
Question to TKV Desikachar:
What is the relationship between Yoga and Āyurveda?
TKV Desikachar Response:
First of all, we believe that the same master gave us Āyurveda and Yoga: Patañjali. We worship Patañjali remembering him as the person who gave us Āyurveda for the body and Yoga for the mind.
Body and mind are so interlinked that you cannot really separate them. Since Āyurveda is a complete system, they talk also about Yoga. Yoga is defined in Āyurveda. And the language of Yoga is such that a person cannot understand the Yoga texts without understanding the concepts of Āyurveda.
At least in theory, these sciences go very well together. However, in India, the treatment given to Yoga in the Āyurveda University is very scarce, it is not even worth mentioning. So, in reality, Āyurveda people are not familiar with Yoga as much as they should be. The only exception was my father. He knew both, that is why he was able to mix both systems, according to the need.
“What Patañjali gave for the mind through Yoga,
he gave for the body through Āyurveda.”
What I would say is, what Patañjali gave for the mind through Yoga, he gave for the body through Āyurveda.
– Extract from an interview in the Journal Viniyoga Italia on Yoga and Well Being.