G3 Yoga and Fitness

18/01/2026

Srinivasa Ramanujan, the brilliant Indian mathematician whose fame exploded when G.H. Hardy discovered his unique genius. It is always depressing when one thinks of Ramanujan's life in Cambridge; how he struggled with the cold weather, an alien culture and absence of familiar vegetarian food; which is brought out so well in 'The Man Who Knew Infinity'. One has always been fascinated by his devotion to Namagari, his Kuldevi who he said would write equations on his tongue when he was sleeping at night.

One felt restless at the thought that despite his intense connection with his Kuldevi, his deep Tapas, he had no respite from problems and went on to develop serious health complications and ultimately returned to India to spend his last days. One felt a kind of childish anger at the thought that the Devatas are so unkind to their Bhaktas. Why this is so.

1. In Hindu thought, devotion is not a contract

Hinduism never presents bhakti as a transactional bargain: “I pray, therefore my life will be easy.”
Even the most fervently protected devotees—Prahlada, Dhruva, Draupadi, the Pandavas—endure intense suffering.

The Kuladevi is not a dispenser of comfort, but a guardian of destiny and dharma. Protection does not mean insulation from hardship; it means guidance through it.

Ramanujan himself never believed Namagiri Devi existed to make his life comfortable. He believed she existed to reveal truth.

2. Karma operates independently of devotion

A central Hindu doctrine—clearly stated in the Gita, Upanishads, and Brahma Sutras—is that:
Prārabdha karma (karma already fructifying in this birth) must be lived through, even by saints and jñānis.
Devotion can:
give clarity
give inner strength
give direction
sometimes soften the blow
But it does not erase prārabdha karma.
Śaṅkara himself died young.
Ramakrishna suffered cancer.
Ramana Maharshi endured illness.
Ramanujan endured poverty, social isolation, and illness.
In Hindu metaphysics, this is not injustice—it is cosmic continuity.

3. His suffering was inseparable from his genius

Ramanujan’s mathematical creativity did not arise from a stable, modern academic environment. It arose from:
solitude
obsession
near-ascetic intensity
a mind unencumbered by institutional conditioning
The same conditions that made his life hard also made his work unprecedented.
Hindu texts repeatedly show that extraordinary instruments are forged under pressure, not comfort. The Devi does not shape her instruments gently.

4. The Kuladevi gives artha and artha-ātīta outcomes, not luxury

In many South Indian traditions, the Kuladevi is approached not for wealth or ease, but for:
buddhi (intelligence)
pratibhā (creative intuition)
smṛti (retentive memory)
anugraha (grace)
Ramanujan received these in overwhelming measure.
If one measures divine grace by material stability, his life looks tragic.
If one measures it by civilizational impact, it was astonishingly abundant.
Few humans have altered the course of a discipline so profoundly in so short a life.

5. Hindu theology never equates suffering with divine neglect

This is a crucial civilizational difference.
In Hinduism:
suffering ≠ abandonment
struggle ≠ divine failure
hardship ≠ lack of grace
Often, suffering indicates that a being is walking a non-ordinary path.
Ramanujan himself said that equations came to him as visions, which he then had to justify rationally. That is not the language of someone who felt forsaken.

6. The Devi gave him exactly what he asked for

Ramanujan did not ask Namagiri Devi for:
money
comfort
longevity
social recognition
He asked for truth.
And Hindu theology is brutally honest about this:
Truth is not gentle.
Genius is not comfortable.
Grace does not promise ease.

7. A Hindu way of reading Ramanujan’s life

From within the Hindu framework, Ramanujan’s life is not a story of unanswered prayer.

It is a story of terrifyingly precise grace.

The Devi did not make him prosperous.

She made him immortal.

*And in Hindu terms, that is not a tragedy.*

28/12/2025

Chapter 7
Bhagavat Gita
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

In the taittiriiyopanisad there is Pancha Kosha - prakriyaa. Analysis of 5 levels of experience of oneself.
It begins with the physical body - Anna- rasa - maya, which is like a cover , kosha, because every one mistakes it for Atma. It is born of the essence of food that is eaten. We generally conclude that the body is Atma. Therefore shruti points out that there is another Atma , which is more interior , Subtler.
This is praana, the physiological function , praana- maya. If you think this is Atma, the shruti leads you further to another Atma, Mano - maya , the mind , and from Mano maya to vijnaana- maya , the doer , then from vijnaana maya to Aananda - maya.
Sukha, happiness is also experienced in different degrees. So within Aananda - maya , priya is the first stage of happiness. Something that is pleasing or desirable to you is sighted; that is priya. Then what is desired is possessed by you ; this is moda. The third stage in which it is experienced by you is Pramoda. These are the degrees of Aananda. But in all three - priya , moda and pramoda , what is present is Aananda . That Aananda is myself , and that is Brahman.

