Tirumalai Krishnamacharya

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya

Krishnamacharya at 100 years (1988)
Born November 18, 1888(1888-11-18)
Karnataka, India
Died February 28, 1989(1989-02-28) (aged 100)
Nationality Indian
Occupation Yoga teacher
Known for "the father of modern yoga"
Spouse Namagiriamma
Children sons T.K. Srinivasan, T.K.V. Desikachar, and T.K. Sribhashyam, and daughters Srimathi Pundarikavalli, Srimathi T. Alamelu Sheshadri, and Srimathi Shubha Mohan Kumar

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (November 18, 1888 – February 28, 1989)[1][2] was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer and scholar. Often referred to as "the father of modern yoga,"[3][4][5] Krishnamacharya is widely regarded as one of the most influential yoga teachers of the 20th century and is credited with the revival of hatha yoga.[6]

Krishnamacharya held degrees in all the six Vedic darśanas, or Indian philosophies. While under the patronage of the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wadiyar, Krishnamacharya traveled around India giving lectures and demonstrations to promote yoga, including such feats as stopping his heartbeat.[7] He is widely considered as the architect of vinyasa,[6] in the sense of combining breathing with movement. Underlying all of Krishnamacharya’s teachings was the principle “Teach what is appropriate for an individual.”[8] While he is revered in other parts of the world as a yogi, in India Krishnamacharya is mainly known as a healer who drew from both ayurvedic and yogic traditions to restore health and well-being to those he treated.[6] He authored four books on yoga—Yoga Makaranda, Yogaasangalu, Yoga Rahasya, and Yogavalli—as well as several essays and poetic compositions.[9]

Some of Krishnamacharya's students include many of yoga’s most renowned teachers: his son T.K.V. Desikachar (b. 1938), Indra Devi (1900-2002), his brother-in-law B.K.S. Iyengar (b. 1918), K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009), and A. G. Mohan (b. 1945).

Contents

Biography

Early life

Krishnamacharya was born on 18 November 1888 in Muchukundapuram, in Chitradurga district of Karnataka state in India, to an orthodox Iyengar family. His parents were Sri Tirumalai Srivinasa Tattacharya, a well-known teacher of the Vedas, and Shrimati Ranganayakamma. He was the eldest with two brothers and three sisters. At the age of six, he underwent upanayana.[10] He then began learning to speak and write Sanskrit, texts such as the Amarakosha and to chant the Vedas under the strict tutelage of his father.[2]

Unfortunately at the age of ten, Krishnamacharya lost his father, and the family had to move to Mysore, the second largest city in [Karnataka], where Krishnamcharya's great-grandfather H.H. Sri Srinivasa Brahmatantra Parakala Swami acted as the head of the Parakala Mutt. In Mysore, Krishnamacharya began a more formal schooling at the Chamaraj Sanskrit College and in the Maṭha. He made a practice of debating on the subjects of the Shastras with the professors and visiting Pandits.[10] He passed his Vidvan examination in Mysore, where he had studied Vyakarana, vedanta, and tarka.[11]

At the age of sixteen, Krishnamacharya had a strange dream in which his ancestor, the legendary yogi and Sri Vaishnava saint Nathamuni directed him to go to the town of Alvar Tirunagari, in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. Krishnamacharya obeyed the dream and traveled there. As he later told, when he arrived at his destination, he fell into trance and found himself in the presence of three sages. He requested them to instruct him in the Yoga Rahasya, a long lost yogic treatise by Nathamuni. One of the sages, whom he later identified as Nathamuni himself, started to recite the text. When Krishnamacharya later woke up from the trance, he could recall every single verse of this legendary treatise lost long ago.[12]

Scholastic Education

Krishnamacharya spent much of his youth traveling through India studying the six darśana or Indian philosophies: vaiśeṣika, nyāya, sāṃkhya, yoga, mīmāṃsā and vedānta.[13] In 1906, at the age of eighteen, Krishnamacharya left Mysore to attend at the university of Benares, a city of hundreds of temples also known as Vārāṇasī. While at the university, he focused his studies on logic and Sanskrit, working with Brahmashri Shivakumar Shastry, "one of the greatest grammarians of the age".[14] He also learnt the Mimamsa from Brahmasri Trilinga Rama Shastri.[2] He learned tarka from Vamacarana Bhattacharya. He also forged a strong friendship with the head of Kāśi Sanskrit Vidyā Pīṭha, Mahāmahopādhyāya Gaṅgānāth Jhā.

