West argues yoga has been inspired from gymnastics
| Jul 31, 2018, 17:17 IST
Recently western media has been pushing that yoga which is said to have originated in India is not really Indian at all. They state that on the contrary, it has been derived from some ancient arts of gymnastics. “Recent articles in the West suggesting that yoga asanas are modified from gymnastics are to sow doubts about the idea of India as a storehouse of spiritual and scientific knowledge. They are meant to challenge India’s ever-increasing presence in the cultural and wisdom spheres,” says Subhash Kak, an Indian American computer scientist.
“There was a new hatchet job on yoga by The New York Times. Most ridiculous is their claim that asanas are recent, and copied from gymnastics. The newspaper could have easily fact-checked by consulting Gheranda Samhita, which describes 32 asanas in detail. The 1,000-year old Goraksha Samhita also speaks of 32 asanas, adding that there are 84 basic ones, and many more. Given this huge error, I just don’t see the point the author is making,” he added.
Well, we say let the experts figure out their disputes while we practice our yoga in peace. Stay tuned for more updates.
“There was a new hatchet job on yoga by The New York Times. Most ridiculous is their claim that asanas are recent, and copied from gymnastics. The newspaper could have easily fact-checked by consulting Gheranda Samhita, which describes 32 asanas in detail. The 1,000-year old Goraksha Samhita also speaks of 32 asanas, adding that there are 84 basic ones, and many more. Given this huge error, I just don’t see the point the author is making,” he added.
Well, we say let the experts figure out their disputes while we practice our yoga in peace. Stay tuned for more updates.