29/11/2025

Chapter 6
Bhagavat Gita
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

Atyanta - Sukha is not comparable to the degrees of Sukha you gather. This is where people make mistakes and talk about eternal bliss and so on. This Sukha is not eternal bliss. It is your very Nature, svarupa.
To refer to svarupa- Sukha as bliss means that it is experiential. You get bliss when you watch a sunrise , you are in bliss when you walk in nature , you are in bliss when you hear music. This bliss comes because of an experience. When the experience is over , the bliss is over. It is something that you gain and that lasts only for a period of time. How can you call it eternal bliss. This bliss is experiential, there is no Jnaana, knowledge , there. Then what is this Atyanta - Sukha ? It is a Sukha born of recognising Brahman.
Brahman is a word used by the Shastra for revealing oneself as the whole. Because of the knowledge that is , there is Sukha , born of the contact of Brahman , meaning the recognition of the self as Brahman. This Sukha belongs to Brahman ; it is the very nature of Brahman . Therefore it is called svarupa - Sukha.
Atyantika Sukha is that which does not come to an end.
If this sukha were bliss , it would come to an end, because any beautiful experience has a limit. Such limits do not exist for atyantika sukha , that is one’s very nature. As long as Atma is there , Sukha is there , and Atma , being beyond time , is eternal.

28/11/2025

Chapter 6
Bhagavat Gita
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

Indeed , the most exalted happiness reaches this meditator whose mind is tranquil , who’s impurities have all resolved, whose life is free from defects , who has become Brahman ( through knowledge)

Here krishna says that uttama - sukha, the most exalted happiness , reached the person as a result of contemplation. This sukha is such that it cannot be compared with any happiness or joy that you know. It is a fullness , puurnatva , that is the very nature of Atma.
In any moment of joy or happiness, the seeker- sought difference is resolved, there being nothing but Atma.
Take music for example. The music is there , the person enjoying the music is there, and the appreciation of the music in the form of thoughts , is also there. In this music sukha , the division , the differences between the knower , knowledge and known is resolved. They experientially coalesce into one whole experience called sukha. And what makes the experience whole ? Atma whose nature is oneness , consciousness, makes it sukha.

Who qualifies for absolute Sukha?
For whom does this uttama - sukha reach ? It reaches the person who mediates upon Atma described here as prashaanta-manas, shaanta- rajas,brahma- bhuuta and akalmasa.

A person who is prasaanta- manas , is one whose mind is resolved, tranquil, for whom the mind poses no problem. Therefore, this Uttama- Sukha reaches him or her.
The person is also Shaanta- Rajas , one for whom all the impurities, Rajas , are resolved. Shankara defines such impurity as the fascination for things that are totally false, based on one’s likes and dislikes. Whereas the person being described here is one whose mind is no longer in the hands of likes and dislikes , which is why he is akalmasa.
Kalmasa means a defect in terms of adharma, paapa. . Therefore , one whose pursuits in life are not improper is referred to as akalmasa.
Such a person can become brahma- bhuta , one who has the definite knowledge that Brahman is everything. And because Brahman is everything, I am that Brahman. Brahman being everything , I am everything . Knowing this the person is brahma- Bhuuta . And this person gains Uttama- sukha, Aananda , it being the nature of Atma.

27/11/2025

Chapter 6
Bhagavat Gita
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

The mind has to be dealt with

For whatever reason the unsteady mind, always in a state of flux , goes away , bringing it back from that , with reference to the self alone , may one bring the mind into one’s hand.
You hear something, the sound of a bird perhaps and you go along with the sound . You recognize it as the warble, a particular kind of bird and so on. Or someone says something and off the mind goes. You do not even need the outside world for the mind to go away ; There is a whole world right in your head. Even from inside then , all the birds warble , all the people you have ever known do this and that.
For whatever reason the mind goes away from the object of meditation, and from that reason , from that situation , disciplining it , you bring it back. You do not try to pull it back ; rather, you look at the very object to which your mind went . Let that itself be your object of attention for the time being. And what do you find ? Does it exist independent of consciousness , Atma? Does it continue to exist, if you question this way? No , you find that it becomes mithya and you get back to Satya ,the truth of it ,WHICH IS YOURSELF.
By looking into the thought that took you away ,the very object that took you away from the object of meditation, the thought itself , along with its object , is converted to mithya , simply by seeing the truth of it. Therefore krishna says that , you should bring the mind back into your own hands . As it moves away from you , you may bring it back to the object of meditation, meaning you may return to the contemplation of Atma.
No force is used here. You just look at whatever took your mind away, thereby converting the object of distraction into the object of meditation.

( this is a very beautiful way to practice meditation. If any of you would like to clarify this , please message me privately)

26/11/2025

Chapter 6
Bhagavat Gita
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

No will is required in contemplation.

