Rishimukh – July 2019

cell of your body. It engulfs you totally. It

burns and moves on. There is 100% totality

of alertness and awareness. But, if you do

not allow this fire to come up, then a little

desire still lingers and immediately, it is

cooled down. Then, your power or shakti, the

potentiality in you goes down and becomes

dormant. And you become more inert and

less sensitive. There is no vigour, valour,

joy or enthusiasm in anything that you do.

This is the reason that people who are very

promiscuous do not have much enthusiasm.

They do not have the force, will, or strength

to do anything.

3. Jatara Agni – the fire of hunger and
   digestion. This is one of the important
   principles in Ayurveda – Jatara Agni. If the fire
   of digestion is less or more, it affects your
   balance. When there is fever, we just treat
   the symptoms. We do not understand the
   principles involved. When a foreign body
   enters your body, it turns on the heat and
   there is fever. During a fever, your body is
   operating on its defense mechanism. It
   is burning up all the foreign bacteria and
   viruses that have entered it. As soon as
   they are destroyed, the fever comes down.
   It purifies the system by getting rid of the
   foreign matter.

But, you don’t even allow the hunger to

come up in you. You keep stuffing things

into your mouth even before you are hungry.

This makes you more toxic and your body

gets affected. Many people get disease or

die because of overeating, and not really

of hunger. Nowadays, very few people die

of hunger. However, more and more people

are dying of overeating, because they have

not let the fire of hunger come up in them.

We have never kindled that fire. This is the

principle of fasting. When you fast, every cell

of your body becomes alive. It is a very good

therapy. It can cleanse your system. The

jatara agni can cleanse you of all toxins. When

your head is clogged with worry, tension and

unpleasant thoughts, nightmares, Fasting is

of great help.

A lot of research has been done on the

benefits of ‘Fasting’. You should fast and

allow the jatara agni to come up in you. It can

purify your blood and remove toxins from

your body. It can help you feel better. Fasting

and prayers are part of Christianity, Jainism,

Islam, almost all the religions of the world.

This is because ‘fasting’ touches the deepest

of your past samskaras or impressions present

in you, i.e. eat, eat, and just eat. There are

people who just go on fasting without being

aware of the connected factors; too much

fire also can burn you down. Fasting should

be done with an understanding of it. There

are people who go to extremes. Either, they

overeat or go on too much fasting. Neither

is good. Fasting in moderation and with

guidance can cleanse your system and bring

balance,

4. Premaagni or jnaanaagni – Fire of Love.
   This Love creates such a fire in you. The fire
   of love can really lift you up from the fear of
   criticism. The fire of love is so strong that
   you do not mind people’s opinions. It takes
   you totally. The fire of knowledge and the fire
   of love are the same. They are synonymous.
   Fire of love begins with a longing - an intense
   longing. It feels so new that it can also feel
   uncomfortable. This fire can be experienced

PATANJALI YOGASUTRAS

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