Vishwa Mohan's Blog

Secure Query String using Symmetric Cryptography

2008-05-29T21:32:00.001-05:00

It is important to secure information on the web specially when transferring data from one page to another. Some information you may not want to make it readable by end user. Microsoft .NET provides Cryptography namespace which can be easily utilized for this purpose. The following example contains a simple class containing Encryption and Decryption method. It supports 2 types – DESC and Rijndael. Symmetric type and encryption key can be configured easily through .config file. Read More

Error: System.ServiceModel.Channels

2008-04-18T21:31:00.000-05:00

Recently I came across interesting error messages while calling a WCF Service Hosted in IIS 6.0 on Windows 2003 Server. From the error message, I could not figure out the real cause. But after doing some research and changing few configuration information and changing the code, it appears that these solutions fixed these errors. Read More

Error: Could not establish trust relationship for the SSL/TLS secure channel with authority

2008-04-17T21:29:00.000-05:00

I got this error when calling a WCF Service over HTTPS. A Similar error can also occurs when you try calling a web service programmatically over SSL (HTTPS) and certificate is either not valid or Certificate is attached to a domain and you are not using the domain name but the machine name or IP address. So, what to do in that case if you don’t care about certificate and would like to accept all certificates. I found that it can be done using one of two ways. Read More

Make a .NET Component accessible in Classic ASP or VB6

2008-04-05T21:26:00.000-05:00

I came across a situation again to use exactly same .NET component as COM component in classic ASP page. I had totally forgotten these steps but finally managed to make it work. Later, I thought to put these steps together on my blog, so that if anyone else also don’t know or forget these steps, this will help. Read More

Implementing WCF Service Part 5 - Fault Contract

2008-03-25T20:21:00.002-05:00

In WCF, there are five major contracts – Service Contract, Operation Contract, Data Contract, Fault Contract and Message Contract. In my previous examples I used first three. In this example, I will implement the Fault Contract. I am not very fond of using Message Contract as some guidelines suggest using the least or based on requirement, however you cannot get away from the first four contracts. In the event of Fault (exception), WCF throws a fault containing detail error message which you may not like to be passed back to the caller. In other words, this example focuses on how to hide full error details and provide a custom error code, message and details. You can use multiple Fault Contracts on one Operation Contract in similar way. This example provides a simple and generic way to handle Faults.
Read More

Implementing WCF Service Part 4 - POX/REST

2008-02-07T23:37:00.002-05:00

This post will focus on implementing POX (Plain Old XML) and REST (Representational State Transfer) in WCF. In other word s this is an implementation of the old HTTP XML Post. I spent not several hours but several days to figure out the solution. As all of you know making HTTP GET is easy in WCF but HTTP Post (without using SOAP) is a different story. I researched all around the web but nowhere found a simple example for this option, yes not even on Microsoft site. Many people just post their opinion in few lines and then you keep guessing, and if you are new to this and keep doing trial and error method for hours and day provided you keep your patience on. Once you will find the solution, it will look so easy. Read More

Implementing WCF Service Part 3 - SOAP/XML

2008-02-02T07:46:00.001-05:00

In this post, I will implement the basicHttpBinding, through which you can even use a HTML page and JavaScript to consume the WCF Service via SOAP based XML. I spent several hours to exactly figure out the SOAP format. In ASMX web service, if you will click on a method, it shows you the sample SOAP format for request and response. Unfortunately, that is not available in WCF Service page right now, so you have to figure out or use a tool to see what is being passed or expected. The Serialization used in ASMX Web Service is based on XML Serialization; however WCF uses a different mechanism for the same. You can use the old SOAP format (which I used in ASMX Web Service) to post the transaction but you will always get SOAP 1.2 format response. In order to keep consistency, I kept the request format similar to response. Read More

Implementing WCF Service Part 2 - Client

2008-01-22T02:35:00.001-05:00

I will consume the Customer WCF Service which I developed in Part 1 on WS* Http Binding, you can implement the best security, transactions and many more things using this way. However, I will consume in a very simplistic way in this post. I assume that you have already deployed the WCF Service under IIS and have a working URL ready to be referenced and you are planning to use the customer WCF service in ASPX web Page. Read More

Implementing WCF Service Part 1 - Service

2008-01-22T02:34:00.001-05:00

As you know, the New Windows Communication Services (WCF) will replace the existing ASP.NET ASMX Web Services. So, it will be wise to plan it from today as how to transit in this new service model era. I first tried experimenting with WCF Service almost a year ago with the release of .NET 3.0 but VS 2005 and VISTA did work happily on my machine but now I like VS 2008. I revisited WCF again with the release of .NET 3.5, all the sample available on the web are either old or do not give enough information if you are looking for information as how to use this service in different way over different protocol, which can closely mimic a small real word example . So, I had to spend hours trying to find solutions and put the pieces together. So, I finally thought to create an example to help others who are facing the same situation. I have tried to closely mimic the ASMX Web Service uses, which I posted in my earlier post because most of us will be planning to convert from existing old one. With all the experiments I would give one key Mantra for WCF, dig the Config file specially to understand how to configure BEB (Binding, Endpoint and Behavior). This example deals with CRUD operation on Customer data which I used in earlier post. For the simplicity I am using XML file for the data source and will consume this service with WS* Standard, SOAP based XML POST, Plain Old XML (POX) and HTTP GET and POST. I believe these are the common uses along with TCP, named pipe and MSMQ. Read More

ASMX Web Service Part 2 - Client

2008-01-19T02:48:00.001-05:00

In this post, the web service created in Part 1 will be consumed into a web page through Server Side Web Service Integration, Client Side SOAP XML HTTP Post, HTTP Form Post and Get. Following are the steps. Read More

ASMX Web Service Part 1 - Web Service

2008-01-18T02:47:00.001-05:00

You must be wondering, that in WCF era ASMX Web Service! I wrote the first one 5 years ago and now trying to move them to WCF Service, but lot of companies have not even adopted the web service and some have only started adopting it recently, and now they realized that a new era has come. I will discuss my experiments & experiences with WCF in later posts. However, I would like to post a simple Customer ASMX Web Service and then consume it by a ASP.NET Web Page via Server Side and then Client Side using direct SOAP based XML through HTTP Post. Later, I will create a similar WCF Service with exactly same methods and will access the data exactly same way. Remember this is not a simple HelloWorld Example, this Web Service deals with primitive data type as well as complex one. How far you would like to dive deep into it, will be up to you. Read More

