Śrī Nāthamuni, widely regarded as the first among the Śrī Vaiṣṇava Ācārya-s, lived in the ninth century AD, and is best known for his revival of the Drāviḍa-veda-s, also known as the Nālāyira-divya-prabandham. This revival formed a firm base on which later Ācārya-s would establish the Śrī Vaiṣṇava-sampradāya and the Viśiṣṭādvaita tradition. Śrī Nāthamuni was also a master exponent of other Vedic philosophies including Nyāya and Yoga, on which he composed the texts Nyāyatattva and Yogarahasya respectively.
Literally meaning ‘The Secrets of Yoga,’ the Yogarahasya is a masterpiece offering deep insights into the use and applications of Yoga, especially in the domains of Yoga therapy and spirituality. It also reveals Śrī Nāthamuni as a remarkable Yogi, who revolutionized many customs prevailing at his time. A prime example of this was his advocacy of Yoga for women, which was not at all common in the ninth century.
The Yogarahasya was meant to be taught to Śrī Yāmunācārya by Nāthamuni’s student Kurukaikāvalappan. For unknown reasons, this meeting did not take place and the text was lost for many centuries. However, by divine grace, one of Näthamuni’s direct descendants, Yogācārya T Krishnamacharya, revived this text through a powerful experience he had as a young man under a tamarind tree in Āḷvār-tirunagari. This same tamarind tree was the place where Śrī Nāthamuni had earlier revived the Nālāyira-divya-prabandham.
The revival of this text brings to life the great Yoga teachings of Śrī Nāthamuni and provides us with invaluable information on how to use the different tools of Yoga to deal with different situations. This text formed an important reference for T Krishnamacharya’s teachings and has been a platform for the development of the tradition now known around the world as Viniyoga.
A serious study of this text is vital to everyone who wants to understand the key tenets of Indian philosophy, as well as for Yoga teachers and students who want to understand Yoga as a holistic way of life, especially in the classical tradition of Viniyoga.
The purpose of this ongoing study group is to gather a sincere group of students who want to explore this text in detail.
The ongoing study will be conducted by Dr. Kaustubha Desikachar in English
Mode of Study
The ongoing study will be conducted online via Zoom, and will include two sessions each month. Each session will be about 50 minutes each. All sessions will be recorded via audio, and uploaded to the course’s resource centre, so that even those who cannot participate live can gain access to it.
Each session will include the chanting of the conventional invocatory chants for the Yogarahasya, chanting of the relevant verses of the Yogarahasya, explanation of the word-to-word meaning of each verse and discussion on the overall meaning of the verse, following the detailed commentary of this auspicious text.
A PDF version of the relevant sections of the text will be uploaded to the resource centre for all participants to access.
Dates & Time
Sessions will be conducted on two Wednesdays each month at 14.00 Singapore Time. The exact dates for each month will be communicated at the beginning of each month. The online study will continue each month, until the end of the study of all chapters.
Please Note | When travel restrictions are lifted, and travel resumes, it is possible that the time of the sessions may be altered based on the teacher’s availability. In some cases, when times are inconvenient, pre-recorded audios may also be uploaded into the resource centre.
Investment - €75 per month
Payments can be made through Bank Transfer using IBAN or Paypal or Credit Card.
All Credit Card payments will be charged only in Singapore Dollars. An additional 5% transaction fee will be charted to all Credit Card Payments.
Payments can also be made in the following other currencies through Bank Transfer - Singapore$ (S$!50) | British £ (£70) | Australian $ (A$125) | New Zealand $ (NZ$130)
Once we receive your email, we will start sending the invoices at the beginning of each month.
Double Dose of Joy!!!
Please note - A special rate of €130 (S$200/ £115/A$215/NZ$225) will be offered if you are also participating in our monthly Patañjali’s Yogasūtra Ongoing Study, which bgean in January 2021. If you intend to join both the training, click here to sign up—>
Please note that owing to the COVID-19 Crisis, this special price is offered. We are well aware of the financial stress this Coronavirus Crisis is causing to all around the world and we want to be of support. We hope all of you will take the chance to benefit from this special offer and invite you to join this very special course.