For his followers, Baba Ramdev was superman, albeit with a saffron cape.
He had presented Yoga as a magic pill for all ills from diabetes to kidney ailments and heart disease.
He even claimed once that he could cure AIDS and cancer. He convinced his disciples that nothing was impossible if one was adept in Yoga.
However, six days into his much-publicised fast against corruption, the Baba wilted and had to be moved to the hospital under the care of practitioners of western medicine whom he loved to loathe.
His blood pressure plummeted to 104/70, and pulse rate went down to 58 per minute. He also developed urinary infection. Worried disciples claimed he even slipped into unconsciousness. So what went wrong? Is Baba Ramdev not what he claims to be or is Yoga not what he says it is? A bit of both perhaps.
“It should never have happened to him since he says he is a Yogi,” says Dr P.A. Radhakrishnan, who runs the Gandhian Nature Cure Centre in Tirur where fasting is customary. “It is surprising that he had to wind up his fast after a week. Here, even ordinary people are able to fast for up to 21 days without any ill effects.” But can Yoga or any other discipline subvert the laws of Nature beyond a point?
Dr T.M. Gopinatha Pillai, a veteran physician and author of several health-related books, says that fasting deprives glucose to the brain and cells and when the compensatory production of glucose by the liver also fails, it turns dangerous. “When the harmful effects appear it depends on your general health to counter them,” he adds. “But they always appear.”
Yoga teachers such as B.K. Iyengar, have said that Nature will surely take its toll on the human body in the long run but modern gurus prefer to perpetuate myths instead of facts.
While one ashram claims that their teacher’s body showed no signs of decay even 20 days after death, another claims that there are Yogic skills which can get rid of hunger and sleep.
The soberly religious remind us that for Patanjali, Yoga was a vehicle to achieve Kaivalya or ultimate bliss and not a silver bullet to ensure an ailment-free life. But modern gurus have cleverly downplayed the spiritual aspects of Yoga, and have linked it to the needs of the age — stress relief, efficiency and longevity.
“While techies and managers see Yoga as stress relief, middle-aged people and the elderly sign up with the hope that Yoga will free them from their ailments,” says Ms Ambuja Kumari, another yoga trainer. “Most people are not bothered about its spiritual aspects. Their lifestyle also prevents them from probing it.”
“Yoga is a meditation mode,” says Mr Venganoor Balakrishnan, an expert on Hindu rituals. “It is not an exercise at all. It is sad that many are presenting it like that.” “Yoga is directly aimed at enhancing the inner life of a person,” adds Murali Gopy, actor, writer and a practitioner of meditation. “Of course, health naturally comes to a person who is devoted to Yoga.”
Perhaps the Baba’s aborted fast will persuade people to wade through the clouds of obscurity surrounding Yoga and enquire into what it really is.
Fact file
Tryst with yoga
Ramdev studied Sanskrit and yoga under the guidance of Acharya Shri Baldevji at Gurukul in Haryana.
Then he moved to Haridwar and spent several years studying ancient Indian scriptures at Gurukul Kangari.
He came across a rare book by Aurobindo Ghosh, Yogik Sadhan, translated from Bangla into Hindi by Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’. After reading this booklet, he went to the caves of Himalaya and prasticed self-discipline and meditation.
Telegenic guru
In 2003, Aastha TV began featuring him in its morning yoga slot. Within a few years, he had developed a huge following all over the country.
Baba’s claims
*He believes that cancer of the breast, liver, prostate, uterus, pituitary gland, brain tumors and leukemia can be cured by practising the seven breathing exercises prescribed in yoga.
*In December 2006, press reports said that Ramdev had made a claim that he could use yoga to cure AIDS.
*He wants sex education in schools to be replaced by yoga education.
A tragic end
While Baba Ramdev stole the limelight with his fast, another Baba, Swami Nigamanand, who had gone on a fast from February 19 at Haridwar protesting illegal sand mining, got no attention. But Nigamanand persisted with his fast and died on June 13 at the Haridwar District Hospital.
The 34-year-old Baba had slipped into a coma on May 4 and died after suffering from acute dehydration. But authorities still have not bothered to address the issue he raised.