Catch Your Application Errors

2008-01-10T02:45:00.000-05:00

You must be thinking that your web site is working great and generating no errors. But have you ever tried catching errors on Application_Error event in Global.asax, it catches all unhandled errors. Try applying the following code, and you will be amazed to see that your site is generating some errors which you were not even aware of. The following method will dump all the erros into a XML file which will be create on montly basis. Initially I was sending these errors to my email, but it is not easy to analyze all the data at once. XML file can be imported in Excel easily and you can fix the code which is generating more errors. Read More

Create XML Data file with Element vs. Attribute Format

2008-01-09T02:43:00.000-05:00

You can choose to create a XML file in which detail records are represented as Elements or Attributes only. It is wiser to use the best use of both, more use of attribute reduces the size of xml file and increases the speed over wire. Representation of data in Elements only XML file becomes heavier in file size thus slower the transmission. The only benefit is when you open this file in browser it is relatively easily to read. Following are an example for creating a file with same information in two different ways. Read More

Certificate Error: Navigation Blocked

2008-01-05T02:42:00.000-05:00

There are some situations especially in development or QA environment when you would to like ignore the SSL certificate. Generally this warning occurs when SSL certificate is either assigned to a different domain name, IP Address or self signed. You will most likely see the one of following error or warning messages when information is posted manually through Internet Explorer or FireFox browser. Read More

Swami Vivekananda – Chicago Speech - Audio

2007-12-03T02:40:00.001-05:00

Swami Vivekananda was the first Spiritual Master who introduced the knowledge of Vedas in the West. He started this movement of spiritual connection of East and West. Later, many spiritual masters followed his path and still continuing. I had only read his speeches in books but today I found audio version on web which were given by beloved Swami Vivekananda more than a century ago (Sept 11th - 27th, 1893) at World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. It gives me an immense pleasure to collect these links from Web and put them together for everyone. Read More

Using XMLWriter and XMLReader

2007-11-02T02:38:00.000-05:00

This is a simple example for demonstrating how to use XMLReader or XMLWriter for reading or writing a XML file or XML String. I am using a Customer Entity which was created in previous examples. Read More

Implementing Data Transfer Objects

2007-10-19T02:36:00.000-05:00

When you separate your business layer from data access layer in two different assembly, you come across a situation as which data transfer method will be best for me. In this example, I went through various data transfer object currently available in .NET such as XML, DataSet, DataTable, ArrayList and Custom Data Transfer Object. Each option has its pros and cons, so depending on project one should choose as what best fits the need. In the following code I have tried to use all the four possibilities. Read More

Freeze Column in GridView

2007-08-05T02:33:00.000-05:00

The following example will demonstrate as how to freeze or fix one or more column in a GridView. I have used stylesheet to achieve this result. At present this solution only works in IE 7.0. Read More

Find Permission on all objects

2007-07-19T02:31:00.000-05:00

I came across a situation where I had to find all the stored procedures or user defined functions that do not have “execute” permission under a particular user. Here is a simple SQL Statement one which can be used under SQL Server 2005 to find those objects. Read More

Speed Test: Generic List vs. ArrayList

2007-07-09T02:30:00.000-05:00

It is very important to evaluate the most efficient way of passing data between layers. Many people recommend using ArrayList, some Generic List. But which one is the most efficient way to use? I thought to perform a speed test between Generic List and ArrayList in VS2005. Some people blindly accept that ArrayList is the fastest way. But is it true? Let’s have a real test by reading and writing hundred thousand records using each type and see the outcome. Knowing the fact that Collection, Data Table and XML is slower than these two but how much? Let’s put them to test too and compare the result. Read More

Log SQL Connections and Locks

2007-06-25T02:27:00.001-05:00

You might have come across situation when you wanted to log SQL Connections and Locks for a particular day or period. In the following example, by using two tables and one stored procedure, you can log these activities and analyze at a later time. This stored procedure can be turned into a SQL Job for any given interval so that you do not have to manually run it. Read More

Calculate the table size and number of rows

2007-06-01T02:23:00.000-05:00

At some point you might need to know, how many tables you have in database, number of rows in each table, size of table and indices. Following is a simple SQL Script which can provide you a snapshot of all such details. Read More

Server Error: HTTP Error 500.19 - Internal Server Error

2007-05-26T12:32:00.000-05:00

You might have come across this error while working on a WCF project on Vista, IIS 7.0 with Visual Studio 2005. Actually Microsoft has tightened the security on VISTA and most of the time it is annoying when it asks your permission. Following is the detail error message I received while trying to run a WCF project, however I found a simple solution to fix it. Read Solution ...

AJAX Error: 'Sys' is undefined

2007-05-07T12:29:00.000-05:00

If you are using AJAX enabled web site or project, you may come across this error message. I got this error message too and spent few hours to fix this problem. I tried finding all possible solutions on Google and finally concluded with following three steps. Read Solution ...

Let’s Face It

2007-04-30T12:27:00.000-05:00

In our life, we face problems every day. Most of them are created by our own actions. Many times we get scared by just thinking, how will we handle it, what are we going to do or what will happen to me? We immediately start thinking of either getting rid of the problem some way or other. But no matter what, problem does not disappear on its own we have to go through the problem, whether we like it or not. At the end of each problem, they make us stronger and give us an ability to face much bigger problem in life. Read More ...

ADO.NET – Best Practices for Data Access

2007-03-29T08:42:00.000-05:00

This article will first talk about top 5 best practices you should use while accessing database and then demonstrate how to properly use SqlConnection, SqlCommand and SqlDataAdapter objects while working with data using stored procedure or inline SQL for optimal performance. Read Solution ...

XML String, Dataset and Class Manipulation

2007-02-27T08:37:00.000-05:00

I have written some useful ready to use functions in a Helper Class which can be used in XML string manipulation. These functions include following abilities :

Get XML data string from/to a class

Set/Remove CDATA in XML String

Clear All/Limited Special Characters from XML string

Set/Remove Root Node to XML String

Get Inner XML/Text on Relative Path

Get XML Document to/from an object

Get Custom Dataset from/to XML string

Read Solution ...

