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Purification of anamaya kosha

A discourse on the purification of the physical body (Annamaya Kośa) through diet and discipline.

"Haṭha Yoga is mainly for this purification. Haṭha means you need extra attention, extra willpower; it means you need discipline."

"Our life is based on nourishment. Our health depends on nourishment. Our illnesses depend on nourishment."

Swami Ji leads a satsang focusing on the foundational role of the physical body in spiritual practice. He explains how Haṭha Yoga and Āyurvedic principles, especially diet, purify the body to support the higher kośas. Key advice includes eating sweets first, avoiding white flour, using spices wisely, consuming fresh food, and maintaining strict discipline for practices like Kāya Kalpa. The talk covers children's nutrition, the benefits of fasting, and concludes with a practical recommendation to use neem leaves.

Filming location: Jadan, India.

DVD 411

Sri Nārendra Mahāprabhujī is the one who purifies the Annamaya Kośa. The purification of the Manomaya Kośa is more difficult, but the Manomaya Kośa, Vijñānamaya Kośa, Ānandamaya Kośa, and Prāṇamaya Kośa all depend very much on the condition of our Annamaya Kośa. In yoga, to purify the Annamaya Kośa, the yogīs created a separate branch called Haṭha Yoga. Haṭha Yoga is mainly for this purification. Why is it called haṭha? Haṭha means you need extra attention, extra willpower; it means you need discipline. Atha yogānuśāsanam—yoga begins with discipline. Unfortunately, it is very easy to break discipline. Why? Because of the tamo guṇa and the rajo guṇa. Both rajas guṇa and tamo guṇa dominate due to the quality of our food. Āyurveda also concentrates very much on diet. Haṭha yoga has six purification kriyās, and Āyurveda has five purification kriyās. That is called Pañca Karma, and in yoga, it is called Ṣaṭ Karma: the sat-karmas or sat-kriyās—Netī, Dhautī, Bastī, Naulī, Trāṭaka, and Kapālabhātī. These six kriyās are only for the purification of the body. In this body, there are many vikāras. Vikāra refers to those hormones and dead cells in the body which cause or create illness. There is a physical vikāra, a mental vikāra, and a prāṇic vikāra. You may call vikāra "disturbances." If we develop discipline, we purify the vikāras. Haṭha Yoga and Pañcakarma are meant to remove them. But if you perform these six kriyās of Haṭha Yoga and do not concentrate on your diet, then it has no meaning. In Āyurveda, they say you should eat sweet first. In the modern Western system, they say, "No, eat sweets after." What is the difference? The Āyurvedic doctor says that sweet things—like halvā, lapsī, or sweet chocolate puddings—are very solid and rich foods which need more energy to digest. They require more insulin. If you eat sweets afterwards, they will turn into acid. If you eat sweets before, they will be digested properly. Those who eat sweets after a meal will always have acidity and digestive problems. Those who eat sweet first and then other things avoid this. The thinking of the Western theory is that if you eat sweet first, then you have no more appetite to eat anything else, especially for children. But this is wrong. Eating sweet should be with limitation. If children eat more sweet, like halvā or lapsī with ghee and sugar, it is okay. They are growing; their brain needs sweet and fat (ghee). If they can limit it, it is very good because they also need vitamins, which are mostly in vegetables and fruits. Children who do not eat vegetables and fruits have a lack of vitamins, and those who lack vitamins do not have good health. If you see their eyes, the pupil is down and white. Those with good nutrition have red pupils. Just by looking, you can say this child is not healthy; this child doesn't eat vegetables and fruits. According to the ancient kitchen—what we call the kitchen of the grandmother—and the kitchen of modern times, there is a big difference. In modern times, they boil and cook vegetables so much that the whole vegetable becomes like a cream. If the vegetable is overcooked or boiled too much, the vitamin is finished. Therefore, it is said, "A little salad." Fruits are very important for Indians. A little bit is enough because Indians have enough sun, and it is the sun which supplies us vitamins. Also, Indians don't need that much. Indian fruit has more energy and vitamins than vegetables grown in a glasshouse or in European countries. If it is exposed directly to sunlight and moonlight... God Kṛṣṇa said, "Through the moon I enter into the vegetation as nectar and drive the fruits to develop." Vitamin C, especially, comes from sunlight. We also need a lot of protein. In sweet, there is little protein. In ghee, I think there is little protein. Therefore, we need chapātī, roṭī, grain, and soybeans: meaning mūṅg dāl, urad dāl, mat dāl, arhar kī dāl, thoda bosh chana, and the brown soybean. Chole, iske andar mein—in these there is a lot of protein. In mūṅg, there is more protein than what meat-eaters have. Meat-eating people think they have more protein in meat and eggs. That is completely wrong. It is proven by scientists and specialists in nourishment that soybeans have three times more protein than meat itself. And the proteins in eggs are not healthy. This