important to the ARYANS; Indra must force him
to release them.
A later example of a demon or asura, found in
the epics and puranas, is BALI, who through severe
austerities usurped the throne of Indra himself
to perpetrate evil in all the worlds. VISHNU finally
must take incarnation as the VAMANA AVATA R, the
divine dwarf, to depose him.
Beginning with the epics, the demonic group
is enhanced by the addition of the rakshasas,
demons who are cannibilistic and blood-thirsty. In
the MAHABHARATA the PANDAVA brothers encounter
various such demons in their travels. BHIMA in fact
had a son named Hidimba by a female demon. The
most famous rakshasa must certainly be Ravana,
ruler of Lanka. He was depicted as having 10 heads
and 20 arms. It was he who abducted RAMA’s wife,
SITA, in the RAMAYANA; Rama destroyed him in the
end, as was the divine plan. Rashasas are seen in
later puranas (c. sixth through 16th centuries), as
they are in the epics, often attacking sages in the
wilderness and disrupting Vedic rites.
Further reading: William Buck, Ramayana (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1976); Robert Goldman,
trans., Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India,
Vol. 1 Balakanda (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1984); Wash Edward Hale, Asura in Early Vedic
Religion (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1990); Alfred
Hillebrandt, Vedic Mythology, 2 vols. (Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1990); M. V. Kibe, Cultural Descendents of
Ravana. Poona Oriental Series No. 5 (Poona: Oriental
Book Agency, 1941); Ajoy Kumar Lahiri, Vedic Vrtra
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984); Wendy Doniger
O’Flaherty, The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976); W. J.
Wilkins, Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic, 2nd ed.
(Calcutta: Rupa, 1973).
Desai, Guru Amrit (1932– ) yogi and
founder of Kripalu Yoga Fellowship
Amrit Desai has been a prominent teacher of yoga
in the United States for several decades. His career
has survived expulsion from his own ashram on
charges of sexual misconduct.
Amrit Desai was born on October 16, 1932, in
Halol, Gujurat state, India. Little is reported about
his family or childhood. In 1948 at age 16, he met
Swami KRIPALVANANDA, student of Swami Kaivaro-
han, reputed to be the 28th incarnation of SHIVA.
Desai studied with Kripalvananda and taught
Sahaj Yoga with the SWAMI. In 1960, he traveled
to the United States to study art and design at the
Philadelphia College of Art, as he worked in fac-
tories to support himself. He created a successful
career in the arts and his wife and son joined him
in America.
In 1966 Desai founded the Yoga Society of
Pennsylvania, which drew a large following. In
1970, Kripalvananda called Desai back to India to
initiate him into SHAKTIPAT DIKSHA (energetic trans-
ference from master to student to awaken spiritual
energy). After his initiation, Desai experienced
what he called a spiritual implosion, in which
he instantaneously flowed from one ASANA (yogic
posture) to the next and felt powerful KUNDALINI
energy.
In 1972 Desai moved his fellowship to the
suburbs of Philadelphia and changed its name
to the Kripalu Yoga Fellowship. In addition to
teaching KRIPALU YOGA, Desai and his fellowship
became pioneers of holistic health. In 1983, the
ashram and fellowship moved to a 350-acre for-
mer Jesuit retreat in Lenox, Massachusetts. The
practice of yoga and the ASHRAM lifestyle were
strictly observed, including separation of genders,
silent meals, required SADHANA (practice) and
satsang (attendance at teaching sessions), and
BHAJANS (singing of devotional songs). In 1988,
Kripalu gained the legal status as a spiritual/vol-
unteer organization and became a leading spiri-
tual retreat center in the United States.
Throughout his teaching in the United States,
Desai was a charismatic and impressive GURU. Yet,
in 1994, his integrity was compromised by sexual
misconduct with members of the ashram and ash-
ram guests and he was forced to leave the spiritualK 124 Desai, Guru Amrit