Dynamic Gridview Generation at run time

2007-02-07T08:33:00.000-05:00

In this example, a Gridview is generated at run time with customer list with bound field columns. It also creates a HTML table dynamically. Most of the properties can be easily controlled at run time. Read Solution ...

Error : Internet Explorer cannot download ...

2007-01-16T15:09:00.000-05:00

If you see Error message : Internet Explorer cannot download "filename" from "Servername" Internet Explorer was not able to open this Internet site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again Then, this error usually occurs sometime while downloading a document which can be in form of PDF file, Doc file, XLS or text file. There are at least 4 possible reasons which can cause this error. I have also found their solutions. My assumption is - you are running your web site on IIS. Read Solution ...

What Are Your Priorities?

2007-01-06T14:27:00.000-05:00

Each of us get only 24 hours of the day in our daily life, some succeed in their life and some not. Have we ever thought that what makes someone to reach at the top and some just keep struggling? I think the most important thing is – how we give priorities to certain things in our daily life, it can be career, friends, family or anything. I heard this story from friends and then read it on the web; I thought it to put it here. This story also teaches the Time Management and it has been taught in many universities around the world. Read more...

Contradictions in Bhagvad Gita

2007-01-01T02:46:00.001-05:00

Truth is contradictory; if it is not contradictory then it is not truth! Bhagvad Gita is full of contradictions. You can understand it only if you see it in totality.

At one point, Krishna tells Arjuna that action is the most important thing and without action one will be nowhere. But after that He tells him that action is all right but knowledge is better! Then Krishna says, ‘‘You must become a yogi and drop everything around you.’’ Then Krishna tells him: ‘‘He is intelligent who sees ‘action’ in ‘inaction’ and ‘inaction’ in ‘action’.’’ What does this mean? It means even if you don't do something you have acted — simply by ‘not doing’. Read More ...

Error "System.Web.HttpException: Maximum request length exceeded"

2006-12-31T11:37:00.000-05:00

I have come across this error multiple times at work. This problem occurs because the default value for the maxRequestLength parameter in the section of the Machine.config or Web.Config file is 4096 (4 megabytes). As a result, files that are larger than this value are not uploaded by default. Read the solution...

Export GridView Data in MS-Excel

2006-12-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

In the following example, I will demonstrate how to export GridView Data into MS-Excel using VB.NET. It uses the same business object to select data from database. I have simply formatted the GridView control from previous example. Read the example ...

The Four Wives

2006-12-02T11:52:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, there lived a king who had four wives.

He adored his fourth queen so much that he always used to gift her with loads of ornaments and other such adornments. She was inseparable from the king and a perpetual accompaniment wherever he went.

He also loved his third wife a lot - he guarded her richness and grandeur against the evil eyes of then neighboring kings and others.

He loved his second wife so much that he shared all his thoughts especially with her. But unfortunately he never loved his first queen - he ignored her very presence and enjoyed with the other queens.

Days passed by and one day it so happened that the king fell terribly sick and the best of the physicians in the kingdom and the world could find a cure. It was certain that he was staring at his end and he was on his final days.

He calls his fourth queen over and sadly says "Look, I am on my deathbed and will leave this world anytime now. When I was hale and hearty, I used to take you everywhere that I went. Will you accompany me when I leave to the other world?" To his utter shock, the Queen refused to do so and made it abundantly clear that it was unreasonable for the king to expect this and she would not like to give up her life for him. Though shocked, he did not lose hope; he calls his third queen and poses the same question to her. The shock was greater, she refuses to accompany him and moreover she replied that she would remarry after his death and continue to lead a happy life. The king was crestfallen at this outrageous reply from his dearest queens but again rests his hopes on the second queen. He looks at her and she pretends to be sympathetic to him and replies, "O dear, when you die, I cannot accompany you" and justifies this decision saying, "Your last rites will be performed as per the scriptures and I will take the responsibility to ensure this"

The king realized the reality at this fag end of his life. He realized the bitter truth that no one would accompany him nor would be available during his final days. While he was brooding over this fact, his first wife says, "O sweetheart, I am with you wherever you go. Don't you worry that you will have to make this last journey alone" The king was surprised and then realized that she was the true wife who loved him for what he was - not his riches not even his health. But his regret was that it was too late to make amends and shower her with his love.

Yes...like this king, we all have four wives.

The fourth wife is our body - a physical commodity that burns into ashes or disintegrates back to the earth at the end. The third wife is the wealth that we earn which would be shared and become property of others after our death. The Second wife is the relatives and friends who can only remain with us till the cemetery or crematorium. The First wife is the one which remains in our heart, the Divine or God, which remains with us in all our births and rebirths. It saves us from grief at the later stages if we adopt our spiritual practices and be devoted to the divine during our younger years.

Surya Namaskara - Sun Salutation

2006-11-11T11:16:00.000-05:00

Surya Namaskar, or the Sun Salutation is composed of a series of twelve yoga postures performed in sequence. Last five yoga postures are basically repetition of first five yoga asanas in reverse order. Click on the picture for bigger view.

Surya Namaskar was not a formal part of traditional Hatha Yoga, but it has so much value that it has been now accepted as a part of Hatha Yoga. It is generally now used as a warm-up exercise before the asana practice. If there is a shortage of time, just Surya Namaskar practice provides substantial benefit.

It is typically performed in the open air, facing the sun, at sunrise. For each of the postures, there is a particular breathing pattern to be followed inhalation for the backward bends and exhalation for the forward bends. For each posture a particular mantra of the sun has to be chanted.

Posture, Breath, and corresponding Mantra

Pranamasana (Prayer Pose) - Normal Breath - Om Mitraaya Namaha

Hasta Uttanasana (Raised Arms Pose) - Inhale - Om Ravaye Namaha

Padahastasana (Toe Touch Pose) - Exhale - Om Suryaaya Namaha

Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian Pose) - Inhale - Om Bhaanve Namaha

Parvatasana (Mountain Pose) - Exhale - Om khagaaya Namaha

Ashtanga Namaskara (Salute with eight limbs) - Hold breath - Om Pooshney Namaha

Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)- Inhale - Om Hiranayagarbhaaye Namaha

Parvatasana (Mountain Pose) - Exhale - Om Mareechaye Namaha

Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian Pose)- Inhale - Om Adityaaya Namaha

Padahastasana (Toe Touch Pose) - Exhale - Om Savitre Namaha

Hasta Uttanasana (Raised Arms Pose)- Inhale - Om Arkaaya Namaha

Pranamasana (Prayer Pose) - Exhale - Om Bhaaskaraaya Namah

Minimum Rounds

One round of Sun Salutation consists of two sequences, the first leading with the right foot in positons 4 and 9, the second leading with the left. Hands must be in one place from positons 3 to 10 and movements should match with the breathing. It is good to start by practicing four rounds and gradually build up to twelve rounds.

