Noted Indologist Jeffrey Armstrong, who has been teaching Vedic knowledge, Yoga and Sanskrit language for the past 27 years in Canada, has said that the cure for diseases like Covid-19 lies in ancient Indian knowledge and lifestyle.
In an exclusive interview with The New Indian on the sidelines of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in Indore, the Canadian author hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “yogi” and the protector of Indians.
“He is a yogic leader. He is a real Kshatriya. Kshatriya is not someone who attacks, but someone who protects. Narendra Modi is a yogi. He reminds me of Yudhishthira, who is steady in the war. He stays calm and remembers what the goal is,” he said.
Calling Covid disease “someone’s technology gone wrong”, the Indologist said, “The solution to Covid-19 is Veda… If you want Covid to go away, stop eating junk food and drinking coca cola, beer and alcohol. If you give someone a shot to protect them but if their lifestyle is terrible, you can’t protect them,” Armstrong said, emphasising the healthy lifestyle.
Armstrong, who was awarded Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Distinguished Indologist for 2021, claimed that Covid infection has been unleashed on the world to control and dominate people.
The Canadian author, who has been practising yoga since the age of 23, said the ancient Indian practice is the only solution to live a healthy and meaningful life.
“Yoga and Vedic knowledge are crucial vitamins that are missing from the life of so many people. Yoga gives you the connection so that the light shines through us,” he said.
The Indologist also said that other languages across the world are the degradation of Sanskrit, which he said teaches “wisdom of our entire planet”.
Armstrong, who was an executive in a technology company, hailed India’s success story as “wonderful”.
“India was colonised, its wealth was stolen and it was fragmented by the British and it is still going on –more than people think. I think Bharat is doing wonderful because it has survived that chaos with dignity, and today its culture is spreading throughout the world.”
He was in Indore, the cleanest city in India, to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas which is observed to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community towards the development of India.