YOGA IN BHAGAVAD

GITA AND RAMAYANA

-N.DEEPIKA
PG DIPLOMA IN YOGA THERAPY
2022-2023
KSU,BENGALURU.
 INTRODUCTION
The Bhagvad Gita, a very widely known classical texts on yoga, gives
various definitions of yoga as follows:
• Yoga is equanimity of mind in success and failures.
• Yoga is the remover of misery and destroyer of pain. Yoga is the
supreme secret of life.
• Yoga is serenity.
. WHAT IS YOGA?
• Yoga – Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’ means to connect or balance.
• The purpose of yoga is to connect the individual energy with the
universal energy or to connect the individual being with the supreme
being.
• This oneness is spiritual not physical.
• In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna represents the supreme being and Arjuna
represents an ordinary living being.
• Within the Gita, there are three paths that laid out to understand the
Divine 1. Karma yoga (yoga of action) 2. Jnana yoga (yoga of intellect) 3.
Bhakti yoga ( yoga of devotion )
KARMA YOGA
• Karma yoga refers to all good, correct human acts implemented with
concentration, expertise and skill for paving the path to salvation (Moksha)
• It requires your services, activities or deals to be without any attachment to the
temporal world.
• Karma yoga makes the living being strong enough so that materialistic happiness
doesn’t affect him.
• Karma yoga helps society and humankind to come out of the Janam-Mrityu
Chakra.
• Karma Yoga is not bounded by actions only, but its strengthens the senses, which
is also important in the practice of yoga. • Karma Yoga or the path of action in
Bhagvad Gita teaches people how to cope with the pains and pleasures of life
without choosing and without escaping.
Some important slokas
• CHAPTER 3,5TH SLOKA:
• na hi kashchit kshanam api jatu tishthatyakarma-krit
karyate hyavashah karma sarvah prakriti-jair gunaih
• There is no one who can remain without action even for a moment. Indeed, all beings are compelled to act by their qualities born of material
nature (the three guṇas).
• Chapter 2/50:
• buddhi-yukto jahatiha
ubhe sukrta-duskrte
tasmad yogaya yujyasva
yogah karmasu kausalam
• A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad actions even in this life. Therefore strive for yoga, O Arjuna, which is the
art of all work.
• Chapter 2/48:
• yoga-sthah kuru karmani
sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva
samatvam yoga ucyate
• Be steadfast in yoga, O Arjuna. Perform your duty and abandon all attachment to success or failure. Such evenness of mind is called yoga.
• Chapter 6/23:taṁ vidyād duḥkha-sanyoga-viyogaṁ yogasaṅjñitam sa niśhchayena yoktavyo yogo ’nirviṇṇa-chetasā
• One should know that severance of contact with sorrow to be what is called Yoga. That Yoga has to be practised with perseverance and with an
undepressed heart.
 Karma Yoga of Bhagavada Gita
Nishkama karma
• Gita says that do your duty without ego and without calculations of gain and loss.
• One should believe in Nishkama Karma i.e. Fruits of work should not be thought of while
performing the duty.
• It protects one from the greatest fears.
• It frees one from bondage of karma.
• It also leads to ek-buddhi (clarity).
• The Samkaras of virtuous actions are embedded in the Chitta.
• Chitta are valuable assets which will prevent you from doing wrong actions.
• They will goad you to do selfless actions.
• Work unselfishly with disinterested spirit.
• If you care for the fruits of actions, you will be caught up in the wheel of birth and death.
Some important sloka
• Chapter 2/47:
• karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi
• You have the right to work only, and not to the fruits of work. Let not
the fruit of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to
inaction.
BHAKTI YOGA
• Bhakti- sanskrit word ‘Bhaj’ means love, attachment, faith, devotion and prayer.
• Bhakti Yoga is the process of inner purification.
• Bhakti is the purest, unselfish, and most beautiful form of love where the devotee feels connected with God in his/her every
breath.
• In its purest form, love is cosmocentric and divinely inspired.
• Bhakti Yoga asks us to purify and transform or egoistic self love by putting holy thoughts into the mind and transferring it to God.
• The follower of Bhakti yoga establishes a relationship with God and eventually realizes that God is everything and everywhere.
• Bhakti yoga is a spiritual path to liberation by uniting one’s Atman (true self) with the Brahman (true reality) through intense love
for God.
• In Bhakti yoga, no form of god is superior to another.
• The Bhakti Sutra explains that Bhakti yoga is both the means and the ends.
Chapter 9/22:ananyaashchintayanto maam ye janaahaa paryupaasate |
teshaam nityaabhiyuktaanaam yogakshemam vahaamyaham || 22 ||

