Page 12 - NAMAH-Oct-2023

Namah Vol. 31, Issue 3, 15th October 2023

Where then does yoga begin, both in the of Truth, Sanaatana Dharma. Subsequently
life of the individual as well as in the life of Vivasvaa transmitted it to Manu, the original
the human race? Or perhaps it existed as a prototype of Man, as the truth that he must
subtle principle or force in nature, drawing abide by. Subsequently, the Yoga is given
all things upwards towards the Divine to the lineage of kings from the Solar
Origin or Source by a natural attraction Dynasty, the Suuryavankshi king, Ikssaaku. But
or as the ‘compelling stuff in things ‘. For this original Yoga is lost from time to time.
evolution is not unique to man. It is the When the Yoga is lost and men begin to live
one happening thing, possibly because of by their own fancies and desires and egoistic
the concealed evolutionary Energy hidden selfish interests, then the Sanaatana Dharma
within matter or creation itself. declines, dharmasya glaanihh. At each of these
points the Divine assumes a human birth to
Yoga systems restore the Dharma by giving the Yoga again
to mankind, at first to a few who are ready
If we leave aside the standard academic and then to humanity at large.
textbooks about the beginnings of Yoga,
we find an interesting account of its What is the purpose we may ask? As is
beginnings in the Srimadbhagavad Gıitaa. Sri implicit in the declaration, Yoga is the
Krrssnna explains to Arjuna that he gave the supreme means to restore the Dharma.
ancient Yoga first to Vivasvaa, the sun-god. And Dharma here is not religion as we
Vivasva is the name of the sun specific to this understand today, but the means through
a
chaturyuga. In other words,Yoga was first which we draw nearer to the Law of Truth
given by the Supreme Godhead, immanent and by that we grow in oneness with God,
in creation to the guardian of the law with the Origin and Source. Thus seen,
Yoga becomes a means to join the creation
of the created with the Creator. Secretly and
in their essence they are always one since
nothing can exist independent in itself,
separate from the one Supreme Source. But
it seems parted on the surface because of
the various distortions and malalignments
that come about due to the complex play of
countless forces that mediate between the
One Creator and the manifold creation.

It is difficult for the modern mind, blinded
by an extremely materialistic vision of science,
to understand what Sri Krrssnna, the Yogessvara
is saying here. It was difficult even for
Arjuna to understand this great declaration
by Krrssnna. That is why the eye of faith must
lead first before the eye of wisdom can open

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