Krishnamacharya’s Viniyoga: On Modern Yoga and Srî Vaishnavism: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

This article will look at how Yoga is conceptualized, practiced, and authorized within the contemporary style of Viniyoga, a technique
that plays an important part in Modern Yoga,1 one of the most influential and widespread examples of appropriating Indian religion in contemporary Western settings. Moreover, Viniyoga also represents an unprecedented amalgamation of meditative practices, physical curing and devotionalism. For several reasons this intermingling has shown to be quite attractive to many Westerners, which might come as a surprise to those who tend to think of Modern Yoga as being preoccupied exclusively with fitness and well-being. Viniyoga in fact combines more traditional religious sentiments and practices with fashionable healthist ideologies and New Age cosmologies.