Primary Influences

Janardan Swami was born in 1892 in  Kudal, Maharashtra. He was born in a very poor family and started his journey of studying Vedas and Upanishads at a very early age. He also studies Ayurveda and astrology. As a young man, he visited the holy city of Dwarka in the state of Gujrat.  He stayed in Gujrat and mastered the science a Yoga with an ascetic (a Sanyasi) within four months. To respect and honor his Guru, he vowed to teach yoga free to everyone irrespective of caste, religion, gender and status.

He came to my home town-Nagpur in 1949.  He was a pioneer in emphasizing the health of the housewives and started teaching yoga to  them.  He continued his selfless service until his last breath in 1978. He observed “Ayachit Vritti”, and took food only when someone offered it to him. With his yogic power, he could stay without food for several days.  Thus he was a true Karma Yogi and a Gyan Yogi.

His Pranayama practice was so intense and perfect that one could hear the sound and rhythm of his Bhastrika (Bellows Breath) pranayama in an open-air auditorium without a microphone.

My yogic journey started with Janardan Swami when I was 14 years old. I would attend Swamiji’s yoga classes with my mother. His practice of Ashtanga Yoga was perfect and he paid thorough attention to each and every student. It is interesting how the first set of learnings stay with us. In my yoga classes, students come up to me and thank me for giving individual attention to everyone in the class- a trait that I have picked up from my Guru.

The cashless bounty that he started for the health and welfare of people in Nagpur has been developed into a huge institution by his dedicated students- Janardan Swami Yogabhyasi Manadal of Nagpur. This institution continues to propagate Swamiji’s knowledge free of cost.  The force of Swamiji’s yogic power and his inspiration is the supporting pillar for this institution.

My salutations to this rare gem-my guru.

Other spiritual Gurus and Yoga Masters who have influenced me include Swami Sivananda and B.K.S. Iyengar. See foillowing bio's.

A major proponent of yoga and Vedanta. Born as Kuppuswami in 1887, he studied medicine and served as a practicing physician in the British Malaya. Several years later, in 1924, he returned to India he Swami Sivananda Saraswanti was a spiritual teacher and a followed the path of Monasticism . Along with is spiritual practice, he continued to nurse the sick and opened a charitable dispensary caring primarily for the pilgrims and holy men visiting Varanasi. 

He was the founder of the Divine life Society and established the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh. An avid spiritual master and seeker, he has authored over 200 books on Vedanta. He was a proponent on the four-fold practice of Yoga-Karma, Gyan, Bhakti and Raja Yoga. Two  of his prominent students are-Swami Chinmayananda who brought Vedanta and the Spiritual Knowledge to the West and Swami Vishnu Devananda who brought Yoga to the West and established the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in the US, Africa and the Caribbean Islands.

Bellur Krishnamachar Sunderraj (BKS) Iyengar is a well known figure in the US and worldwide. B.K.S. Iyengar was born in 1918 in a poor family in Southern India.  As a child he suffered from malnutrition, bouts of malaria, typhoid and tuberculosis. His brother in law the master Yogi Krishnamacharya took BKS under his care and tutorship. With a dedicated yoga practice, his health started improving and BKS 

describes this as the turning point in his life.

BKS authored several books on yoga including the Light on Yoga, Light on Pranayama and light on life.  His technique of teaching Hatha Yoga was so precise and pure that it gained its own identity as Iyengar Yoga. In 2004, he was named one of the 100 influential