Brahmrishi Vishvatma Bawra - Kapilas Samkhya Patanjalis Yoga: Theory and Practice

Brahmrishi Vishvatma Bawra was born in a small Indian village near Varanasi in 1934. As a child, he shied away from school and had no formal education. At the age of eighteen, he was enlightened by the touch of a great yogi , Bhagvan Chandra Mauli, and remembered many previous lives spent with his guru. Under his gurus guidance, Swami Bawra left his family to study higher spiritual practices in Ayodhya at the principal center of the Vaishnava Order. By the grace of his master he received a distinctive memory of scripture and philosophical treatises. He became a learned yogi of the Vaishnava Sanyasi Order. After a period of time, his master insisted he return to society and help humanity.

Swami Bawra hesitated to leave his spiritual ecstasy, but followed his masters guidance. With only a loincloth and a small bag with Holy Scriptures, he traveled throughout India begging alms and giving lectures on the Bhagavad Gt , Rmyana , Upanishads, Smkhya, Yoga, and Vednta philosophies. In his lectures, he shared philosophy in the light of modern science. After twelve years of wandering, at the request of his disciples, Swami Bawra agreed to establish a center for spiritual practice. The first center was inaugurated in 1965, and his mission eventually became an international organization. Swami Bawra also founded numerous schools to provide education for poor children in the villages of India.

Swami Bawras teachings emphasize the spiritual science of Brahma Vidy , knowledge of the source of life in Brahman, which has two aspects, theory and practice. In the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gt , the theory is called Smkhya, and its practical aspect is called Yoga. On the basis of his own experiences, Swami Bawra taught Maha Yoga , an integrated practice of thought and breath for realizing self and finding freedom from suffering.

Swami Bawra traveled to the United States, Canada, and England to share his knowledge. Margot and I studied with him when he traveled, and we periodically went to India to study and meditate with him there. Swami Bawra encouraged me to remain in my professional career while continuing a practice of deep meditation and regular study. Margot began teaching meditation in 1976 and became a yoga teacher in 1982. For many years, we have jointly led meditation and study sessions based on Swami Bawras teachings.

In 2005, Margot founded Brahmrishi Yoga Teacher Training. Swami Bawras inspiration and guidance on the need for Western practitioners to understand Smkhya is the core of this training. In 2006, I retired from my professional career and began to teach meditation and assist with philosophical presentations. We both felt a need for an English commentary incorporating Swami Bawras revival of Smkhya as the basis for our teaching.

Margot had compiled and edited a series of lectures given on Tattva Samasa , a brief outline of Kapilas Smkhya. She wanted this worked into a presentation on the practices enumerated in the Yoga Stras to highlight and emphasize their philosophical basis. Subsequently, I found additional lectures Swami Bawra had given on Tattva Samasa . This commentary on Smkhya is a compilation of all these lectures, as well as additional supplemental material.

Likewise, the Yoga section is compiled from lectures on the first two chapters of Patajali's Yoga Stras. I collected, transcribed, compiled, and edited this material, supplementing it with previous works and other lectures of Swami Bawra to create this commentary.

Our intent is to provide an understanding of the philosophical foundation and practical methods for achieving inner freedom. We begin with a commentary on Tattva Samsa , which outlines Kapilas philosophy and serves as the theoretical base necessary for understanding Yoga. This is followed by a selection of Patajalis Yoga Stras , which illuminate the aim, principles and methods of Yoga.

William Milcetich

Pronunciation: To assist English readers with the pronunciation of frequently used Sanskrit terms, letters have been added to the strict transliteration of Sanskrit to English. For example, purua is written as purusha and prakriti as prakriti . The long vowels of a, i, and u are indicated by the symbols, , , and and the sh sound is indicated by .