No desires in my life, says 126-yr-old yoga guru
He said his date of birth was August 8, 1896 and showed his Aadhaar card mentioning his date of birth
Hyderabad: Swami Sivananda, a yoga guru who says he is 126 years old, and known as the oldest Indian, performed a few asanas to the delight of the crowd of about 1,000-plus enthusiasts at the Sports Expo India, at HITEX, Madhapur, on Sunday.
Later, speaking to mediapersons, he was asked about the secret of his longevity. "No money, no desire, no sugar, milk, salt, oil, no sleeping in the day, gurukripa (blessings) to lead to healthy life,” said the swami, the oldest Padma Shri awardee.
"I practice an ancient way of living. I eat early, sleep early and rise early. I rarely eat breakfast. I just have lunch and dinner, both in a very limited quantity. I eat two chapatis, boiled potato, puffed rice and barley porridge. I don't eat tasty food. I stay away from fast food," the swami said.
He said his date of birth was August 8, 1896 and showed his Aadhaar card mentioning his date of birth. He started practising yoga at the age of nine. He credited his long life to his guru Omkarananda Goswami. The swami described Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as a “boyhood friend.”
Swami Sivananda said wakes up at 3 am daily, performs ablutions, walks for an hour, worships, chants shlokas, has lunch at 12 noon and rests for two hours rest but does not take a nap. "I retire to bed by 9 pm,” said the Varanasi resident who is unmarried.
On how yoga now and 100 years ago, Sami Sivananda said it was the same but more popular now. “It is more popular in the West than in the place where it is born.” he noted.
He has dedicated his life to serving those affected by leprosy. “Lord Jagannadh is deformed and symbolises them. So I chose to serve leprosy-affected people at Puri for 50 years,” he said.