41 daily exercises and Pranayama from the Charaka Samhita — the world’s oldest medical text. Pujya Swamiji’s ~44-minute guided demonstration; practise daily, scale to your time, transform in 40 days.
Pujya Swamiji at the Pitambara Auditorium, Sree Suryamangalam Campus · full ~44-minute demonstration
Ayurveda is the world’s very first system of medical science. Its primary branch of knowledge is captured in two original foundational texts — the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita — the oldest treatment manuals known to humanity.
The Charaka Samhita lays out exactly what a human being must do to achieve a long lifespan and optimal physical health. Most notably, it places Vyayama (physical exercise) on equal status with food. To be healthy, four elements must coexist: good food, regular exercise, mental happiness, and adequate rest.
Nourishing the body with the right intake daily.
Physical training — equal in status to food.
An untroubled mind, sustained joy.
Deep, restorative sleep and relaxation.
Anyone who successfully maintains these four pillars will be blessed with absolute longevity and perfect health. This is clearly stated in the Charaka Samhita.
To help humans achieve long life, vitality, peace, and mental joy, the Charaka Samhita prescribes 64 distinct physical exercises. Of these, 41 are simple enough for everyone — children, adults, and elders alike. Practise these 41 daily — 25 repetitions each — and you will consistently sustain longevity, physical vigour, and mental peace. Stress and tension fall away. The benefits compound.
The complete sequence takes only about 30 minutes, followed by 5–8 minutes of Pranayama (breath control). On busy days, scale down to a minimum of 16 repetitions daily. Try it. You will quickly feel the difference.
Consider the world today — multi-specialty hospitals open everywhere, illnesses and patients multiply, because the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we consume have all become toxic and contaminated. Baseline vitality has been depleted; the chance of contracting disease multiplies.
Realistically, we cannot single-handedly stop air pollution or instantly purify the water table. But one crucial thing is within our control: we can fortify internal immunity and maximise its power. The solitary path is dedicated physical exercise. Good health is the ultimate wealth — no luxury or worldly pleasure can be enjoyed if health fails.
Yotha literally translates to “war” or “battle”. It signifies waging a war against everything that obstructs longevity, physical health, comfort, peace, and inner bliss — defeating those negative elements and paving the way for an energetic, joyful, healthy life. A person who practises Yotha is a Yodhi — a soldier. The objective is to forge a generation of resilient individuals.
A month-long training at the Pitambara Auditorium — police officers, doctors, engineers, and advocates have all completed the 30-day programme and submitted written testimonials of the transformation. Everyone is invited to join, practise, and share their experience.
Pujya Swamiji demonstrates 10 repetitions of each movement in the video. For full benefit, scale up to 25 repetitions per exercise daily. On a busy day, do at least 16. Each timestamp below jumps directly to that exercise in the video above.
Stand steady. Relax arms down, shake hands lightly, then raise both arms fully straight overhead.
Reach back and touch your hands behind your spine. Keep the body aligned.
Standing upright, bring both arms overhead — let the fingers and wrists touch completely at the top.
Hold both arms horizontal in front of you, parallel to the ground; move them rhythmically.
Fingertips on shoulders, rotate the elbows forward in large circles. Keep the chest wide and open.
Lift elbows to forearm-horizontal-at-forehead level. Bring the elbows inward until they touch in front of the face.
Extend the right arm overhead, bend the elbow, reach down to touch the centre of your upper back.
Identical movement on the left side — left arm overhead, reach down to upper spine.
Extend both arms forward, pull sharply back to touch the shoulders, extend forward again — and vibrate the arms so the muscles shake loose.
Step the right leg one pace back. Body firm and steady. Relax the right arm completely and swing it forward-and-back like a pendulum.
Step back with the left leg. Stabilise the trunk and execute the identical front-to-back swing with the left arm.
Widen the stance. Bend forward at the waist, resting left hand on the back. Turn the head left and swing the right arm up and down rapidly.
Same posture, switch — right hand on the back, head turned right, swing the left arm vertically.
Legs wider. Body bent deeply forward, one hand on the back. Rotate the working arm in expansive sweeping circles.
Switch arms — keep the deep forward bend, rotate the opposite arm in wide circles.
Right leg one pace back. Trunk upright and vertical. Loosen the right arm and rotate it rapidly in free-flowing vertical circles close to the body.
