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after the Ramayana serial. People shed their inhibitions and the discussions on scriptures began to acquire respectability. What is more important, the serial sharply focused on the duties and principles embodied in the epic. By propagating the immanent values of our cultural heritage, Ramanand Sagar performed a role compared to any great seer."
How does the swami see the relevance of the Bihar School of Yoga in a state where crime is at a premium, and especially in a
district which is notorious for its crime statistics? Pat came the reply that 'a lotus blossoms only in a cesspool'.
But does it not behove on the part of the yogis to try and change the criminal mindset? Swamiji's reply was a loaded one: "I will give you the names of a few villages where our sannyasins are working. First go on your own and see things for yourself. You will get the answer to your question".
7.11.93
The Sunday Times of India
THE RIGHT AMBIENCE
PATNA, Nov. 7 – The four-day World Yoga Convention, organized under the auspices of the Bihar School of Yoga to commemorate the Golden Jubilee celebration of Paramahamsa Satyananda's renunciation, was indeed a grand spectacle. The very fact that as many as 600 delegates from 32 countries and 6000 delegates from 20 states of India descend ed on the remote, sleepy town of Munger, with no air links and very poor rail and road transport facilities to participate in the deliberations was itself a measure of the success of the convention.
The, scientists, doctors and other professionals from India and abroad spoke eloquently about the bright prospect of the "Integration of Yoga and Science
in the 21st Century", the theme of the convention. Many seers and scriptural pandits from all over the country also spoke highly of India's spiritual mission and the positive impact of yoga in the creation of a spiritual order.
But despite their invocations and brouhaha over the onset of a yogic revolution, the convention had its share of misgivings as well. Of all those who introduced the discordant notes, four stood out: first, a divine force, the god Indra; second, a spiritual leader, Swami Sivapremananda; third, an intellectual, Prof. Upendra Baxi; and fourth, Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, the suave young president of the Bihar School of Yoga.
God Indra was truly unkind to the congregation. An unseasonal rain had lashed the
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