Bhagiratha’s penace on one leg in Mahabalipuram; some people think it is Arjuna’s penance for Pasupata Astra.
Written London Swaminathan
Post No. 1122; Dated 21st June 2014.
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London news papers have published a news item this morning (21/6/14) which throws more light on Hindu Yogic practices. They flashed the news item with the title: “WANT TO LIVE LONGER? STAND UP FOR THREE HOURS A DAY”. Indian saints, Yogis, ancient kings and even demons were doing penance for a long period in different postures. We see such Yogis even today during festivals like Kumbhamela. Hindu scriptures always attribute a longer life span for them.
We read about how Arjuna and Bagheeratha and others did penance standing on one foot. Arjuna did penance to get Pasupata Astra and Bhageeratha did penance for bringing down the River Ganges from the heaven. Goddess Parvati did penance to get Shiva as her husband. They stood on one leg and did penance for “thousands of years”. Since Hindus invented the decimal system, they used the phrase ‘60,000 years’ just to mean “for a long period”. In the same way Buddhist scriptures used No. 500 and Semitic scriptures used No 40. They were not taken literally.
Standing on one foot or sitting in a particular posture increases concentration. English phases such as ‘bent upon’, ‘bent on’, ‘inclined to’ may mean Yoga Asana postures. Now the scientific evidence has come in favour of ‘ STANDING’ and doing something which keeps you fit and healthy!
“Simply standing up for three hours a day is as good for you as running ten marathons a year and could even extend life by two years, an expert has claimed”- reported London News Papers this morning.
Coupled with Pranayamam (Breath Control techniques) our Yogis lived for a very long period and achieved what they wanted to achieve.
Dr Mike Loosemore, lead consultant in exercise machine at the Institute of Sport, said even small amounts of exercise, such as standing, can have significant health benefits. ‘It is going to improve their health. It is going to reduce their risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, It is going to reduce their cholesterol and It is going to make them thinner’, he said.
“If you keep doing small gains, they will improve your health. It is easy to do and you make it part of your life style. If I stood up like this and worked standing up, which I do, three hours a day, five days a week, that would be the equivalent of ten Marathons a year”.
Dr Loosemore was the lead medic for the GB (UK) Boxing team at London 2012 Olympics. A Depart of Health (U.K)spokesman said: ‘Even making small changes are designed to be a manageable way in which people can make these changes’.
Kamakshi or Uma on one foot.
An experiment was done with the help of University of Chester team in 2013 and the result they got was encouraging. Dr John Buckley of the team said,
“If you stand for three hours a day for five days that’s around 750 calories burnt. Over the course of a year it would add up to about 30,000 extra calories, or around 8lb of fat. Standing while you are working may seem rather odd, but it is a practice with a long tradition. Winston Churchill wrote while working at a special standing desk, as did Ernest Hemingway and Benjamin Franklin”.
Bus conductors are less prone to heart diseases than bus drivers, a study found out.
If we take into account the breath control (Pranayam) techniques of Hindu Yogis, “eating nothing but air” and with reduced metabolism, we will understand how they lived for longer years.
Let us follow Arjuna and Bhageeratha!
Tamil and Vedas 
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