[Advaita-l] SAGA OF YOGA AS COMPASSION

[KAMESWARARAO MULA]

 Dear Friends,                         Accordingto Patanjali, the father of Indian Yoga philosophy, “yoga is the control ofthought waves in the mind”. The mind (Citta) has three components – manas,buddhi and ahankara. Since the manas receives all impressions gathered by thesenses from the external world, aspirants of spiritual knowledge have todiscriminate the impressions and shed ahankara, or the ego-sense, in order torealize the essential being, the self. & one who realizes the self is ayogi. Yoga chitta vrutti nirodha! Thelives of all these siddhas constitute an epitome of compassion, the ultimatehuman virtue, a theological, religious and spiritual inclusiveness. Their livesamount to the renaissance of a new-consciousness, desired and deservedparticularly, by the suffering man of our times, who is in need of a spirit ofuniversal consciousness against mindless materialism. There are hundreds of yogis who have imbibed aholistic approach to yoga to become yogis, or Siddha Purushas, and realized thefruit of their spiritual knowledge in service to mankind, transforming theirpowers into compassion for the poor, destitute, disease-ridden, the hapless andhelpless lot of human society Prof. BRamaraju’s Andhra Yogulu, a monumental and deeply researched work on the yogisof Andhra in 4 volumes chronicles the lives of about 200 yogis of Andhraspanning over seven centuries. A translation in English of the biographies of35 out of the 50 saints of the first volume entitled Telugu Saints and Sages byProf. M Sivaramakrishna. SriVidyaranya (1296-1386) is a blend of a Vedavyasa,Sankaracharya, & Chanakya.SripadaSrivallabha (1323-1344), considered to be a reincarnation of Sri Dattatreya –the son of sage Atri and Anasuya – is the supreme example of an ascetic whorenounced the love of his own embodiment and lived as a Siddhayogi, anAvadhuta, after mastering all the scriptures. Sripada became SripadaSrivallabha since his concort was the spiritual Yogasri Herself. His yogamanifested itself in his miracles which revived the dead and redeemed many byinjecting faith and devotion in them. Vemana’sstature among yogis is unique. He was a ‘paradise of Vedanta’, a Nathayogi and aphilosopher. He was a rationalist and a humanist. He renounced the worldafter a life of sensory pleasures (Kama), only toexpose the weaknesses and follies of human beings through his universal andtimeless creative message enshrined in his ‘Vemana Satakam’.  Since yogais the quest (sadhana) for the experience of realization of and union withBrahman, through various forms of yoga – Sri Pothuluri Veera Brahmendra Swami(1608-1693) a contemporary of yogi Vemana, achieved Mahayoga, the greatestblend of all forms of yoga. He was a seer of all times at a time, and likeVemana, he preached the universal message. SriRaghavendra Swami (1596-1671) of Mantralayam, one more saint in whomself-realization, transcendence, divine experience and compassionate service tosociety through gnana, bhakti and karma yogas attained an ideal blend. Theuplift of the downtrodden and the illiterate fills every moment of the saga ofthis king of yogis, and an author of thirty three works. Sri SadasivaBrahmendra Saraswati (1560-1750) Sri Narayana Tirtha(1580-1680) Sorakayala Swamiwho walked on earth for 202 years (1700-1902)Tarigonda Venkamma(1730-1817), MachilipatnamDontulamma (1807-1932),Adoni TikkaLakshmamma (1815-1933)PoodotaLingavadbuta (17th century), KesavaswamiBhaganagarkar (1610-1683)SridharaVenkatesa Ayyaval (1635-1720), Guntur Nana Mastan (1685-1892), SattenapalliPhiroji Maharshi (1829-1889), PudukkotaJudge Swami (1850-1915), KurtalamMouna Swami (1868-1943), KottalankaSyed Ahmedalishaw Khadar Ali (1868-1948), TandurAbdul Karim Shah Vali (1870-1947), PrakasanandaSwami (1871-­1962), KavyakanthaVasishta Ganapathi Muni (1885-1962), Amultifaceted personality, a yogi, who was also a social revolutionary wasGanapati Muni.VadrevuLalithananda Saraswati (1886-1951 Source: Ackn: Dr. R. M. V. Raghavendra Rao, from the Preface/Introduction of a Book.  Sri Guru Padaravindarpana MastuKameswara