World-renowned yoga guru, B.K.S. Iyengar, undergoing treatment at a Pune-based hospital, is said to be in a critical condition.
Mr. Iyengar (96), founder of the Iyengar School of Yoga, who has legions of followers and admirers across the globe, was put on dialysis last Sunday at the Prayag Hospital here following a renal failure.
“His condition is pretty much the same since then. Unfortunately, Mr. Iyengar did not respond to the first cycle of dialysis,” said Shirish Prayag, Managing Director & Chief Consultant in Critical Care Medicine at Prayag Hospital, speaking to The Hindu .
Dr. Prayag said that despite a second dialysis cycle, Mr. Iyengar had not shown any improvement and was not responding well to the treatment.
“He is being put on two more cycles to see if his kidneys respond,” said Dr. Prayag, commenting that the Yogacharya, while still conscious, was presently experiencing some drowsiness.
A team of nephrologists from Mumbai is monitoring Mr. Iyengar’s condition round the clock. The nonagenarian yoga guru was admitted last Tuesday after complaining of breathlessness.
On conducting tests, doctors last week had ascertained that Mr. Iyengar’s heart was weak and that his kidneys were not functioning normally, a condition further aggravated by complications owing to advanced age. However, at the time, they assured that Mr. Iyengar was fully conscious, sending out hopes of an early recovery.
The yoga guru has had a history of heart disease and even suffered a couple of heart attacks in the past.
Mr. Iyengar, a sickly youth in his teens, is credited with integrating the eight aspects of astanga yoga known as ‘Iyengar’s Yoga’, and having taught such luminaries as English writer Aldous Huxley (who authored Brave New World and Eyeless in Gaza ), philosopher and spiritualist J. Krishnamurti and violin titan Yehudi Menuhin.
He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan during the Republic Day celebrations earlier this year.