Benefits of Surya Namaskara

It activates digestion and gets rid of constipation and dyspepsia.
Strengthens abdominal muscles.
Thoroughly ventilates the lungs, and oxygenates the blood.
Tones up the nervous system and improves memory.
Promotes sleep and calms anxiety.
Normalizes the activity of the endocrine glands - especially the thyroid gland.
Refreshes the skin. Prevents Skin disorders.
Improves muscle flexibility.
Prevents loss of hair and graying.
Helps reduce fat.
Reduces abnormal prominence of the Adam's apple.
Eliminates unpleasant smells from the body.
Lends grace and ease of movements to the body.
Revives and maintains the spirit of youthfulness.
Broadens chest and beautifies arms.
Makes the spine and waist flexible.
Produces health, strength, efficiency and longevity.
In women, stimulates the breasts to help firmness normally. Restores any lost elasticity, through stimulation of glands and the strengthening of pectoral muscles. Suppresses menstrual irregularity and assists in easy childbirth.

Who should NOT do Surya Namaskara?

Pregnant women should not practice.
Patients of Hernia and high blood pressure.
People suffering from back conditions.
Women should avoid Surya Namaskara during menses.

People Responsible for Your Birth

2006-11-01T00:06:00.000-05:00

Each of us on this planet earth is proud of our own identity. Some are identifying on the basis of their race, skin color, religion, culture, community, rich, and poor. Some people are creating groups based on life style etc. But have we ever thought that how many people were born over generations to just create YOU? They could be from diverse backgrounds.

This curiosity came in my mind and I opened MS-Excel and did simple math and it was mind boggling. Can you imagine that 4 Trillion people were born in last 1000 years in 41 generations to bring YOU on this earth today? These people became part of your family tree over period of time but never existed all at once. Just to remind you that the current world population is only 6.5 billion.

It is really interesting. So, I thought to post this information so that you can see from your eyes and realize this fact. If I committed any mathematical error please let me know.

Assumption: Let’s say you were born in year 2000, parents in 1975, grand parents in 1950 and the chain continues at a constant difference of 25 years. So here is the worksheet (click on the picture for bigger view) :

This information leads me to think many things, some questions are –

1. Am I really different from the person next to me?
2. How many times I was re-born to support my current birth?
3. How many people came and gone in such a short span of time?

We're All Cracked Pots

2006-10-31T11:29:00.000-05:00

A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. I am ashamed of myself, and because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.

The bearer said to the pot, Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side that's because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them.

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. Don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness we find our strength.

Source : Sent by a friend

Basic Yoga for Daily Life

2006-10-29T13:43:00.000-05:00

I had stared doing Asanas on my own through reading the books. But for many years I always struggled in deciding as how many Asanas I should do everyday for a healthy life. According to scripture there are more than 8 million Asanas. So, it is impossible for an individual to do all the Asanas everyday. So I decided to do research and talk to experienced Yoga teachers. And finally, a teacher from one of the best schools of yoga suggested me that just 12 basic postures brings out the essence of all major Asanas.

Everyday Challenge

In our today’s life, we always face the shortage of time. Many of us want to do Asanas everyday but due to shortage of time, we put it off. I am sure that some other friends have the same challenge of deciding how many Asanas they should do everyday? So, I thought to put this information together.

Basic Positions

Asanas are generally performed in four different positions –

Standing
Sitting
Supine
Prone

So for the simplicity I created four different categories. And then, I have chosen 5 Asanas for each position. These Asanas includes those 12 basic postures.

Please note that the Asana at number 0 (Zero) in each position must be performed in the beginning and at the end of each Asana of the respective category. It provides rest and relaxation for each pose.

Standing Position
0. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
1. Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation)
2. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
2. Vrikshasana (Tree Pose)
4. Veeraasna (Warrior Pose)
5. Sirshasana (Headstand Pose)

Note: Sirshasana involves sitting and standing upside down. But for simplicity I have put it under Standing Position.

Sitting Position
0. Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
1. Padmasana (Lotus Pose)
2. Vajrasana (Diamond Pose)
3. Gomukhasana (Cow-face Pose)
4. Paschimothanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
5. Ardha Matsyendrasana (Spinal twist)

Supine Position
0. Shavasna (Corpse Pose)
1. Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)
2. Halasana (Plow pose)
3. Matsyasana (Fish pose)
4. Chakrasana (Wheel pose)
5. PavanMuktasana (Wind Relieving Pose)

Note: Chakrasana is performed in four different ways using Standing, Suspine and Prone. The simplest way is to do in Supine Position, however performing in Standing Position is an ideal way to do.

Prone Position
0. Makarasana (Frontal Corpse)
1. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
2. Shalabhasana (Locust Pose)
3. Noukasana (Boat Pose)
4. Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)
5. Mayurasana (Peacock Pose)

Note: Noukasana is also performed in Supine Position. Noukasana in Prone position is also called Superman pose.

If there is a shortage of time, then I choose the following five Asanas:

Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation)
Chakrasana (Wheel pose)
Mayurasana (Peacock Pose)
Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)
Halasana (Plow pose)

If there is really no time for five Asanas, then I just choose Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation).

-----Always End With Shavasna (Corpse Pose) ----------

Key Mantra

It does not matter how many postures you were able to do, but the essential part is how many postures you were able to do naturally and correctly. If an Asana is not done correctly then it will not yield the complete benefit.

The Word Hindu and India

2006-10-28T16:21:00.000-05:00

The word 'Hindu' is NOT a Sanskrit word. Numerous scholars say it is not found in any of the Vedic literature. So it is important to know how such a name can truly represent the Vedic culture. And without the Vedic literature, there is no basis for “Hinduism.” Similarly, the name ‘India’ did not come from any Indian language or culture. So let’s find out their origin.

