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Krishnamacharya Life and Legend Facts An
Krishnamacharya Life and Legend Facts An
Krishnamacharya Life and Legend Facts An
Shortly before the Breath of the Gods premiere, a documentary about Krishnamacharya, we have
interviewed Alexander Smirkin, who teaches Ashtanga Yoga in the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in
Prana Ashtanga Yoga School (Moscow). He has been one of the Russian translation team of this film.
Having studied the history of this method for a long time, he has concluded that many events described in
Krishnamacharya’s official biographies could be questioned.
Admittedly, Krishnamacharya’s son, TKV Desikachar, and his grandson, Kaustub Desikachar,
describe Krishnamacharya’s life in sufficient detail in his biographies (their books: Yoga & the
Living Tradition of Krishnamacharya, 1998, and The Yoga of the Yogi, 2005, respectively). In
addition, there are such publications as Krishnamacharya’s autobiographical essays, and
memories of him by his illustrious students—BKS Iyengar, K Pattabhi Jois, Srivatsa Ramaswami,
AG Mohan, and others. Are these sources enough to get a reliable picture of the great yogi’s life?
Unfortunately, if we compare all the data, there will be quite a confusing story with lots of inconsistencies.
I am not the only one who have noticed it: AG Mohan has also written about it; and he was a longtime
student of Krishnamacharya and is the author of another biographical book about him—
Krishnamacharya: his Life and Teachings (2010).
To begin with, the biographies authored by the Desikachars are not exclusive, and they are even not the
first ones. There are lesser known but no less important publications, for example, earlier
Krishnamacharya's biographies by Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. As this organization was founded
during the life of Krishnamacharya to share his teachings, it was not the domain of the Desikachars at
that time, and other students of Krishnamacharya participated in its activities.
One of these students, Mala Shrivatsan, is an author of the first monograph about Krishnamacharya, Śrī
Krishnamacharya the Pūrnācārya (1997). This is a concise, beautifully illustrated book, which includes a
unique interview with Krishnamacharya and hisAshtottara Shatanamavali, a traditional list of 108 names
for worship. The book is a rarity for a long time, but I was lucky enough to come across this book at a
secondhand bookshop and bought it over the internet for fifty pounds. An extrinsic value of this book is an
autograph by Desikachar, which I discovered in there.
[1] The translator’s note: “A man, who follows the conduct of the virtuous, has faith and is free from envy, lives a hundred years.”
What impact does this shift forward of his date of birth have on the chronology?
It was difficult to throw away four years of the Krishnamacharya’s intense biography. Without going into
details, I would say the only way was to reduce a number of years spent by him in Tibet. To tell the truth,
even with the former date of birth, this period does not particularly fit for the chronology. Consider:
Ganganath Jha, professor of the Queens College of Varanasi, a mentor and a friend of Krishnamacharya,
who told him about the Tibetan teacher, started teaching in Varanasi in 1918. Moreover, we know that in
1922, Krishnamacharya returned, and in 1923, he already studied in Calcutta. Thus, there were only four
years for him: to study at the college, to have adventure associated with obtaining permits for a journey
from the Viceroy, to take this journey, and to study with his guru.
So, there are two years left?
I think he spent one or two summers in the mountains in 1920-1921. Moreover, the location was different:
not surroundings of Mount Kailas and the lake Manasarovar.
How’s that! And where was it?
Norman Sjoman in his famous book The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace (1996) includes an
introduction to the Krishnamacharya’s book Yoga Makaranda, which was not published. In it,
Krishnamacharya wrote that his teacher Rama Mohan Brahmachari had been a head of the Mukti
Narayana Ksetra. This is Muktinath, one of the 108 Divya Desam, sacred places of the Vaishnava
tradition, located in the north of Nepal, on the border with the Tibetan area of Mustang. By the way, this
place is more suited for long stays and yoga, and is much closer to Varanasi than the Mount Kailas,
where Krishnamacharya studied. Curiously, according to legend the Yoga Korunta, or Yoga Kurantam,
book was in Nepali, which can be regarded as an indirect confirmation of the above version.
One can assume that Krishnamacharya met his teacher during his pilgrimage to Muktinath during the
summer vacation. Maybe, once or twice he came back to him. In 2012, we made a pilgrimage “in the
footsteps of Krishnamacharya” from Varanasi to Nepal, a five-day track along the riverbed of Kali-
Gandaki and the ascent of Muktinath.
Illustration: “In the footsteps of Krishnamacharya” yatra in Muktinath, 2012.
You know, there is a great Indian proverb that Ramaswami mentions: “Do not seek the riverbed, do not
investigate of what descent your guru is.” I think it all depends on what your motive is. Mine was very
practical: I had begun to study the method’s history looking for techniques that might help me in solving
problems arising in my practice. After all, only a few years ago, there were no translations into English
of Yoga Makaranda and Yogasanagalu, the books by Krishnamacharya, and we had to look for Tamil
edition just to look at the pictures.
For example, in the book by Mala Shrivatsan, as an ashtangi, I was glad to see a vinyasa krama for
Ardha-Baddha-Padma-Paschimottanasana, which is fully consistent with the one we are doing in
Ashtanga Yoga, but lacking one vinyasa between the sides; but as early students of Pattabhi Joyce
recollect, he used to do it in the beginning. Or watching the movie Cent ans de beatitude, I was happy to
see vinyasas performed in the Ashtanga Yoga style during the class of young Desikachar. It implies that
the Mysore legacy lived in Madras.
As for all biographical discrepancies that I have found, I can say that they are all side effects of the
process. It is normal that a real person named Krishnamacharya became a paradigmatic model for his
devotees. Within a few generations, the facts of a real biography of a famous person disappear from the
collective memory, and this person becomes an archetype, i. e. symbolizes the virtues of his “profession”,
illustrated by relevant paradigmatic events. In India, this process begins while a person is alive and it is
much faster, since it relates to their status.
Personally, I am not interested in the hagiography of saints; I am interested in biographies of real people
who were able to overcome both external circumstances and internal contradictions. Then, behind an
icon, I start seeing the real person, so remarkable and extraordinary, whom one can adore for real.
Krishnamacharya did not have a PhD degree in all philosophical systems as Desikachar claimed, but he
learned from these scientists, even a conversation with whom makes the philosopher. He did not arrive in
Mysore as a knight in shining armor, as his hagiographers pointed out, but as an unknown poor Brahmin
who would become a major royal Yoga-Acharya. However, it should be discussed in other articles.