After leaving the Benares, in 1909 he returned to Mysore and studied vedānta with the new pontiff of Parakāla Maṭha, H. H. Sri Krishna Brahmatantra. During this period he learned to play the vīṇā, one of the most ancient stringed instruments in India. Besides Maṭha, Krishnamacharya also studied at the University of Mysore.[15]

In 1914 he once again left for Benares to attend classes at Queens College, where he eventually earned a number of teaching certificates. During the first year he had little or no financial support from his family so in order to eat he followed the rules that were laid down for religious beggars: only approaching seven households each day and offering a prayer "in return for wheat flour to mix with water for cakes".[16] Krishnamacharya eventually left Queens College to study the ṣaḍdarśana (six darshanas) in Vedic philosophy at Patna University. He also got a scholarship to study Ayurveda under Vaidya Krishnakumar of Bengal.[2]

He was invited to the coronation of the Rajah of Dikkanghat (a principality within Darbhanga), defeated a scholar called Bihari Lal in a debate; and received rewards and honors from the Raja. His stay in Kāśi lasted 11 years.

Education in Yoga

During all this time Krishnamacharya continued to practice the yoga that his father had taught him as a young boy. Krishnamacharya had also learnt Yoga from shri Babu Bhagwan Das, and passed the Sankhya Yoga Examination of Patna.[2] Many of his instructors recognized his abilities in this area and supported his progress and asked that he teach their children. During his vacation time he would take pilgrimages into the Himalayas. At the suggestion of Gaṅgānāth Jhā, he decided to find Yogeshwara Ramamohan Brahmachari, a yoga teacher rumored to live in the mountains beyond Nepal. He had to obtain the permission of the Viceroy, Lord Irwin; who was then suffering from diabetes. At the request of the Viceroy, he travelled to Simla and taught him yogic practices for six months. The viceroy developed respect and affection for him, and made all arrangements for his travel to Tibet in 1919; supplying three aides and taking care of the expenses.

Eventually, after two and a half months of walking, Krishnamacharya found Sri Brahmachari’s school which consisted of a cave at the foot of Mount Kailash. Ramamohana Brahmachari was a family man, and Gaṅgānātha Jhā had written to him earlier. He spent seven and a half years studying the “Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, learning āsanas and prāṇāyāma, and studying the therapeutic aspects of yoga”.[6] He was made to memorize the whole of the Yoga Kuruntha in the Gurkha language. As tradition holds, at the end of his studies with Sri Ramamohan, Krishnamacharya asked what payment would be – Ramamohan responded that Krishnamacharya was to "take a wife, raise children and be a teacher of Yoga".[17]

He then returned to Vārāṇasī. Mahārāja of Jaipur called him to serve as principal of the Vidyā Śālā in Jaipur; but as he did not like being answerable to many people, he again returned to Vārāṇasī shortly. Impressed with his mastery, Amarnātha Jhā, the son of Gaṅgānāth Jhā, introduced him to various monarchs and he was widely honoured. In accordance with his Guru's wishes that he should live a life of a householder - he married Namagiriammal in 1925.

Yogashala in Mysore

The Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV was in Varanasi to celebrate the 60th birthday of his mother. The Maharaja was impressed by the young man's demeanor, authority and scholarship. In 1924 he was asked by the Maharaja, a man who looked to yoga to help cure his many ailments, to open a yoga school where he taught until 1955.[18] The Maharajah was so impressed with Krishnamacharya that he was hired to teach the royal family and given the wing of a nearby palace to start the Yogashala or yoga school.[19] At the Maharaja's request, he wrote several books including Yoga Makaranda, Yoganjali, and Yogasanalu.

Unwilling to fall under the obligation of the Maharaja, Krishnamacharya was forced to take a job as a foreman at a coffee plantation. Krishnamacharya held many demonstrations to stimulate popular interest in the subject. These included suspending his pulse, stopping cars with his bare hands, performing difficult asanas, and lifting heavy objects with his teeth.[6]

Because many of his students at this point in his life were active boys he developed a vigorous style of yoga aimed at building strength and stamina that is known today as the popular Ashtanga (Vinyasa) Yoga.[6] He soon became a trusted advisor of the Maharajah as well as a sought after yoga instructor and healer.

Upon his return to Southern India, he went on to study Ayurveda, the traditional medical practice of India, as well as Nyaya, a school of Indian philosophy concerned with logic and epistemology. After winning its independence from the United Kingdom one of the first acts of the new Indian political establishments was to dethrone the Maharaja ending the long reign of support that Krishnamacharya received from the ruler. By this time Krishnaraja Wadiyar had died and his nephew, Jayachamaraja Wadiyar had become Maharaja. The chief minister, K.C. Reddy, ordered the school to be closed within three months.[10]

Chennai Years

After leaving Mysore Krishnamacharya moved to Bangalore for two years and then was invited to relocate to Chennai, the fourth largest city in India, by a well known lawyer who sought his help in healing from a stroke. Now in his sixties, Krishnamacharya’s reputation for being a strict and intimidating teacher mellowed: although he was still considered strict concerning his practice and teaching, he showed a more gentle compassionate side. Although many considered him a Yoga Master he continued to call himself a student because he felt that he was always “studying, exploring and experimenting” with the practice.[20]

At the age of 96, he slipped on a damp stone while checking the mail, and fractured his hip. Refusing surgery, he treated himself and designed a course of practice that he could do in bed. Krishnamacharya lived and taught in Chennai until he slipped into a coma and died in 1989 at one hundred years of age. His cognitive faculties remained sharp until his death; and he continued to teach and heal when the situation arose.

