Pillars Of Raja Yoga:-
YOGA enjoins upon its practicant, a divine discipline because the aim of yoga is to purify the mind, to bring about a transform ation in outlook and attitudes and to give to man a holy and happy frame of mind. In other words, the high stage of yoga stands on some strong and firm pillars.
Of these, chastity, continence or Brahmacharya is one. A yogi is not attracted towards the physical charms or towards sex- indulgence because his outlook has changed. He looks to the beauty of the soul. His mind is stabilised in Brahma as the word “Brahma- charya’ connotes and, therefore, he now takes pleasure in spiritual love towards all as a brother to other brothers because he is now soul-conscious rather than attached to the body. This soul-consciousness and Brahmacharya give him great physical stamina, moral force and spiritual strength. It enhances his will-power and gives him clarity of judgement, efficiency and equipoise.
Another important pillar is the Sattwic diet. Food has great effect on one’s mind. A yogi does not take meat, eggs, alcoholic drinks or tobacco. He does not kill for his food nor does he earn his bread by unrighteous means. He makes offer of the meals to God and then takes it as Prasadam-God-blessed, consecrated food that becalms and purifies the mind.
Satsanga is another important pillar. One who wants to be a good yogi, has to refrain from bad company, bad books and bad thoughts and should attend spiritual congregations. This helps in acquiring good habits.
Divine Virtues also constitute one of the pillars. Without humility, contentment, cheerfulness, introvertness, sobriety, geniality and other divine qualities, yoga does not stay.
If we ponder over deeply, we will come to the conclusion that man loses his mental calmness and equipoise either because he takes an intoxicant or stimulant, i.e. non-Sattwic food or because of his sex-overtures and loss of stamina or because of lack of any divine quality such as toleration, amiability, geniality, humility, etc. There- fore, it is necessary that, in order to be a Raja Yogi, one takes only Sattwic food, observes Brachmacharya and cultivates divine qualities in the self. For this, one should attend spiritual congrega- tions. In other words, one should build the edifice of Yoga on these four pillars.
