam, jñānā dev jāyate kaivalyam mokṣa: from faith comes knowledge, from knowledge comes liberation. The cycle of life can be understood through a sage’s quotation and analogies. Śūnyam na basti, basti na śūnyam. Śūnya means zero, the state of the inner soul which cannot be seen. A colony (basti) implies inhabitants. When we purify the body through practices like śaṅkha prakṣālana, the body is clarified, meditation proceeds well, and the body is free from disease. Consider the seed and the tree. If you see a seed, the tree is not present. If you see a tree, the seed is not visibly present. The soul is like the unseen seed. The life cycle is like the water cycle: water evaporates unseen from the ocean, forms clouds, and returns as visible rain. Like air and sky, some realities are unseen. The life cycle operates under our gurus’ blessings. With their blessings, we can understand and burn the actions of previous births. Through knowledge, one gains ultimate liberation (mokṣa), beyond painful or sorrowful results. The ultimate instruction is to take shelter in His Holiness and lead a happy life, free from pain and sorrow. Thank you. It was a beautiful evening filled with knowledge. We heard a lecture from Professor Banwari Lalgore on the Āyurvedic view of yoga, followed by a counter perspective from Professor Kamalchand Yogījī. In Indian philosophy, multiple viewpoints and debates are common. With this, we conclude today’s lecture session. We have compiled Gurudev’s life work over more than fifty years—a golden jubilee—into one book. I present this to Puṣpalatājī Garg, the successor of Swāmī Ānandjī Mahārāj. Thank you all for coming. It is profound to consider what Gurudev has accomplished in 50 years of traveling the world, earning the name Viśvagurujī with followers in over 140 countries. His lectures are simple, pointed, and include practical guidance. We thank our Gurudev, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramsvāmī Maheśvarānandajī, for being here, bestowing knowledge, and introducing the world, especially us in Europe, to the long and living tradition of Indian and Vedic philosophy. Thank you.