In meditation, will is only with reference to sitting and other preparations. Once these are taken care of , the will does not do anything. In fact , will is the problem and therefore, has to be surrendered to the contemplation itself. The contemplation takes over your will, so to speak. The mind becomes as though possessed. You, as a person , the contemplator , are possessed by that very contemplativeness . Therefore no wil is required.
What do you require to appreciate something beautiful? None. The very will gets resolved in the apppreceation of that which is beautiful, which is inspiring. What will is there when you love something, whatever will there is , just resolves.
Similarly, in contemplation , you do not push your will in order to gain Atma. You do not grind your teeth , roll up your sleeves , sit in your seat of meditation, and say ‘ Today I am going to see that Atma’. There is no such thing . It is not like wanting to do some thing or gain something that the world has to offer. If you want to do a particular job , for example, you can assert your will and get it done , but you cannot sit down , crush your eyelids together tightly , and say that you are going to see the Atma. All that you will get is a head ache. A person who tries to gain Atma by using his or her will, will not gain Atma because THE PERSON IS ATMA.

25/11/2025

Chapter 6
Bhagavat Gita
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

Krishna says here ‘ May one not think of anything else ‘
There is nothing else because everything is Atma.
You can appreciate this object as a tree and that you are someone who is looking at the tree, which is true. But ,then the thought of the tree, and the Atma , the one who looks at the tree , are one and the same. Turning your attention to the basis of these three is the appreciation, the contemplation, being referred to in this verse.
In order not to think of anything else , you require wisdom , which is gained by exposing the mind to the teaching. only with insight gained , with the help of knowledge alone , can you practice this contemplation.
There is no job to be done here , there is simply an appreciation. Therefore, certain inner care is involved, wherein a contemplative atmosphere is created . In this atmosphere, recognition takes place for which no will whatsoever is involved. ‘ Slowly , slowly ‘, during the period of time in which contemplation takes place , you take to Atma.

24/11/2025

Chapter 6
Bhagavat Gita
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

From sankalpa alone , desire is born. Sankalpa is a thought such as ‘ May this be for me , May this come to me ‘ etc, which immediately turns into a desire. This source of all desire, sankalpa is what is given up totally. Therefore , renunciation here is in terms of Sankalpa , the basis of desire , and not the desire itself.
Sankalpa is a simple thought. But because the thought is capable of becoming a desire , sankalpa is said to be the root of all desire. Desire is that which the mind returns to over and over again . Sankalpa comes and then goes away , but once it becomes a desire, the desire has to be fulfilled. Therefore sankalpa is what has to be dealt with and it is dealt by analyzing the thought itself. For instance, the thought , ‘ May this come to me ‘ is analyzed. By this particular enquiry , sankalpa is dealt with.
If you deal with the sankalpa’ May I have this or that ‘ , desires are not a problem at all. They become only fancies because they are not backed up by sankalpas.
The backing up of a desire is only from your sankalpa, ‘ May I have this ‘ which slowly becomes ‘ I should have this ‘ . Once this sankalpa turns into ‘ I should have this ‘ , then you have had it! Therefore the sankalpa is to be analyzed.

24/11/2025

I am now doing a detailed study of the Bhagavat Gita - swami Dayananda Saraswathi.

If you would like to hear some insights , please do join the Whats app link to Gayathri Maa group.
I post one message a day.

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24/11/2025

Chapter 6
Bhagavat Gita
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

The recognition, this knowledge, which is more a dissociation than an association, is what Krishna’s calls yoga here- May one know that dissociation from the association with sorrow is yoga.
If an association with someone or something is a legal association, then you can only become dissociated from it legally. And if the association is physical, the dissociation will also be physical. If two physical objects are brought together, they can be separated by removing whatever binding factor that closed the physical distance between them in the first place. Here the binding factor between Atma and anaatma is avidhya - ignorance. The binding factor being avidhya, what removes the association is vidhyaa- knowledge.
That yoga , dukha - samyoga -viyoga, from which there is no question of loss , beyond which there is nothing greater, which is an end in itself , is not an association. It is more a withdrawal from dukha, and therefore, it is easy , just as it is easier to drop something than to lift it. The only problem here is that dropping happens to be the dropping of ignorance, dropping all one’s false notions about oneself , which is not easy to do. It is not just a matter of surrendering them unto the lord , as some would have us think.
It has been said that in the present age , Kali Yuga , devotion is the easiest path. You simply surrender to the lord and he will take care of everything. But what do you surrender ? Whom do you surrender? Since everything belongs to the lord , who are you to surrender anything? This is like , my taking your coat and telling you that I am surrendering it to you. There is no surrendering here. Then what are you going to surrender? And where does it go? Whatever is surrendered does not go anywhere. It remains there as it is.
Who is this ‘I’ that has to surrender? I cannot surrender to the ‘I’ . There has to be another ‘I’ to surrender to this ‘I ‘.
The ‘I ‘ that wants to surrender is the ahankara, the ego. It is a false entity; it is not aham , ‘I’ , Atma.
Dropping all notions about yourself is difficult because ignorance is involved. At the same time , it is easy because all you have to do is destroy the ignorance. The destruction of ignorance is only difficult if your mind is not prepared.

28/09/2025

Today at 9.30 am we are cleaning Arunachala hill at Mulapal theertham. If any of you are In Tiruvannamalai, please join us.