Origin of the word Hindu

Most scholars feel that the word “Hindu” was developed by outsiders, invaders who could not pronounce the name of the Sindhu River properly. Sindhu was the original name for a great river in north-west India. When invaders from Persia came across this river, they pronounced it ‘Hindu’. Because in Persian, the ‘S’ is pronounced as ‘H’. Eventually from ‘Hindu’, the second ‘h’ disappeared. So from ‘Sindhu’ the word ‘Hindu’ evolved. It described a geographical area. Today the word ‘Hindu’ represents people who follow Sanatan Dharma (Eternal religion based on Vedic knowledge). However later, it became to represent the people of ‘Hindu’ – Sthan. ‘Sthan’ means land. From this evolved the word ‘Hindustan’. It is very important to mention that word Hindustan does not mean only the land of Hindus but all the people of India who live east of the Sindhu River, which is called Hindustan or Bharat.

Origin of the word India

Some sources report that it was Alexander the Great who first renamed the River Sindhu as the Indu, dropping the beginning “S”, thus making it easier for the Greeks to pronounce. This became known as the Indus. This was when Alexander invaded India around 325 B.C. His Macedonian forces thereafter called the land east of the Indus as India, a name more frequently used especially during the British regime.

Thereafter, even the Indians conformed to these standards as set by those in power and used the names Hindu, Hindustan and India. Otherwise, the word has no meaning except for those who place value on it or now use it out of convenience.

Some other names of India

Aryavrata - Land of Aryans
Ajnabh khand - Named on the king Aj - Grandfather of Lord Ram
Hindustan – As discussed above from the word Sindhu
Hind - Short form of Hindustan - First used by Netajee
Bharat – Named on the king Bharat – Official Hindi name
India – Name mostly used by British - Official English name

Types of Karma

2006-10-27T00:12:00.000-05:00

What is Karma?

The word Karma came from Sanskrit word “Kri”, it means “to do”. Karma means not only action, but also the result of an action. The consequence of an action is a part of the action, and cannot be divided from it. Karma is a neutral, self-perpetuating law of the inner cosmos.

Thus, Karma refers to

Any act or deed
The principle of cause and effect
A consequence or "fruit of action” or "after effect" which sooner or later returns upon the doer. What we sow, we shall reap in this or future lives

According to Vedas - "Here they say that a person consists of desires. And as is his desire, so is his will. As is his will, so is his deed. Whatever deed he does, that he will reap."

The concept of Karma is central in Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. Breathing, thinking, talking, seeing, hearing, eating, etc., are Karmas. Thinking is mental Karma. Karma is the sum total of our acts both in the present life and in the preceding lives.

The innumerable Karmic Seeds we produce by our various actions - desire, aversion, love, hatred, happiness, etc. will undoubtedly produce, sooner or later, a positive or negative result according to the nature of the seed, if not in this life, then in some future one.

All living creatures are bound to perform some act or Karma. Even if someone decides not to do anything, in reality an act is being performed in form of doing nothing and hence its result will be accordingly.

Types of Karma?

Karma can be divided in three parts:

Sanchita Karma (Acquired Karma): In Sanskrit it means – “The accumulated consequence of an individual’s actions in present and past lives.” This is the storage of all karma or sum of all karmas which can be referred as total cosmic debt, in which every moment either an individual is adding or reducing Karma.

Following five aspects of our life are governed by Sanchita Karma :

Birth, place of birth and our parents
Education and line of education
Wealth and source of wealth
Longevity and illnesses
Death, place of death and mode of death

This karma also refers to the psychological, mental subconscious tendency which determines the propensities for psychological and physical illnesses, particular kinds of obstacles, and a natural habit or tendency to behave in particular way.

For example, you have no control over your birth or death but it happens based on your Karma. As time passes Sanchita Karma takes the form of Prarabhada Karma and yields its results. It is very complex to predict that which Karma will yield exactly what result but as a general rule of thumb “As you sow so shall you reap.”

Prarabdha Karma (Present Karma) – In Sanskrit it means – “Action that has been unleashed or aroused.” It also refers to the action which manifests now. This is the portion of Sanchita Karma which was earned in the past and it is already in action now. This Karma you can not erase, you have to go through it, because it is already in process. You have no freedom to make any changes to it. This is already yielding the result and thus we have no control to make any changes.

Agami Karma (Approaching Karma): In Sanskrit it means –“Actions that has to come.” The Karma or the actions that are now going to be done which will give their results later in future. Some of Agami Karmas bear fruit in the current life; others are stored for future births in form of Sanchita Karma.

There is a freedom in choosing an action here but Agami Karma is influenced by our old tendencies and habits from Sanchita Karma and Prarabdha Karma. If an indivisual is fully aware of his actions he can choose the good Karma which will yield the good result in future.

Some of the following aspects of our life are governed by Agami Karma :

Growth of Wealth
Growth of Knowledge
Social life
Marriage
Children

Mode of Karma

There are mainly three ways an indivisual performs Karma. You perform your acts or deeds every moment in your life through following ways

Manasa - Mind
Vaachaa - Speech
Karmana - Actions

Can we erase our Karma?

Karma is infinite. Every habit is sort of Karma. Each Karma has a limited time bound affect. The result can be good or bad based on an individual's perception. Being aware of the tendencies may help to overcome the tendencies. But, Karma which has already yielded the result or in process of yielding the result can not be changed or erased. It means Prarabdha Karma is inevitable and should be suffered and endured.

Spiritual Masters say, you can erase your Sanchita Karma through spiritual practices - prayer, meditation and selfless service. And, Agami Karma can be erased through awareness. Only a meditative state of mind does not incur any Karma; and it becomes a witness of every act without any entanglement.

Thus, Karma can be erased only by knowledge (not the information) in form of awareness and spiritual practices, which helps us to make right choices when we act.

What if we do not erase?

As most of us do. Either we do not care what we do or due to lack of awareness or ego stay in the trap of the vicious cycle of Karma. Some part of Agami Karma becomes Sanchitra Karma for future. Then, portion of Sanchita Karma becomes Prarabdha Karma and starts yielding the result and at the same time we perform new actions towards Agami Karma and thus we are forced into the cycle of birth and death till we pay all the dues of our total cosmic debt.