has all been proven and known. Our grandmothers knew how to cook and what to cook. Children who do not eat roti and do not eat fruits have no concentration. Children who do not eat fresh fruit and don't drink milk are always tired. After reading a little bit, they are tired—that's it—because they have no concentration and no energy. So children should eat properly, and other people should eat properly. Our life is based on nourishment. Our health depends on nourishment. Our illnesses depend on nourishment. After all this, Āyurveda gave, introduced, and explained one system called Kāya Kalpa. Kāya Kalpa. If you are fasting one day, it becomes Kāya Kalpa. If you become phalahārī (fruitarian), you are doing Kāya Kalpa. It means you are getting younger again. You are regenerating all the systems in your body, and your immunity system becomes stronger and stronger. It is said that those who do long Kāya Kalpa for 12 years become 12 years younger plus the 12 years they are doing it. Very good—24 years younger. But again, discipline. You are having a special diet for Kāya Kalpa, and then someone comes with samosas and kachoris and jelly beans. "Okay, today a little piece I can take"—that means the discipline is finished, Kāya Kalpa is finished. My God, discipline is the key to success, self-discipline. Now, in Āyurveda as well as in the Western diet system, white flour is not healthy. You should have whole wheat flour. Polished rice, polished wheat, polished corn—just white flour—is harmful to the liver, Āyurveda says. It creates many diseases and has no strength inside. Safed attā, maida, maida chaktīsalī hai? Mr. Principal, is white flour healthy? No. Nobody hears you if you say it. If you say it a little louder, then everybody hears, because otherwise they say, "Swamiji is putting his own theory." It is correct. White flour is not healthy. And unfortunately, all these pesticides we are taking... So try to eat as healthy as you can. Spices—oh, spices are a blessing for the body. I mean spices not only as chili, but all other spices, including chili. Too much of anything is prohibited, but a little bit—that's called the essence. Cardamom, cloves, haldī (turmeric), ginger, garlic. Though garlic is rājasik, and it becomes tāmasik. If you fry garlic, it becomes tāmasik. If you cook with it, it becomes rājasik. But if you put fresh garlic on your food, it becomes sāttvic. When you fry garlic in oil, it changes the chemical. It destroys all the substances inside, and it becomes tāmasik. If you boil or cook it, it becomes rājasik. But if you take a little bit in salad or on your food, that is counted as sāttvic. It's healthy. If garlic is healthy, then uncooked. That is like a medicine. And what is a good thing? Our grandmothers—your grandmothers of Europeans, your grandmothers of Indians—there are still many grandmothers in Europe. They don't know how to sign, still they are living. It was okay, why not? But they are so excellent and so great in cooking, my God. Even the doctors who study special nourishment don't know. Who said ghee is bad for the body? Why are people nowadays so weak? Because they don't eat ghee, and they don't eat sweet. Yes, ghee and sweet—to digest them you need work, and limited, of course. If you eat every day one-quarter kilo ghee and one-quarter kilo sweet, then the whole day you have to cut wood the whole day, then it's okay? Or you have to do three hours of bodybuilding? Not like this. So it needs to be digested in the body. It has to be burnt in the body. That is a healthy transfer into the brain. Otherwise, you eat ten grams of ghee, and after three days, one week you are in the hospital because you do not utilize that ghee properly. Healthy nourishment: the full corn nourishment, organic vegetables and fruits, organic milk, organic soya, organic everything. That's very important for Kāya Kalpa. Because humans have much weakness in that Svādindriya. Can somebody tell me what is Svādindriya? Yes? Ah, it's the sense of taste. Ah, that's very weak. And therefore, the yogī said, "Fast at least twice a week." And that's very good. So, when you will not eat one day, then your body will digest everything. The next day, you are ready to eat again. Fasting—but people do not want to fast. So what did the yogis do? They put fasting as a spiritual practice. Then they said, "Yes, it is for Hanumānjī, for God Hanumāna. This Tuesday, oh yes, Hanumānjī, please help me to pass my examination. I will fast every Tuesday, Hanumānjī." But Hanumānjī said, "My child, if you will keep on fasting as a student, you can't be strong like me. So students should not fast." Fasting is for those who are above 25 years. For children, no fasting. Haṭha Yoga and Āyurveda speak first. The first wealth is good health. First happiness is good health. And one Austrian scientist said, "Health is not everything." He said health is not everything, then he put, "But everything is nothing without health." That's it. Who is a very happy man in this world? Who is healthy? Swami Vivekānanda jī said, "Lying in the hospital is not anymore a life. Life is healthy." And health comes from food, environment, the Prāṇamaya Kośa, Manomaya Kośa, Vijñānamaya Kośa, and Ānandamaya Kośa. All these four other kośas, which we will be speaking about later, depend on the