The sanyasi who made it possible!

Even as the city of Nagpur braces up for the International Yog Day celebrations, the mind darts more than 50 years back in time to when a sanyasi arrived -- to make a major difference to the community. Without fuss, without fanfare, without any publicity gimmick, he moved about town quietly, his face shining in a quiet resolve to spread among people the science of Yog. Nobody could tell the age of Shri Janardan Swami in those days and even later on until he lived to found the Yogabhyasi Mandal and created a popular culture of Yogasana and allied practices. When countless lakhs of people gather in public places and get engaged in Yogasana demonstrations, the city will pay a tremendous tribute to Paramhans Parivrajakacharya Shri Janardan Swami and his work of a lifetime to establish the primacy of an ancient Indian science in this part of the country. Those who saw him in his early days in Nagpur remember even today how successful Swamiji was in spreading the message of Yog.

The quiet strength of his personality, the very few but powerful words he uttered as he explained the importance of Yog and Yogasana, the absolute faith in what he was doing as his mission, his superlative knowledge of the yogic as well as vedic sciences -- all these had a profound effect on each person who Swamiji interacted with. From house to house, institution to institution, from groups of people to schools and colleges, from temples to parks he went to propagate Yog as an ancient science. For a few years, everybody felt that Swamiji was a lone crusader. But soon enough, a small band of dedicated workers congregated around him, willing to work hard and spread the message of the mission to make the larger society aware of the concept of complete wellness. Soon enough, the Yogabhyasi Mandal was attracting hundreds of people.

Now two generations later, Nagpur’s community can boast of a Yog culture of complete wellness, thanks to the quest resolve of the sanyasi who had a mesmerising presence. Now, the people of Nagpur share with one another countless hundreds of anecdotes involving Swamiji and his work. In Nagpur, there are hundreds of homes in which the story of Swamiji is told to the young ones or shared among elders every day. For, countless thousands of people attend the Yogasana classes in the mornings, noons, and evenings (and even late evenings) around the town, hear inspirational anecdotes about Shri Janardan Swami, and love sharing those with others. Today, as Janardan Swami Yogabhyasi Mandal spreads the message and knowledge and training of Yogasanas absolutely free of charge, the people never miss the essence of the culture Swamiji established.

Thousands of men and women of all ages and walks of life benefit from Yog practices on a daily basis and feel inspired to add value to the mission in their own ways -- of course for gratis! “You cannot expect to do commerce through Yog”, Swamiji had said to a group of early volunteers in the early 1970s. Sitting in a corner in that group, I could not but feel inspired by his presence, by ‘his’ (mostly untold then) story, and also the stories Shri Janardan Swami told that winter afternoon on a Sunday. As Nagpur engages itself in celebrations of International Yog Day, countless thousands among us will remember the man who made it possible in such an easy manner. For, it was he who established a very scientific and an altogether different way of teaching how to conduct Yog practices successfully without over-straining ourselves, and extracting the best benefit from the ancient Indian science of wellness.