Dhirendra Brahmachari

Dhirendra Brahmachari (1924 – 9 June 1994), born Dhirendra Choudhary, was the yoga mentor of Indira Gandhi - a former Prime Minister of India. He ran ashrams in Delhi, Jammu, Katra and Mantalai (J & K) and wrote books on yoga.

He was born in Bihar in 1924 in the district of Madhubani, in the village of Baseith Chanpura. Inspired by reading the Bhagavad Gita, he left home at the age of thirteen and went to Varanasi. His guru was Maharshi Kartikeya whose ashram was at Gopal-Khera, about twelve miles from Lucknow. Dhirendra Brahmachari studied yoga and associated subjects there.^[1] In the 1960s he was invited to travel to the U.S.S.R. as a Hatha Yoga expert to train Soviet cosmonauts. Jawaharial Nehru later invited him to teach yoga to his daughter, Indira Gandhi, to improve her health.^[2] He became influential politically in 1975-77 when Mrs Gandhi dissolved Parliament, declared a state of emergency and suspended civil liberties.^[3] The nature of his relationship with Indira Gandhi was the subject of speculation and he was known in some circles as 'the Indian Rasputin'.^[4][5] He was at times a controversial figure.

In the late 1970s, Dhirendra Brahmachari promoted the benefits of yoga in a weekly broadcast on Doordarshan, the state-owned television network. He introduced yoga as a subject of study in Delhi administered schools, a considerable innovation. In 1981 he also introduced yoga in the Kendriya Vidyalayas, or central government schools under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

He was the owner of Vishwayatan Yogashram in the centre of Delhi, now known as the Morarji Desai National Yoga Institute. He also owned campuses in Jammu, Katra and Mantalai. These were closed after his death and have not reopened.

He wrote books on yoga in Hindi and English including 'Yogic Sukshma Vyayama' and 'Yogasana Vijnana'.

He was part-owner of an arms manufacturing business in Jammu and owner of a number of properties later deemed illegal. The ownership of these has passed to the Indian government.

He died on 9 June 1994 when his private plane crashed near Mantalai, Jammu. The circumstances of his death are not fully known.

References

1. ^ http://www.worldyogadirectory.com/Yoga-Teachers/Swami-Dhirendra-Brahmachari-1227.html
2. ^ http://www.suryakumari.com/articles/indira.html
3. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/obituaries/dhirendra-brahmanchari-yoga-master-70.html
4. ^ http://www.suryakumari.com/articles/indira.html
5. ^ M.O. Mathai, My Days with Nehru, Vikas Publishing, 1979, ISBN 0706908236

External links

• [1]
• [2]
• [3]

Persondata
Name	Brahmachari, Dhirendra
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1924
Place of birth
Date of death	9 June 1994
Place of death