Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said yoga is the only way to a healthy life in modern times, and that it has nothing to do with any religion.
“In today’s sedentary lifestyle, which hardly allows us to do physical exercise, yoga is the only way through which we can keep ourselves physically and mentally fit,” Mr. Naidu said at the inaugural ceremony of the centenary celebrations of The Yoga Institute in Santacruz.
The Vice President said yoga is India’s gift to the modern world, and the people who connect yoga with the Hindu religion should know that Hinduism is a way of life. “Unfortunately, a few people link yoga to a particular religion. Yoga has nothing to do with religion; it’s a science of how to live a peaceful life.”
He hailed the institute for promoting yoga across the world for three generations and training yoga teachers.
Mr. Naidu said certain evils have entered today’s society and moral science as a subject needs to be brought back in schools to combat them. “Just see what is happening in today’s society. Girls of three-four years are being raped. In our (old) education system, we used to learn about maryada (dignity) and parampara (tradition) in primary (school).”
“Use of Google is OK, but Google can never replace guru (teacher). If we have a proper guru then it can refine our character, calibre, capacity, and conduct,” he said.
Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, founder of Ahimsa Vishwa Bharati Acharya Lokesh Muniji, president of Paramarth Niketan Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, and Education Minister Vinod Tawde attended the event.
Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji praised Mr. Naidu for promoting Indian culture.
The Yoga Institute is celebrating a year-long programme of yoga awareness across the world.
