(^2020) YOGA AND TOTAL HEALTH • December 2017
A seer once realized the Eternal
Truth that governed the cosmos, that
gave meaning to this existence. He
was delighted, ecstatic. He decided to
share his realization, the end and the
means, with the world.
But there was a problem with the
communication. World didn’t have the
capacity to contain the splendour of
his vision. There just wasn’t enough
vocabulary around.
To explain the abstractness of his
vision in concrete terms was not
easy. He had to make use of earthy
metaphors and euphemism. His
cultural background influenced his
language. His personality coloured his
presentation.
The end result was a set of
aphorisms, pregnant verses containing
infinite ideas.
A hundred seers realized the same
Eternal Truth. But when it came to
communicate it, they used different
words, different vocabularies.
Percolated through hundred
cultures, a hundred personalities, the
communication of the Eternal Truth
took on a hundred forms, a hundred
different set of aphorisms.
The reader read one set of aphorisms
and concluded one thing. Another
reader read the same stuff and
concluded something else. Thus one
truth was communicated in various
ways and interpreted in many more
ways.
A state of chaos is bound to exist -
which variation is true? Which
interpretation is correct?
Yoga is one way in which one seer
communicated the Eternal Truth. As it
was read as interpreted we got Karma
Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Mantra
Yoga, Raja Yoga, Laya Yoga, Hatha Yoga,

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of Yoga and Total Health

By Dr. Devdutt Pattnaik

Published in “Yoga and Total Health”

December 1996

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