They are practicing so-called yoga performances for the matter of reducing fat and keeping the body fit for sense gratification

Expressions researched:
"The hatha-yoga is very popular. Sometimes the fat ladies go there to reduce their fat" |"They are practicing so-called yoga performances for the matter of reducing fat, and keeping the body fit for sense gratification" |"They have opened so many classes of yoga class, somebody is advertising that you can remain young, you can have better sex power or you can reduce your bodily fat"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

The haṭha-yoga is very popular. Sometimes the fat ladies go there to reduce their fat. Here also they practice yoga to keep the digestive system regular. So people like this kind of yoga, gymnastics. But real yoga is ādhyātmika.

Lecture on SB 3.25.14 -- Bombay, November 14, 1974:

(reads verse)

tam imaṁ te pravakṣyāmi

yam avocaṁ purānaghe

ṛṣīṇāṁ śrotu-kāmānāṁ

yogaṁ sarvāṅga-naipuṇam

(SB 3.25.14)

So Kapiladeva, previous verse, He said that yoga ādhyātmikaḥ puṁsāṁ mato niḥśreyasāya me. The supreme yoga system is ādhyātmikaḥ, or pertaining to the soul. Just like in your country a... (loud sound of fireworks, firecrackers, etc., going on in background) Nowadays... The haṭha-yoga is very popular. Sometimes the fat ladies go there to reduce their fat, and... (laughter) Some bodily... Here also they practice yoga to keep the digestive system regular. So people like this kind of yoga, gymnastics. But real yoga is ādhyātmika. Ādhyātmika means to awaken the soul to his proper position. That is real yoga. So that is not a manufactured, novel concoction. That is Purāṇa. As the soul is purāṇa, śāśvataḥ purāṇaḥ, similarly his business is also śāśvataḥ purāṇaḥ. That business is to reconnect his lost relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

They have opened so many classes of yoga class, somebody is advertising that you can remain young, you can have better sex power or you can reduce your bodily fat. So that is also possible. That you can do by ordinary exercise. But real purpose of yoga is to concentrate the mind on Viṣṇu always. That is yoga.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:

The samādhi, the meditation which is going on, some rascaldom, that is not meditation. Meditation means always thinking of Viṣṇu. That is meditation. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is perfect meditation. Always thinking. And it is certified in Bhagavad-gītā, yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā (BG 6.47). Mad-gatenāntarātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ. So Kṛṣṇa said, he is first-class yogi who is constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śraddhāvān bhajate yo mām. With faith and devotion, always remembering Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, sa me yuktatamo mataḥ. Yoginām api sarveṣām, of all the yogis They have opened so many classes of yoga class, somebody is advertising that you can remain young, you can have better sex power or you can reduce your bodily fat. So that is also possible. That you can do by ordinary exercise. But real purpose of yoga is to concentrate the mind on Viṣṇu always. That is yoga. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the highest perfectional stage of yoga practice.

1968 Correspondence

The so-called Swamis are cheating the public because the public also want to be cheated by cheap method of self-realization. They are practicing so-called yoga performances for the matter of reducing fat, and keeping the body fit for sense gratification.

Letter to Pope Paul VI -- Montreal 3 August, 1968:

In India, which was one day the land of religion and Brahminical culture, things have deteriorated to such an extent that a man in a higher caste is recognized simply by putting a piece of thread on the body as a sign of sanctity. The so-called Swamis are cheating the public because the public also want to be cheated by cheap method of self-realization. They are practicing so-called yoga performances for the matter of reducing fat, and keeping the body fit for sense gratification. If somebody has no sufficient money, it is very hard for him to get justice from the court. And if anyone can simply bluff by so-called advancement of knowledge, he is offered the doctorate degree. If a man is poor, he is at once accepted as non-civilized. If a man is falsely proud, he is accepted as civilized. By frustration, people are gradually becoming communists and hippies, and the guardians of the society must now take up the situation very seriously, without further delay.