Approach to Healing

Krishnamacharya “believed Yoga to be India’s greatest gift to the world”[21] – although many people approach it as a spiritual practice he also incorporated a great deal of physical healing because it is difficult for a person to grow if they have a great deal of discomfort from illness.[22] Through the teachings Krishnamacharya received from his father and other instructors he realized that every person is “absolutely unique”[23] and he felt that the most important part of teaching yoga was that the student must be “taught according to his or her individual capacity at any given time”.[24] This means that the path of yoga will mean different things for different people and each person must be taught in a manner that they understand clearly.[25] Because of this individualized approach, it is impossible to explain Krishnamacharya’s process of teaching in full.

Krishnamacharya was not only a yoga instructor, he was also considered a physician of Ayurvedic medicine and “possessed enormous knowledge of nutrition, herbal medicine, the use of oils, and other remedies”.[26] This gave him the ability to approach an individual’s problem in a well-informed manner. When he began working with a person he would conduct a very detailed examination to determine the most efficient path to take. He would take the persons pulse, examine the color of the skin, listen to the quality of the breath, among many other things. During the time of diagnosis, Krishnamacharya would look for what “upset or hindered the harmonious union of the body, mind, and spirit”[27] – even though a disease is focused in a particular area, he knew that it would affect many other systems in the body, both mental and physical. At some point during or after the initial examination, he would eventually ask the person, if he or she will be able to follow his guidance. This question was asked because he knew that if the person could not trust him fully there was little chance of being healed. If the answer was “yes” the “healing relationship would begin”[28] but if the person showed hesitation he would send him or her away.

Once a person began seeing Krishnamacharya, he would work with him or her on a number of levels including adjusting their diet; creating herbal medicines; and setting up a series of yoga postures that would be most beneficial. When instructing a person on the practice of yoga, Krishnamacharya particularly stressed the importance of combining breath work (pranayama) with the postures (asanas) of yoga and meditation (dhyana) to reach the desired goal.[29] He would continue to see the person approximately once a week to monitor the progress until he or she was healed.

Approach to Yoga

Krishnamacharya was known to be able to voluntarily stop his visible heart beat/ pulse for over two minutes, probably by drastically reducing venous return to the heart.[30][31]

Krishnamacharya taught Yoga to people of all religions. He always took time to understand the religion and the culture of the people he taught. For example, when he was invited to teach the Nizam of Hyderabad, he spoke to him in Urdu. The Nizam was so impressed that his entire family practiced Yoga.[32]

K. Pattabhi Jois and BKS Iyengar teach based on their own experiences with Krishnamacharya in the 1930s in Mysore, when they were both young men; their styles are reflective of yoga that is appropriate to younger students and thus heavily emphasise asana practice. However, teachers such as T.K.V. Desikachar, A. G. Mohan and Srivatsa Ramaswami teach a broader part of Krishnamacharya's teachings, noting that yoga is more than just asana and must be tuned to the student, taking account of health, energy, physique, gender, place and age.

Accomplishment as a scholar

Krishnamacharya was also well regarded as a scholar; he was twice offered the position of an important Acharya in the Srivaishnava sampradaya, but he declined in order to stay with his family.

He also had excellent knowledge of orthodox Hindu rituals. In fact, the current seer of the Parakala Mutt underwent Upanayana under his supervision.

Due to his great scholarship in various darshanas of orthodox Hindu philosophy, he was acquired titles such as Sāṃkhya-yoga-śikhāmaṇi, Mīmāṃsā-ratna, Mīmāṃsā-thīrtha, Nyāyācārya, Vedāntavāgīśa, Veda-kesari and Yogācārya.[32]

Legacy

Although his knowledge and teaching has influenced yoga throughout the world, Krishnamacharya never left his native India over the course of his life. As Yoga Journal described in an article entitled, "The Legacy of Krishnamacharya," "You may never have heard of him but Tirumalai Krishnamacharya influenced or perhaps even invented your yoga. Whether you practice the dynamic series of Pattabhi Jois, the refined alignments of B.K.S. Iyengar, the classical postures of Indra Devi, or the customized vinyasa of Viniyoga, your practice stems from one source: a five-foot, two-inch Brahmin born more than one hundred years ago in a small South Indian village."[6] By developing and refining different approaches, Krishnamacharya made yoga accessible to millions around the world.[6]

Although Krishnamacharya stressed that the most important Yoga texts were the traditional Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Nathamuni’s Yoga Rahasya and the Bhagavad Gita (from the Mahabharata), his greatest strength was the ability to take the ancient teaching of yoga and Indian philosophy and combine them within a modern day framework.

