Swami Ramdev

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Swami Ramdev (born in 1965), also known as Baba Ramdev, is an Indian swami.

1 Early life
2 Life
3 Pranayama
4 Controversies
5 Claims of curing AIDS and cancer and confrontation with Health Ministry
6 Notes
7 External links

[edit] Early life

Ramdev was born as Ramkishan Yadav in Alipur, in the Mahendragarh district of Indian state of Haryana. He attended school through the eight grade in Shahjadpur. Thereafter, he joined a yogic monastery (gurukul) in Khanpur village to study Sanskrit and Yoga. Eventually, he renounced worldly life and entered into Sanyas (monastic living) - taking the name Swami Ramdev.

Then he went to Jind district and joined the Kalva gurukul and offered free Yoga training to villagers across Haryana. It is said that he travelled the Himalayas for several years before he settled in Haridwar. He claims to have discovered several medicinal plants in the Himalayas which he uses in treating his patients. Ramdev started relentless efforts to popularise Yoga in 1995 with the establishment of Divya Yoga Mandir Trust along with Acharya Karamveer.^[1]

[edit] Life

In 1995, Ramdev joined the order of swamis after being initiated into the ascetic order by Swami Shankerdevji Maharaj. While training to be a Swami, Ramdev spent many years undertaking an intense and thorough study of ancient Indian scriptures. At the same time, he also practiced intense self-discipline and meditation.

He teaches that God resides in every human being and that the body is God's temple. He is a firm believer in the concept of Vasudaiv Kutambakam (the whole World is one family) and decries practices that discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or gender. His fundamental belief is that expressions of love, affection and compassion towards all living things are the true worship of the Creator.

Ramdev has taught several aspects of traditional Indian scriptures such as Ashtadhyayee, Mahabhashya and Upanishads along with six systems of Indian Philosophy in various Gurukuls (traditional Indian systems of education). He has helped establish Gurukuls in Kishangarh, Ghashera, and Mahendragarh in India. He has also founded the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust which has built several institutions. In addition to helping people learn about Yoga and spirituality, these institutions also provide a comprehensive facility that promotes the practice of Ayurveda - the traditional system of holistic medicine developed in India.

He teaches Pranayama which is a series of techniques for breath control that were developed as a part of the ancient Indian system of Yoga. Heretofore, these techniques were often thought of as being esoteric and complex and portrayed as being unsuitable for lay people. Consequently, their use was often limited to advanced practitioners of Yoga and undertaken only under the strict supervision of an experienced teacher. Ramdev has worked to break these barriers and help make the practice of Pranayama achievable by the ordinary layperson.

His educational show is broadcast on Indian national TV (AASTHA channel) from morning 6-8 am and evening 8-9 pm (IST) several times a week and he also has dedicated shows such as Total Tandurusti airing on Zee network, a show on Sahara One at 9:00 am, Yoga Science on IndiaTV at 7:30 am & 1:30 pm. Total viewership is in millions. According to the synopsis that is available to Sky Digital viewers, Ramdev "claims that he was a paralytic" prior to taking up Yoga, but this claim has yet to be verified.

He has been conducting monthly training camps in cities all over India. Total attendance in these camps exceeds tens of thousands. In 2006, the Ramdev spent almost a month in London teaching Pranayam and Yoga.

Viewers of the TV show and attendees at the camp have reported significant improvements in their health - citing relief from many illnesses such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Hypertension. It should also be noted that most of these 'patients' speak on television for the first time and are overawed by the situation. Like most human beings in such situations, these patients are suceptible to exaggeration, which may explain the so called miracles he is rumored to perform.

In addition, he is holding a yoga camp, similar to that he held in London, in New York (June 30th & July 1st 2007) as well as in New Jersey (July 4th - July 8th). He will be teaching Pranayam and Yoga at this camp, *Swami Ramdev Information website and yoga camp in USA.

