Lecture on Ashtanga Yoga 

Chandigarh, March 9, 2022: A lecture on Ashtanga Yoga was organised by the Dayanand Chair for Vedic Studies, Panjab  University today. The lecture was titled 'Dayanand Saraswati ki drishti mein Ashtangayoga', in which the speaker was Prof. Balveer Acharya, who is currently a professor at the Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana. Head of the Dayanand Chair for Vedic Studies, Prof. Virendra Kumar Alankar gave the opening remarks for the lecture, where he briefly introduced the audience with the history of the field of Darshana Shaastra or Indian philosophy and Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati's contribution toward it. Prof. Balveer Acharya began the lecture with a description of history and antiquity of Yoga in the Indian civilisation. He cited passages from Vedas, Upanishads and so on, to show that the formal conception of Yoga is rooted in the foremost and the most revered of the ancient Indian scriptures.
 
"The ashtanga yoga of Patanjali", said Prof. Acharya "combines all the various types of Yoga prevalent in the ancient India". He said that one has to live Yoga and not merely perform it. He then began introducing the audience with the insights which Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati had on Patanjali's Yogasutras. Through the conception of Yoga, Maharshi Dayanand promoted the benefits of practicing unconditional non-violence, truthfulness, etc. Prof. Acharya told how Maharshi Dayanand had warned against excessive and unnecessary indulgence in thinking and emphasised on mental and emotional health.
 
As per Prof. Acharya, Maharshi Dayanand promoted the building up of emotional strength to withstand any unfavourable situation whatsoever. Prof. Acharya cited various scientific research papers published all around the world, which prove the invaluable and substantial benefits of various practices included in the broad term Ashtanga Yoga.
 
The lecture was organised in both the online and offline modes. The students of MA Sanskrit of the Sanskrit department, Panjab University participated in the lecture. Along with them, research scholars of Dayanand Chair for Vedic Studies and the Sanskrit Department, Panjab University also took part in the lecture. The teaching staff of the Sanskrit department, Panjab University as well as other institutions also joined the event.