Works of Krishnamacharya

Books on yoga:[33]

  1. Yoga Makaranda
  2. Yogaasanagalu
  3. Yoga Rahasya
  4. Yogavalli

Other works (essays and poetic compositions):[34]

  1. “Yogaanjalisaaram”
  2. “Disciplines of Yoga”
  3. “Effect of Yoga Practice”
  4. “Importance of Food and Yoga in Maintaining Health”
  5. “Verses on Methods of Yoga Practice”
  6. “Essay on Asana and Pranayama”
  7. “Madhumeha (Diabetes)”
  8. “Why Yoga as a Therapy Is Not Rising”
  9. Bhagavad Gita as a Health Science”
  10. “Ayurveda and Yoga: An Introduction”
  11. “Questions and Answers on Yoga” (with students in July 1973)
  12. “Yoga: The Best Way to Remove Laziness”
  13. “Dhyana (Meditation) in Verses”
  14. “What Is a Sutra?”
  15. “Kundalini: Essay on What Kundalini Is and Kundalini Arousal (sakti calana) Based on Texts Like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gheranda Samhita, and Yoga Yajnavalkya
  16. “Extracts from Raja Yoga Ratnakara
  17. “Need for a Teacher”
  18. “Satvika Marga” (“The Sattvic Way”; philosophy/spiritual/yoga)
  19. “Reference in Vedas to Support Vedic Chanting for Women” (philosophy/technical)
  20. “Fourteen Important Dharmas” (philosophy)
  21. “Cit Acit Tatva Mimamsa” (philosophy)
  22. “Sandhya-saaram” (ritual) “Catushloki” (four verses on Sankaracharya)
  23. “Kumbhakonam Address” (catalog) “Sixteen Samskaras” (rituals)
  24. “Mantra Padartha Tatva Nirnaya” (rituals)
  25. “Ahnika Bhaskaram” (rituals)
  26. “Shastreeya Yajnam” (rituals)
  27. “Vivaaha” (marriage rituals)
  28. “Asparsha Pariharam” (rituals)
  29. “Videsavaasi Upakarma Nirnaya” (rituals)
  30. “Sudarshana Dundubhi” (devotional)
  31. “Bhagavat Prasadam” (devotional)
  32. “Narayana Paratva” (devotional)
  33. “About Madras” (miscellaneous)

Notes

  1. ^ Mohan, A. G., Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings, p. 125.
  2. ^ a b c d e http://www.kym.org/tkrish.html
  3. ^ "Krishnamacharya - Father of Modern Yoga". About.com. July 15 2011. http://yoga.about.com/od/typesofyoga/p/Krishnamacharya.htm. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
  4. ^ "Memories of a Master". YogaJournal.com. http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2590. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
  5. ^ "The YJ Interview: Partners in Peace". YogaJournal.com. http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2605. Retrieved October 10, 2011. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Ruiz 2001.
  7. ^ Mohan, A. G., Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings, p. 7.
  8. ^ Mohan, A. G., Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings, p. 38.
  9. ^ Mohan, A. G., Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings, pp. 128-130.
  10. ^ a b c http://aysnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=37
  11. ^ Kausthub Desikachar - The Yoga of the Yogi, 2005: 31.
  12. ^ Kausthub Desikachar - The Yoga of the Yogi, 2005: 31-33.
  13. ^ http://www.kheper.net/topics/eastern/6darshanas.htm.
  14. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 38
  15. ^ Kausthub Desikachar - The Yoga of the Yogi, 2005: 52-53.
  16. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 40.
  17. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 44
  18. ^ TKV Desikachar - Heart of Yoga, xvi
  19. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 87
  20. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 104
  21. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 123
  22. ^ TKV Desikachar - Heart of Yoga, xviii
  23. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 20
  24. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 22
  25. ^ TKV Desikachar - Heart of Yoga, xix
  26. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 124
  27. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 129
  28. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 131
  29. ^ TKV Desikachar - Health, Healing & Beyond, 111
  30. ^ http://www.yogainasia.com/articles_pdf/TKV%20Desikachar%20on%20Healing.pdf
  31. ^ http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/circ/toc.00003017-196112000-00000.htm;jsessionid=GqpVXG4nhvl1f276WGGj2cTGFkhPC8mh9NLw9p8jwHLKBRsyy0Mv%2195098694%21-949856144%218091%21-1
  32. ^ a b http://archives.chennaionline.com/Personality/art012.asp
  33. ^ Mohan, A. G., Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings, pp. 128-129.
  34. ^ Mohan, A. G., Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings, pp. 129-130.

References

External references