Why some good people face bad things in their life?

A person may be very good from all his acts in present life, but you never know what he did in his previous life (lives).

Understanding 3-Tier vs. 3-Layer Architecture

2006-10-21T12:37:00.000-05:00

The terms tier and layer are frequently used interchangeably, but actually there is a difference between them: Tiers indicate a physical separation of components, which may mean different assemblies such as DLL, EXE etc on the same server or multiple servers; but layers refers to a logical separation of components, such as having distinct namespaces and classes for the Database Access Layer (DAL), Business Logic Layer (BLL) and User Interface Layer (UIL). Therefore, tier is about physical separation and units of deployment, and layers are about logical separation and units of design.

Creating a multi tier project design is more suitable and advisable to mid to large-size projects, whereas a good multi-layered design is suitable for small to mid-size projects.

Let’s understand this difference more closely with my earlier posts on “Developing 3-Tier Application in .NET 2.0”. In reality this example is 3-layer architecture because all the layers are logically separated but stay in one code. Following are the namespaces of each layer

1. Vishwa.Example.Data
2. Vishwa.Example.Business
3. Vishwa.Example.WebSite1

The final DLL contains all the above layers: Vishwa.Example.WebSite1

Now, let’s think how to build the same project in true 3-tier architecture. For simple understanding, each layer will be moved to a separate project and thus creating following three dlls. These dlls can stay on the same machine or different servers.

1. Vishwa.Example.Data.dll
2. Vishwa.Example.Business.dll
3. Vishwa.Example.WebSite1.dll

But, by just moving the code of each layer into a separate project will not work, because first and foremost issue is: each layer depends on other layer, so you can not compile one project without other one and here you are in catch 22 situation.

So you will require changes into current design. Also, if you are not planning to keep all the layers in the same folder of your application, then another big issue- how to refer and communicate with each layer’s object. Here is some approach you can take for each layer to convert into a tier model.

Literally, create a separate project for each layer.
For Database Access Layer and Business Logic Layer ASP.NET Web Services or .NET Remoting can be used. If you can use .NET 3.0 Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Services, that will be great, they seem to me like Web Services but more powerful, secure and flexible than Web Services.
User Interface Layer will stay as ASP.NET Web Site but some changes will be required for invoking or calling Business Objects. However, existing BLL and DAL layers will be removed from current project.
Additionally, I will recommend using Microsoft Enterprise Library - Application Blocks for .NET 2.0. This library can help you to build a robust application, it provides solutions to common development challenges such as data access, logging and user interface etc. You can find more information at http://msdn.microsoft.com/practices
By using (Web) Services, you will move one step towards Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), which is becoming more popular now in enterprise application development.

You must be wondering why did I use the word 3-Tier instead of 3-layer?

First of all most of the time people are searching on key words like 3-Tier rather 3-Layer. Word 3-tier architecture is most frequently used but heavily misused in IT industry. So it is easier to bring people to the information they are looking for and then educate them as what exactly it means.

Needless to say that it was easier for me to take a simple example for 3- layer architecture design and explain each layer step by step. Developing a true multi tier approach may look like over killing of the sample project. I may write one sometime in future:).

Developing 3-Tier Application in .NET 2.0 – Part 3

2006-10-18T22:17:00.000-05:00

In this section, I will connect Business Logic Layer (BLL) to Data Access Layer and then User Interface Layer (UIL) to Business Logic Layer (BLL).

Note: If you are developing an enterprise application please see my next article on “Understanding 3-Tier vs. 3-Layer Architecture”. Read More

Developing 3-Tier Application in .NET 2.0 – Part 2

2006-10-15T08:52:00.000-05:00

In this section, I will show you how to connect Data Access Layer(DAL) to previously designed database customer table in Part -1. But in order to access the database we will require connection string, so let's define the connection string called “LocalSqlServer” in web.config file. Read More

Developing 3-Tier Application in .NET 2.0 – Part 1

2006-10-14T13:57:00.000-05:00

This is an example for creating a 3-tier web application. You can add additional tier to the base design but a traditional 3-tier app mainly refers the following:

1. Database Access Layer (DAL)
2. Business Logic Layer (BLL)
3. User Interface Layer (UIL)

I will take a very simple example of a customer table which contains only three columns: Customer ID (auto generated), Customer Name (max 50 characters) and Customer address (max 100 characters) and Customer Date of Birth a DateTime field. Read More

User Management in Admin Role

2006-10-14T08:29:00.000-05:00

Some friends have asked me that how I activate user’s account on my web site. I would like to show you my admin area, which will provide you an idea as how it works.

Site Management

Account Management

Here, I can search an account or list all accounts. For each user account I have created two options – Edit or Delete. In order to approve an account, I have to edit a user, to assign a role and then approve.

Edit User Account

Here, I can create a new role other than Administrator and Friends, but do not require right now.

Alternative Option

If you do not wish to build your User Interface and would like to add new users in a role and approve it automatically then you can add following few lines of code to automatically assign a role and approve an account. This code will go in Register.Aspx.vb file.

Imports System.Web.Security

Protected Sub cuwCreateUserWizard_CreatedUser(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cuwCreateUserWizard.CreatedUser

Dim objUser As MembershipUser
Roles.AddUserToRole(cuwCreateUserWizard.UserName, "Friends")
objUser = Membership.GetUser(cuwCreateUserWizard.UserName)
objUser.IsApproved = True
Membership.UpdateUser(objUser)

End Sub

.NET Reporting Module using SQL Server Reporting Services

2006-10-11T21:56:00.000-05:00

I have created a generic module using ASP.NET 2.0, MS SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. This module is intended to provide a generic user interface for selecting and generating reports. You can configure its respective table for your fixed or flexible parameters for each report. It also supports end user access level security for each report and report group which is generally required for any basic reporting module. This is an independent module and can be easily plugged into any ASP.NET 2.0 application which is using SQL Server and SQL Server Reporting Services. This module can be an alternative for your web application, if you do not want to give permission to your users to access the actual Report Server of Reporting Services.