Left leg back, posture tall, loosen the left arm and swing it in the same full vertical circles.
Stand upright — no leaning, gaze straight. Extend arms out and push them side-to-side dynamically.
Feet moderately apart, arms straight out. Twist the torso fully to look back — pick a focal spot — twist side-to-side.
Feet slightly wider. Swing arms loosely so they wrap around the torso and slap the lower back/sides at max range.
Natural stance. Bend forward from the hips, fingertips touch the floor, return to full standing. Pause for a split second at the top of each rep.
Feet apart, both hands on hips. Arch the spine smoothly, alternating between a deep backward bend and a clean forward bend.
Feet apart. Slide the torso into deep lateral side bends — reach down toward left and right alternately.
Both arms straight up overhead. Rotate hips/pelvis in wide deep circles — like an old-fashioned hand-grinding stone.
Hands held out in front. Drop into a deep squat all the way down, stand back up. Thighs and calves should firmly press together.
Seated, extend the hands forward. Squeeze the fists as tightly as possible, then violently splay the fingers wide.
Hands relaxed on knees. Roll the head slowly — front, side, back — for maximum range of motion.
Strictly forward-and-back — chin presses firmly to the chest on the downward stroke.
Head flat on the horizontal plane — look fully over the left shoulder, then the right.
Legs extended. Raise one leg straight up dynamically; tap the calf with the hands. Tense and shake the thigh slightly as it rises.
Legs straight, hands on the floor behind for support. Move both feet left-and-right together in a windshield-wiper motion.
Rest the feet. Rotate the ankles outward and inward to unlock the joints fully.
Where the 41 exercises strengthen and condition the external body, Pranayama works internally. Its goal is to fully purify the respiratory tracts, draw in maximum life-giving oxygen, completely expel stagnant carbon dioxide, and deeply purify the bloodstream. The physical exercises are purely physical; Pranayama bridges the gap to spiritual wellness.
Take the dominant hand (typically the right). Tuck the middle finger down so it rests firmly against the fleshy base of the thumb — it locks securely into position without needing the other hand. The thumb and ring finger become the active tools to close the nostrils; the index and pinky remain relaxed.
Use the thumb to close the right nostril; the left remains open. Slowly breathe out all your air entirely through the open left nostril over a steady count of 5.
Once empty, immediately reverse. Inhale deeply and smoothly back up through the same left nostril, doubling the duration to a count of 10.
Use the ring finger to close the left nostril too — both nostrils sealed. Hold the captured air inside the lungs to double the inhalation: a count of 20. Do not let any air escape.
Once you reach 20, lift the thumb to open the right nostril and smoothly exhale all the air over a count of 10. The cycle continues, alternating sides.
A Matra is the scriptural unit of time — roughly one second (count steadily 1, 2, 3…). The classical text uses 16 Matras as the baseline measure. The mastery ratio is double-each-stage:
| Stage | Beginner (start here) | Master ratio (Charaka standard) |
|---|---|---|
| Rechaka — exhale | 5 counts | 16 counts |
| Puraka — inhale | 10 counts | 32 counts |
| Kumbhaka — hold | 20 counts | 64 counts |
| Alternate-side exhale | 10 counts | 32 counts |
Once you can effortlessly maintain the 16 : 32 : 64 ratio, you have truly mastered Pranayama. Build lung capacity patiently. Begin with the comfortable beginner ratio and scale up over months, never forcing the breath.
Profound truths can only be understood through personal experience. Practise Yotha and Pranayama with unwavering faith for a full traditional cycle of 40 days (one Mandala). Bodily aches vanish. Sleep deepens. Digestion normalises. Mental stress dissolves. Children gain mental clarity, sharper focus, and active interest in their studies — while lethargy disappears completely. Rather than just taking the teaching on faith, experience it for yourself.
The system shared here is not a modern invention. It is preserved within the pages of the Charaka Samhita — one of the oldest texts on medical science. If you desire to live a truly blissful life on this earth — blessed with longevity, high energy, mental peace, and joy — safeguarding health is an absolute prerequisite. To build and protect that health, there is no better path than Yotha.
Ayu Arogya Saukhya Siddhi
May you be blessed with a long lifespan, perfect health, total prosperity, and complete success.
Reach the temple office on WhatsApp to share your experience, request guidance, or join the upcoming Healthy India, Great India training cohort at Sree Suryamangalam.