[edit] Pranayama

- The Pranayama programme^[2] as taught by Swami Ramdev consists of the following seven key breathing exercises (in sequence):

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Background

In March 2005, about 113 workers employed by the Divya Yog Mandir Trust, Kankhal, Haridwar, owned by Ramdev, started an agitation for minimum wages and for coverage under the Provident Fund and Employees' State Insurance schemes. At a tripartite meeting, an agreement was reached between the workers, management and the district administration. But, some agitating workers were dismissed by the Trust after being charged for alleged sabotage. Their case was taken up by a trade union controlled by Communist Party of India (Marxist); they are yet to be reinstated.

[edit] Issues

Building on the labour demands, Brinda Karat, a New Delhi based CPI(M) leader and wife of CPI(M) leader, Prakash Karat, called a press conference alleging unhealthful manufacturing practices in the pharmaceutical company. She also accused the pharmacy of using animal and human parts in the manufacture of their ayurvedic medicines. Though ayurvedic texts allow the uses of such substances in the manufacture of some of the ayurvedic medicines, this violated, according to Brinda Karat, the laws related to proper labeling of medicines.

The controversy reached a flash-point in January 2006 when Brinda Karat produced an Indian health ministry laboratory report supporting her claim that Divya Yog Pharmacy, owned by Ramdev, was using human and animal bones in his medicines. She claimed that a sample of the medicine (Kuliya Bhasm and Yauvanamrit Bati, purchased from Brahmakalp Chikitsalay, which is the Trust's hospital at Haridwar) was tested at government labs which later confirmed the presence of animal materials in the sample. She exhibited the prescription and cash receipt obtained from the medicine counter in support of her claim.¹

In a subsequent press conference Brinda Karat presented some of the expelled workers who claimed to have used Human skulls in preparing medicine.

[edit] Rebuttals

The charges were denied by Ramdev and his followers who accused Brinda Karat and the CPI(M) of being agents of multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Four samples sent to the government-recognized research center (Shriram Institute of Industrial Research, Delhi) were reported as indicating that the medicines contained no objectionable ingredients and were purely herbal. Uttarakhand state Health Minister Tilak Raj Behad announced this to BBC in March 2006. This refuted Karat's claims that Ramdev was part of any wrongdoing. Ancient Ayurvedictexts do, at times, proscribe the use of animal materials.

Many left leaning Indian politicians like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Ambika Soni came out in support of Ramdev.^[3] Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, praised Ramdev for popularizing Uttarakhand and Haridwar. The spokesmen of Hindutva organizations such as VHP and RSS condemned the allegations made against Ramdev and his pharmacy.

Even after this controversy, Ramdev conducted four camps in United Kingdom and he continues to be popular among both resident and expatriate Indian populations. He has been recently invited by the UNO to deliver a lecture on his 'poverty alleviation' programme.

For additional perspectives on this issue please follow the links below.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

[edit] Claims of curing AIDS and cancer and confrontation with Health Ministry

Press reports in December 2006 created further controversy by stating that Ramdev had made claims that Yoga could cure AIDS. Ramdev responded by saying that these reports were misrepresenting him.^[8] His position was that Yoga and Ayurveda together can alleviate the suffering from AIDS, not cure it.^[9] Other press reports state that he has claimed that cancer of the breast, liver, prostate, uterus, pituitary gland, brain tumours and leukaemia, could be cured by practicing the seven breathing exercises and that he had documented proof of his successes.^[10]

A website promoting his products states that the CD-4 cell count in some AIDS patients has improved after practising Yoga.^[11] This statement was translated by certain journalists as stating that "Swami Ramdev claims cure for AIDS".^[12] As a consequence of these press reports he was sent a notice by the Union Health Ministry and threatened legal action from medical NGOs.^[13]

In response to the cease and desist order from the Health Ministry, he categorically stated that he had made no such claims and was quoted as saying that yogic education was more preferable than sex education in response to the AIDS crisis. "Sex education in schools need to be replaced by yoga education. The government should stop polluting the minds of innocent young children with sex education. Society's morality cannot improve with teaching sex education in schools. And AIDS cannot be prevented by talking free sex and by using condoms."^[14]

Despite these attempts by naysayers to disparage his work, Swami Ramdev continues to receive accolades for his efforts. In January 2007 he was awarded an Honourary Doctorate degree by KIIT University in India, in a ceremony presided over by Nobel laureate Richard Ernst.^[15]