Kama and Manyu
.Yoga students are familar with the klesas or distubances known as raga and dvesha or intense desire and anger/hatred.These two are preceded by asmita which is ignorance of true nature of the Self. Patanjali recommends kriya yoga which includes 'svadhyaya' . Many yogis give a broad interpretation to svadhyaya including self study. The word svadhyaya traditionally would refer to study of the scriptures, vedas. In fact there is a vedic mantra which directly deals with this klesa. "Kamah akarsheeth manyuhu akarsheeth namo namah". It would mean that all the deeds are done by kama or desire and manyu or anger, and it is followed by saying namo namah or that I pray to the devas that control these two emotions to spare me. The mantra is chanted by many people three times a day once at dawn again at noon and then at dusk as part of the daily sandhya ritual. The mantra is chanted 108 times on the day of sravana, usually the full moon day in the Aug Sep period every year. Actually the mantra used is a portion of the full mantra. The next line is kamah karta naham karta, manyuh karta, naham karta meaning it is desire that does this activity and it is manyuh or anger that does this wrong activity but not me the real self that is incapable of any action but is only a witness. This mantra helps to weaken the three klesas, asmita then raga and dvesha. Many people chant this mantra 108 times or even 1008 times evry year on the full moon day in the month of Avani or July/August period.
कामोऽकार्षीन्नमोनमः।
कामोऽकार्षीन्कामः करोति नाहंकरोमि कामः कर्ता नाहं कर्ता कामः कारयिता नाहंकारयिता येष ते कामकामायस्स्वाहा
kāmo'kārṣīnnamonamaḥ|
kāmo'kārṣīnkāmaḥ karoti nāhaṁkaromi kāmaḥ kartā nāhaṁ kartā kāmaḥ kārayitā nāhaṁkārayitā yeṣa te kāmakāmāyassvāhā
मन्युरकार्षीन्नमोनमः।
मन्युकार्षीन्मन्युः करोति नाहंकरोमि मन्युः कर्ता नाहं कर्ता मन्युः कारयिता नाहंकारयिता येष ते मन्यो मन्यवे स्वाहा।
manyurakārṣīnnamonamaḥ|
manyuakārṣīnmanyuḥ karoti nāhaṁkaromi manyuḥ kartā nāhaṁ kartā manyuḥ kārayitā nāhaṁkārayitā yeṣa te manyo manyave svāhā|
Here is a free translation of the above two mantras put together. ( A video clip with the chanting of the mantra can be found in my facebook page)
I bow to the devas of Desire and Anger ( to spare me). All activities are done by desire and anger--anger and desire have done all. Anger and Desire do all, not I (the real Self which is pure consciousness and the witness). Anger and Desire are the agents that do act not I do any activity(the Self, the witness). Anger and Desire are the ones that cause the individual to act and not I (the Self ). To these Desire and Anger I offer my prayers ( to spare the individual).
These mantras clearly go with the vedic, yogic and upanishadic philosophies that the real Self is pure consciousness and is only a witness but the prakritic body mind complex with the ego is the one that acts influenced by Desire and Anger.
Some people worry that this may prompt a few people not to take the responsibility for their actions and say that anger and desire are responsible. But it should be emphasised that this mantra is to be used as a regular reminder that the real Purusha or the Self is the one with which one should identify oneself and is the witness, and not to prakritic body mind complex which is the one that acts. This is the teaching of samkhya, yoga and the upanishads. So if one after studying these philosophies and is convinced about the dichotomy of the real Self and the prakritic individual, then this mantra becomes a constant reminder of the true nature of one Self--all in the midst of worldly activities
Mantras are uplifting words or terms that protect the one who uses it or chants it. So if one is convinced about the teaching of a darsana or philosophy these come in handy to keep the individual on the right track. For instance if one is convinced that the real Self which is only a witness and not the agent having desire and anger which is the nature of the prakritic individual, then the subject may require to constantly remember that truth. Unfortunately due to old samskaras or habits of considering the body mind complex as the self and the overwhelming presence of the prakriti around and within, one is likely to fall back into the old habits. Take the case of an individual who is convinced that the Self or "I" and Brahman the ultimate reality are one and the same after studying the upanishads. Then one may need a constant reminder and the mantra "Aham Brahmasmi" (I and Brahman) comes in handy. Repeated use of the mantra :Aham Brahmasmi: helps the sadhaka to be on track. Likewise the mantra under consideration becomes a powerful reminder that the real Self is pure consciousness and only the witness while the prakritic individual is the one that acts actuated by Kama or desire and Manyu anger. This could be a powerful 'mnemonic' tool for one who has a conviction about the vedic philosophy
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In August I completed a twin text program at Loyola Marymount University, teaching Samkhya Karika of Iswarakrishna in the forenoon and Patanjali's Yoga Sutra in the afternoon. The program was for a total of 40 hrs 20 hrs each of the texts
In September I will be teaching 3 day weekend program (15hrs) of Yoga Yagnyavalkya at Chicago Yoga Center, in Chicage,IL . It will be between Sep 14 and 16, 2018.
On September 23, I will be giving a 90 minutes talk on "What is Yoga", it is based on the introductory talk my Guru gave sometime early 1960s when he started teaching me the Yoga Sutras. It is at MindBodySoul Yoga which is based in Washington Heights, New York City
For the remainder of the year, I am scheduled to teach the following programs
1. Ananta Yoga Studio Wicklow in Wicklow, Ireland between Oct 5th to Oct 9th. Here is the link for more details
2. In Luxembourg Oct 12 to 14, 2018
3. In Santiago Chile, Center de Yoga Oct 29th to Nov 3rd
In 2019 I will be teaching the 100 hr Vinyasakrama Teacher Training Program at 3 different Locations. At Yoga Vahini Chennai, India (Feb 11 to 27, 2019) One Yoga in Victoria, Canada (June 24 to July 9, 2019) and Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles (July 27th to August 11, 2019 https://academics.lmu.edu/extension/crs/yoga/programs/)
I am also scheduled to teach a 20 hr program on Upanishad Vidyas between January 2 to 6, 2019 at Yoga Vahini, Chennai
Srivatsa Ramaswami