& Hudson, 2004); Guide to the Ajanta Paintings (New
Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1999–2003);
Swati Mitra, ed., From Ajanta to Ellora: Travel Guide
(New Delhi: Eicher Goodearth Ltd., 2005); Lachu
Moorjani, Ajanta: Regional Feasts of India (Layton, Utah:
Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2005); Walter Spink, Ajanta to
Ellora (Bombay: Marg Publications, 1967).
Ajapa Yoga Foundation (est. 1974)
The Ajapa Yoga Foundation was established in 1974
by followers of Guru Janardan Paramahansa (1888–
1980). It promotes ajapa, a breathing and medita-
tion technique not widely known but practiced for
centuries by RISHIs (spiritual adepts) in India. Prac-
titioners believe that it is the pure and original YOGA
and not a derivative of any prior teaching.
The primary teaching of the foundation is that
humans see themselves as living in a world of
suffering and desire because they have lost their
true sense of self. Through the practice of ajapa
yoga, they can realize their true identity. Today,
five ashrams are maintained in India, Bangladesh,
and California.
The modern teaching traces back to the 1860s,
when Swami Purnananda Paramahansa (1834–
1928) learned the ancient technique from Matang
Rishi at Siddhashrama, a remote Tibetan mon-
astery. After five years of training, Purnananda
returned to Bengal and established ashrams with
the purpose of reintroducing ajapa.
Upon Purananda’s death, leadership passed to
Swami Bhumananda Paramahansa (1873–1958),
who was in turn succeeded by his disciple, Guru
Janardan. In the 1960s Janardan organized the
World Conference on Scientific Yoga in New
Delhi, where he made the acquaintance of many
Westerners. He then toured Europe and North
America and established ashrams and centers in
Hamburg, Montreal, New York, and California. In
1966, Janardan found a baby on the bank of the
Ganges River in India, named him Guru Prasad
(b. 1966), and raised him to be his successor as a
living master of ajapa yoga. Guru Prasad assumed
leadership of the ashrams and foundation at age
14 and continues to teach practitioners and to
maintain the ashrams and centers.Further reading: Mitchell Radow, Search for Peace (New
York: Ajapa Yoga Foundation, 1983); Swami Shrad-
dhanand, trans., Tattwa Katha: A Tale of Truth, Parts I
and II (New York: Ajapa Yoga Foundation, 1976–79).Ajivikas
The Ajivikas were an ancient cult known mostly
through references in contemporaneous Buddhist
and Jain literature. The founder of the cult was
Maskariputra (d. 484 B.C.E.), who had learned
from earlier teachers in the tradition. The last ele-
ment of Ajivika tradition died in India around the
15th century.
As did the followers of SAMKHYA, the Ajivikas did
not believe in a god or gods. They believed only in
KARMA and the round of births and rebirth, and were
strictly deterministic. Each of us, they thought,
must live through these cycles for a fabulously long
period of time—8,400,000 great eons; no amount of
good or bad deeds would make any difference. The
Ajivikas were criticized in some texts for licentious-
ness, but the evidence indicates that, compelled as
they believed by fate, they were devoted ascetics.Further reading: B. M. Barua, The Ajivikas (Calcutta:
University of Calcutta, 1920); A. L. Basham, History
and Doctrine of the Ajivikas (London: Luzac, 1951);
———, The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the
History and Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent before
the Coming of the Muslims (Calcutta: Rupa, 2001); R.
G. Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Reli-
gious Systems (New York: Garland, 1980); Shashib-
husan Das Gupta, Obscure Religious Cults (Calcutta:
Firma KLM, 1995).ajna chakra
The ajna (command) chakra is the sixth chakra
(energy center) from the base of the spine in theK 20 Ajapa Yoga Foundation