Notes on Karma Yoga

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Prof NVC Swamy is the former Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai and is currently Dean, Yoga and Physical Science at the Vivekananda Yoga Mahavidyapeetham, Bangalore.

Dr. H R Nagendra is the Vice-chancellor of Vivekananda Yoga Mahavidyapeetham, Bangalore.

Kum Heisnam Jina Devi is a ph.D. scholar of the Hindu University of America, Florida, USA at its Extension Center at Vivekananda Yoga Anusanadhana Samasthana Bangalore. Dr. Heisnam Jina Devi holds a Ph.D. from the Hindu University of America, Florida, USA.

During the last century, there has been witnessed a great resurgence in the study of ancient cultures around the world. This is mainly due to the vast changes society has undergone in recent times, leading o a faster tempo of life. This has brought in its wake attendant problems like stress in life, pollution in the environment, a radical change in the value system of society etc. Buffeted by these problems, mankind has struggled to find contemporary solutions for them. Having failed to do so, it has turned its attention to ancient cultures for possible solutions.

Yoga is one such ancient solution to modern problems. It has received great impetus during the last half- century and has now spread all over the world. This has resulted in increasing the popularity of Yoga all around, but it has also led at the same time to many innovations, some desirable, but most of them undesirable. Hence, there is a need to present Yoga in its traditional form for the benefit of the discerning public.

Swami Vivekananda, a little more than a century ago, placed Yoga in its proper perspective by categorizing it into four interactive parts — Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Karma Yoga. This classification has been followed in all courses offered by the Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhna Samsthana (VYASA), Bangalore, India, at all levels starting from the basic one-month course for yoga instructors up to the Master’s and Doctoral Karma Yoga, the theme of this hook, has been one of the compulsory subjects in all courses and is considered very important from the practical point of view. There has been a consistent demand from the student community for a standardized book based upon the prescribed syllabus. Hence, the authors took upon themselves the task of preparing these Notes on Karma Yoga, not only for the use of the student community but also for the public at large.

Many people have helped us in the preparation of this book. Special mention should be made of Sri Ramesh, who meticulously went through the manuscript and gave many useful suggestions. Several students, who studied this subject as part of their curriculum, have given useful feedback, which helped us in the organisation of the material. Sri Natesh Babu helped us in preparing the manuscript for printing. We are also grateful to the Sharadh Enterprises, the printers, who have brought but the book in an attractive format.

We hope the readers will find the book useful. We look forward to comments and suggestions, which will help us in revising the material to keep the book up-to-date.