You can view reports in two different styles:
a. Drop down selection

b. Tree View selection

In this style, you can view report in configured report viewer (which you can define in web.config)

Assumptions for this Module:
1. Each Report Group Type should have the same folder name on your Report Server when you deploy. E.g. All Customized Reports should be under Customized Reports folder. It makes easier to group reports under a folder. You can create as many report group type as you want, but you will need to provide the same name in its corresponding table. Each report group type will utilize its own data source, so that it is easier to manage each report group type.

2. You must provide the same report name in corresponding table

3. You can use multiple dynamic parameters for each report. In this demo version, you can specify STORE_ID, USER_ID, GETDATE() Key words, which will internally get translated as used with session values of corresponding variables. E.g. In fixed parameter of report master table StoreNo=STORE_ID&CustDate=GETDATE() . You can also specify BETWEEN and IN keywords for range purpose.

You can download this package from http://www.ebizztech.com/Solutions.aspx

Uses and configuration information are provided in its downloadable zip file. Please feel free to contact me. I can provide more specific information if you require. Your feedback and questions are most welcome.

Spiritual meaning of Swastika

2006-10-07T11:09:00.000-05:00

The word “swastika” comes from the Sanskrit word Svastika. The true meaning is given as

Su - means good,
asti - means “to be”,
ik – means “what is in existence, and will continue to exist “
a – denotes feminine gender

So, Swastika simply means 'let good-prevail' and not to be destroyed and remains in a good condition. Its deeper meaning is permanent victory. In the context of the cultural origins of the swastika, this means the victory of dharma - the fundamental spiritual nature of humanity. The word Swastika also denotes blessings for everyone.

Swastika design and its direction
The swastika is an equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles, all in the same direction, usually the right, or clockwise. The swastika is a symbol of prosperity and good fortune and is widely dispersed in both the ancient and modern world. Swastika has undergone some changes in different regions and religious traditions.

The most common is the traditional Hindu Swastika with straight standing character, slightly angled individual arms and four dots inside the four squarish designs.It originally represented the revolving sun, fire, or life. The swastika is used in both direction, but in Indian culture, clockwise swastika symbolizes fortune, good health, life and progress whereas anti clockwise swastika is treated as misfortune and bad-luck.

Swastika in different cultures
Swastika symbol is found in numerous and diverse cultures around the world, including the cultures of Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. It has been prominently used and seen in India, Greece, Germany, China, Japan, United Kingdom, Argentina, France, Serbia, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Italy, Romania, Sweden, Czech, Latvia, Russia, Spain, Poland and North American countries. This symbol has religious meaning in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. However, cultures from other religions have mostly used this symbol for non- religious/spiritual purpose.

Difference between ancient Swastika and Nazi Swastika
The major difference between the ancient Swastika and the Nazi Swastika is that the Nazi swastika is at a slant (twisted by 45 degree angle), while the ancient swastika is rested flat. Because of lack of awareness, today, whenever the ancient symbol is used, it is automatically assumed by people that it is a Nazi symbol and that the people who use it are Nazis. So it is important to make people aware that swastika symbol does not belong to Nazis. The swastika existed as a symbol of good fortune thousands of years before the Nazis even existed.

Meaning and uses of Swastika
The Swastika is a sacred symbol in Indian tradition. It is the symbol of auspiciousness, prosperity, and good fortune. Hindus use the swastika to mark the opening pages of account books, thresholds, doors, and offerings. Among the Jains it is the emblem of their seventh Tirthankara. In the Buddhist tradition, the swastika symbolizes the feet or footprints of the Buddha and is often used to mark at the beginning of texts. Modern Tibetan Buddhism uses it as a clothing decoration. With the spread of Buddhism, it has passed into the iconography of China and Japan where it has been used to denote plurality, eternity, abundance, prosperity and long life. It is sometimes used in Japan to symbolize the Buddha's mind.

For Hindus, the four limbs of the swastika denote

1. Four Vedas – Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda - Symbolizing auspiciousness
2. Four goals of life - Dharma (virtue), Artha (success), Kama (pleasure) and Moksha (release) - denoting prosperity in each area
3. Four stages of life – Brahmacharya(Student), Grihasta (Householder), Vanaprastha (Retired person) and Sanyasa (Ascetic) - signifying good fortune for each stage
4. Four directions – North, South, East and West - symbolizing the Divine omnipresence
5. Four seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter - symbolizing the cyclic nature of time
6. Four Yugas (era) of the world-cycle - Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga - symbolizing the natural evolution of the universe
7. Four Varnas (social classes) – Brahmans (Priests, Teachers, and Intellectuals), Kshatriyas (Warriors, Police, and Administrators), Vaishyas (Farmers, Merchants, and Business People) and Shudras (Artisans and Workers) – symbolizing the progress and synergy among social classes
8. Four paths of Yoga – Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga - - symbolizing union with the divine

A recent experience happened with my friend made me to think and write this article to educate those people who are not fully aware of the Swastika symbol used by different cultures and traditions.

Footprints

2006-09-30T07:21:00.000-05:00

You might have read this beautiful story but I wanted to share it anyway. Here it goes...

One night a man had a dream. He dreamt he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.

This really bothered him, and he questioned the Lord about it. “LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The Lord replied, “My son, my precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

Source: Read in a book and later on the web

.NET 2.0 Email

2006-09-22T11:22:00.000-05:00

As you know .NET 1.x used System.Web.Mail namespace which was a wrapper around old CDONTS and CDOSYS dlls. Microsoft

.Net 2.0 introduces System.Net.Mail Namespace which is written from the ground up without any interop. So, it is not dependent on COM libraries.

This namespace is much more versatile than old CDO dependent System.Web.Mail. You can do a lot more in this new namespace. More features were presented in Microsoft Seminar.

For detail information you can visit http://www.systemnetmail.com

I have created an Email Component using .NET 2.0, which can be used in your Web based or Windows based application to send email. If you are just sending regular message without any attachment or authentication, then you do not need this component. You can directly use System.Net.Mail namespace and add 2 lines of code.But if you are going to use attachments and perform user authentication dynamically then you can utilize this component.

Example for Basic and Advance use is given below. I created this component before I attended the Microsoft Seminar, so I have not yet implement additional cool features for email Content such as LinkedResource, ContentLink and AlternateView etc. Not sure if everyone needs it.

Basic Email - Just 2 lines of Code (VB.NET)
You can create four text boxes on a web page for From, To, Subject and Body and then replace the hard coded values with corresponding text box text. The following code assumes that you are using the local SMTP service of the machine on which this code is running.