Annamaya Kośa. So in yoga, purification is very important. Let's begin tomorrow with something on purification. Okay? Yes? Only three said yes. You don't know what I will say. We can do two kinds of purification: either Śaṅkha Prakṣālana here, or we go to Pali, eat, and come back. Yeah, just go to Pali's house and have food, come back, and Śaṅkha Prakṣālana is done. Annamaya purification, Annamaya Kośa. When you are working with Haṭha Yoga, four times a year you should have a Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. Someone said six times a year. At the end of every second month, there is a change in the body, in your tissues, in your blood. Do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. But if you do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana and the next day you go to eat a big kē pichā or big bajrī chapati and dal bati churma, then your Śaṅkha Prakṣālana will have a negative reaction on the body. Also, do not eat white flour, sugar, and these soft things. Your teeth need exercise. When these temples and these muscles of your jaw do not have good exercise, then you constantly have tamo guṇa in the mind: anger and sleepiness. Now, okay, we need to put our jaw muscles and temple muscles to work. Let's take chewing gum? No, no, that is very unhealthy. If you eat too much chewing gum, you will get an ulcer in the stomach because when you put anything in the mouth, the mouth creates hormones and gives a signal to the intestine that something nice is coming, and the digestive fire awakens. But nothing is coming, so that begins to harm your intestines. You will have holes in the intestines. Eat something solid and healthy. Eat a good apple. Eat a good lemon. Eat a good coconut. Eat good nuts. Bite something hard: chapatis and hard fruits. Vegetables—you need to chew something. Gurujī said in Hindi, "Gurujī said the work of the teeth and jaw, don't give to your stomach." They have other duties, and the stomach has other duties. Therefore, your whole gland system remains healthy and functions properly if you have proper, good eating. Otherwise, your jāṭharāgni will be very weak. You will not be angry, nor hungry. And if someone asks, "Do you want it?" "No, still not." "Are you hungry?" "No, I'm not very hungry," because your jāṭharāgni is very little. When there is no oil in the lamp, the flame becomes smaller and smaller and smaller. Therefore, children have very strong digestion. And those children who eat well and on time become strong, healthy, and have good concentration. And those children say, "I don't want to eat this, I want to eat only chocolate. I want to eat ice cream. Chapati, no. Daliyā, no." These children are very weak. They are not Hanumanjī. Did you see Hanumānjī eating chocolate? Did you see Hanumanjī eating pudding? Did you see Hanumanjī eating ice cream? Hanumanjī was eating very healthy food. So we all have to become healthy. Annamaya Kośa needs proper care. Annamaya Kośa needs a proper diet. Annamaya Kośa needs proper food. And food is nourishment. Society is nourishment. Environment is nourishment. Speaking is nourishment, and not speaking is nourishment. Eating is nourishment, and not eating is nourishment. To know how and when... Never delay your eating time. Eat fresh cooked food. Never let your food wait, which will turn into tamas guṇa and rajas guṇa. Therefore, in ancient times—now maybe also, but mostly thanks to the ladies, you know—the man was healthy. She is cooking, and he is sitting nearby and eating. Chapati coming from the chapati pan to his plate, and from his plate to his mouth, and from the mouth, where? Stomach. Fresh cooked chapati is fresh cooked food. Now, husband and wife say, "Let's go to a restaurant." You don't know how old the food was, again re-warmed. Therefore, fresh cooked food. Try to eat as soon as possible when food is prepared. Then, within one hour, it should be consumed. Otherwise, it turns into tāmas guṇa. Never miss your eating time. Never miss your sādhanā time. And never miss your prayer time. You can miss anything, but not these three things: prayer, chādanā (meditation), and eating. So Annamaya Kośa: jaisā khāyegā ann, vaisā rahegā man; jaisā pīyegā pānī, vaisī bolegā bānī. Or jaisā karega śaṅg, vaisā lag jāyegā raṅg. Hamare ṛṣi muniyo ne—what the great saints and great men said, it is true. So let's begin from tomorrow onward with our purification of the body. You are the luckiest ones, that you have very fresh, very, very fresh organic neem leaves here. Don't miss. Every hour, one neem leaf. Not much, but every hour, one leaf. Let's become the neem. Chew on it for a while. Eat it, swallow it, or let it be put in the tea, or a little bit when you are eating your dinner, lunch, or breakfast. Take two leaves, break them, and put them in your food. It's very good. This is also to overcome certain desires. Then your mouth will say, "Which kind of chocolate is this?" And you will say it's a bitter chocolate—oh, very good, it's 85 percent chocolate. So neem, neem. Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa is God Viṣṇu. So this neem is like God Viṣṇu himself. So Annamaya Kośa purification through water, air, and nourishment.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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