Samatvam Yoga Uchyate
This Quote from B.gita gives a beautiful perspective to the Yoga
practise.
Sri Krishna says that Equanimity is Yoga.
Sri Krishna also goes on to say that the one who is free from the pair
of opposites, joy and sorrow, heat and cold, success and defeat is a person who
has transcended from his limitations and is indeed a wise man.
Can we maintain this equanimity at all times?
Swachch Bharath is a call given to Keep India clean. Does this mean we
take a broom and start cleaning the dirty place we see around us. Is it
possible?
When we follow Samatvam, we can possibly be equally comfortable if the
place is not clean, especially when things are not in our hands . Are we ok if
the place is not clean? Or are we upset, irritated? But one of the
prerequisites of a Yoga practise is that the place where we practise is clean,
the surroundings are clean, and the mind also is kept clean.
Saucha is a Niyama or observances and one of the practices we need to
follow in our practise of yoga. It says that we not only keep the body,
surrounding clean, but also keep our mind clean.
How do we clean our mind? In the Upanishads it is said that, that we need
to transcend the six arishadvargas that man gets caught up in his dealing with
the world. Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada, Matsarya. When we are able to
transcend these six enemies of man, we are able to cleanse our mind, Practise
Saucha.
One of Gandhiji’s famous quote, ‘ The earth has plenty for every man's
need but nor for one man's greed’.
It has been said that ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness. A clean
surrounding also helps in the prevention of many diseases.
Prevention is better than cure. So as Yoga students, Practitioners, can
we take a small step in keeping our surrounding clean, which will help in
Keeping ‘Bharat’ also swachch. It will help us in our growth and we can leave
our earth a better place to live, for the next generations to come.
Samatvam, I feel is a personal quality which when followed, we are not tossed between the negative and
positive emotions, the ups and downs in life. We are able to go with the flow
and come out of or able to manage the demanding situations in life.
If each of us can maintain this Samatvam, and Practise Saucha, I am sure
The world will be a better place to live in.
The views are of the author and this article was as a result of a
conversation with a friend, ‘Do we put up with , if the place is not clean, can
we maintain Samatvam?’.
Vijaya Hariharan
Yoga Bharati