Private Sub SendEmail()
Dim objEMail As New System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient
objEMail.Host = "localhost" ' If you have not defined the host in web.config
objEMail.Send("From_You@YourDomain.com", "To_Friend@Domain.com", "Subject: - Testing .NET 2.0 Email", "Body: - You Got mail from .NET 2.0 NameSpace")
End Sub

Web.Config
You can define smtp mailsettings under system.net of the web.config file. If you do so, then you do not need to provide the same (as shown above) in your code.

<system.net>
<mailSettings>
<smtp deliveryMethod="network" from="you@yourdomain.com" >
<network host="mysmtpserver.net" port="25" userName="username" password="password" defaultCredentials="true/false"/>
</smtp>
</mailSettings>
</system.net>

If you are using default settings of smtp then you do not need to provide port, userName, password and defaultCredentials value. In case of secure authentication, you will need to provide userName, password and set the defaultCredentials value to false.

Advanced Email - VB.NET
If You want to add an attachments, change smtp server or perform user authentication dynamically for security. Then you can use my component. You can download it from http://www.ebizztech.com/Solutions.aspx

Imports eBizzTech.Library.Communication.Email

Private Sub SendMessage()

Dim emailMsg As New EmailMessage
Dim successResult As Boolean
emailMsg.EmailTo = "friendname@company.com"
emailMsg.EmailFrom = "you@company.com"
emailMsg.EmailSubject = "Your Subject"
emailMsg.EmailMessage = "Test Message"

'---Optional -------
emailMsg.EmailCc = "someone@company.com"
emailMsg.EmailBcc = "someone@company.com"
emailMsg.IsHTMLFormat = False
emailMsg.EmailPriority = Net.Mail.MailPriority.High

' If you are using for simple email then it is optional,
' If you have not defined host name in web.config, it will use localhost by default
' You can set these values dynamically
emailMsg.MailServer = "smtpServerName"
emailMsg.MailServerPort = 25
emailMsg.EmailUser = "UserName"
emailMsg.EmailPassword = "Password"
emailMsg.IsEmailAuthorized = True

' --- Optional if no attachment
'--- You can attach as many files as you want to
emailMsg.AddEmailAttachment("C:\a.txt")
emailMsg.AddEmailAttachment("C:\x.txt")
'-----------------------------------------
' Send Email now

successResult = SendEmail(emailMsg)

If successResult Then
Response.Write("Mail Sent Successfully.")
Else
Response.Write("Mail Could not be sent.")
End If

End Sub

Understanding Yoga

2006-09-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

Yoga is a Sanskrit word, it is derived from the root word 'Yuj', which means to unite. It refers to the union with the divine by integration of mind, body and spirit. The history of yoga can be traced back to Rig Veda. Rig Veda is one of the four texts which are the basic foundation of Sanatan Dharma (Eternal Religion), now commonly known as Hindu religion. Veda means knowledge and Rig Veda is the world's oldest known text of any Indo-European language. The knowledge of Vedas was preserved in India for more than 10,000 years by oral tradition alone and was not put in writing until 1700 BCE.

The knowledge of Yoga in Vedas is known as Vedic Yoga. Vedic Yoga was envisioned by Vedic seers of the Angirasa (father of Brihaspati) and Bhrigu families. The most important seven seers were Vasishta, Vamadeva, Bharadvaja, Gritsamada, Vishvamistra, Kanwa and Atri. The Vedas contain a comprehensive key to cosmic evolution as well as to human spiritual unfolding and unlocking of all the laws of the universe. According to Vedas, there are three types of Yoga, they are:

1. Mantra Yoga – Manifestation of divine word - creative vibration of “Om” – Rig Veda
2. Prana Yoga – Manifestation of the energy of consciousness through Pranayama - Yajur Veda
3. Dhyana Yoga – Yoga of meditation – Sama Veda

The complete knowledge of Yoga was again given by Lord Krishna (3228 BCE) in Bhagavad Gita. Later, one branch of Yoga was further expanded by Patanjali (2 BCE) in Patanjali Yoga Sutra and Swami Svatmarama (15 CE) in Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Krishna taught mainly four paths of yoga. Any one path of yoga is sufficient for an individual to get connected to the divine, if practiced with dedication and sincerity. They are:

1. Karma Yoga - Yoga of action
2. Jnana Yoga - Yoga of knowledge
3. Bhakti Yoga -Yoga of devotion
4. Raj Yoga - Yoga of meditation

Patanjali mainly focuses on Raj Yoga which was earlier described by Lord Krishna. He provided eight “limbs” of Yoga practice. They are:

1. Yama – Principles
2. Niyama – Personal disciplines
3. Asana – Yogic positions or postures
4. Pranayama – Yogic breathing
5. Pratyahara – Withdrawal of the senses
6. Dharana – Concentration on object
7. Dhyana – Meditation
8. Samadhi – Super-conscious state leading to salvation

Today, Raj Yoga is more popular in its Hatha Yoga form. Hatha Yoga means forceful yoga or Yoga by force. Swami Swatmarama provided the knowledge of Hatha Yoga based on his own yogic experiences which include:

1. Asana - Yogic positions or postures
2. Pranayama - Breathing exercises
3. Chakras - Nexus of Metaphysical and/or biophysical energy
4. Kundalini - Coiled up energy originating from base of the spine
5. Bandhas – Binding of energy from leaking out
6. Kriyas – Literal meaning is action, but different school of yoga defines it differently e.g. Sudarshan Kriya
7. Shakti – Potential to produce or use energy
8. Nadis – Literal meaning is nerves, veins constitutes channels of flow of vital force
9. Mudras – Gestures made with the hand or fingers (Just imagine Buddha)

Most individuals generally define Yoga as Asana or fitness exercises which are nothing but the first step of Hatha Yoga. No matter if you are just doing yoga-asana, but the most important thing is you have to be regular in practice to experience the benefits. It does not matter whatever time you can allocate from your daily life, it can be 30 minutes or an hour; you must be as regular as you brush your teeth.

I have mostly practiced Yoga in the form of Asana for more than 20 years now and based on my experience I can say that modern medicine has its own value and place but continuous practice of yoga can keep a person healthy at mind, body and spiritual level without any side affects.