With single-pointed meditation, those who are constantly engaged in my worship, I carry the burden of acquisition and
preservation of their needs.
Jnana Yoga
• Yoga of Wisdom; or Cultivation of Discrimination.
• It is the path of knowledge, wisdom, introspection and contemplation.
• In Gita, jnana yoga is referred as buddhi yoga.
• The mind is used to inquire into its own nature and to transcend the mind’s
identification with its thoughts and ego.
• Jnana yoga has two aspects: fire and light.
• The fire of knowledge burns all the impurities of our mind and simultaneously,
knowledge enlightens our inner consciousness but self knowledge does not
come by itself.
• The method of Jnana yoga is to persuade the seeker that his/her sole identity
is the self.
SLOKAS
• CHAPTER 2,22ND SLOKA-PRAKRUTI
• vasansi jirnani yatha vihaya
navani grihnati naro ’parani
tatha sharirani vihaya jirnanya
nyani sanyati navani dehi
• As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and
enters a new one.
• 23RD SLOKA:nainam chhindanti shastrani nainam dahati pavakah
na chainam kledayantyapo na shoshayati marutah
• Weapons cannot shred the soul, nor can fire burn it. Water cannot wet it, nor can the wind dry it.
• 13TH SLOKA-PURUSHA:dehino ’smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati
• Just as the embodied soul continuously passes from childhood to youth to old age, similarly, at the time of death, the soul passes into
another body. The wise are not deluded by this.
• apareyam itas tvanyam prakritim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat
• Such is My inferior energy. But beyond it, O mighty-armed Arjun, I have a superior energy. This is the jīva śhakti (the soul energy),
which comprises the embodied souls who are the basis of life in this world.
CONCLUSION
• Bhagavad Gita explains that we do become one with the supreme
being, but in quality and not in quantity. Each seeker is called upon to
decide which Yoga best corresponds to his/her natural disposition.
Karma yoga is advised for the actions, Bhakti yoga is for the
devotional and Jnana yoga for the rational.
• The Bhagavad Gita is important to the practice of yoga and spiritual
development. It incorporated many of the philosophical concepts that
remain essential to the modern practice of yoga.
RAMAYANA
• About 7000 years old, a true story of Lord Rama, is very important to the science of Yoga.
• The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses and tells the story of King Rama of Ayodhya
kingdom whose life is all about pain and suffering.
• But in this testing and difficult time, King Rama maintains his balance, lives virtuous life
without compromising on principles and values of life.
Meditation and Spiritual Practices

• Throughout the Ramayana, characters engage in various forms of meditation and spiritual
practices.
• For instance, Rama and Sita are depicted as leading a life of dharma (righteousness) and
meditation in the forest during their exile period.
• They meditate and practice self-control, following the path of asceticism.

•Moral and Ethical Teachings: Though not directly related to the physical aspects of yoga, the
Ramayana imparts profound moral and ethical teachings. These teachings are essential in the
practice of yoga as they guide individuals towards leading a virtuous and righteous life.
RAMAYANA-”manah prashamaopayah yoga
etyabidiyate(yoga vasista)
Hanuman's Devotion and Strength
• Hanuman, a central character in the Ramayana and an
ardent devotee of Lord Rama, is considered a great yogi.
• He is known for his extraordinary physical strength, but his
true greatness lies in his unwavering devotion and selfless
service to Lord Rama.
Bhakti Yoga
• The Ramayana is rich in its portrayal of Bhakti Yoga, the
path of devotion.
• Devotees like Hanuman and Shabari exemplify the essence
of Bhakti Yoga through their unswerving love and devotion
to Lord Rama.
Moral and Ethical Teachings

• Though not directly related to the physical aspects of yoga,

the Ramayana imparts profound moral and ethical
teachings.
• These teachings are essential in the practice of yoga as they
guide individuals towards leading a virtuous and righteous
life.
CONCLUSION
• It's important to note that the Ramayana is primarily a
narrative epic, and the mention of yoga and spiritual
practices serves to illustrate the character's devotion,
discipline, and connection to a higher purpose rather than
being a comprehensive guide to the practice of yoga as seen
in modern yoga traditions.