Nirankar Agarwal Ph.D.

Dr. Nirankar Agarwal pursued his doctoral research in medicinal chemistry related topics and obtained a PhD from University of Lucknow in 1969. After a year of post-doctoral research at K.G. Medical College in Lucknow, he worked as Research Associate in W. Germany and U.S.A., viz. University of Cologne, W. Germany (1970-1971), University of Saarbrucken, W. Germany (1971-1972), The Ohio State University (1973), University of Arizona, Tucson (1974-1977), University of Louisville (1979-1980) and University of Wisconsin, Madison (1980-85). During the course of his professional career he published a score of original research papers in medicine related fields including hormones and enzymes in reputed scientific journals. Expanding his credentials, he also obtained a degree in Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the prestigious business school of the University Of Wisconsin Madison (1984). A list of his selected publications can be found on the publication section of this website.

In his early forties, a series of events radically changed the course of his life. He arrived from USA to India and started working at Sri Aurobindo Ashram-Delhi Branch and became an ashramite. A couple of adventure camps used to be conducted at the Ashram’s Himalayan Centre at Van Niwas, Nainital by this time. Trained and supported by Km. Tara Jauhar, he gradually became fully involved with camp activity which markedly increased by a bunch of additional camps during summer and also autumn. Beginning in 1987, Sri Aurobindo National Integration Camps were also conducted, mostly at Nainital, all under the aegis of Sri Aurobindo Education Society and sponsored in part by the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India. Km. Tara Jauhar’s countrywide contacts made it easy to secure participation of adolescents & youth from across India. Encouraged by the popularity of the camps (annual participation of 2000 or more during many years), she also inspired Nirankar to prepare a book pertaining to camp activities – Keep-fit, Rock-climbing, Trekking, Community Singing, excerpts from renowned persons on Indian culture & National Integration, Character-building, Meditation, life sketches of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, etc. – which resulted in a compilation, “India, Youth and Integration” in English and Hindi. Though his involvement in camps came to an end in Nainital in 2008, he continues to help conduct a couple of yearly camps in a remote region of Odisha, namely in Kechla (Dt. Koraput) for a sister institution, Auro-Mira Service Sociey with similar activities as in Nainital camps. In addition to camp activities he was also involved in organization of several high altitude treks into the middle Himalayas: Char Dham – Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri –, Mani Mahesh, Chandertal, Kinnar Kailash and Roopkund.

He has also been editing Ashram’s monthly emagazine ‘Realization’ since its inception in 2012.

During the early and middle 1990s, while spending several months a year in USA, Nirankar got introduced to a Greek mythology based Board Game “By Jove”. The owner of Lotus Light Publications of Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, and a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother once exclaimed, “Nirankar, you know, India’s great epics can also be used to make great board games!” And that was the seed that led to the designing of the two board games: India’s Epic Mahabharata Game and India’s Epic Ramayana Game which capture the rich cultural heritage imbibed in the two great Indian Epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Myths and legends form the foundation of a culture and the board games provide an introduction to perhaps the oldest extant civilization of our planet. The games were also designed to hone the math skills – summation, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions – of younger children. Booklets provide a synopsis of the epics and genealogical charts illustrate the relationship of the characters in the games and epics. They also provide a context for the telling of tales and discussions about the ancient events and wisdom innate to the epics, and an opportunity to interact with kith & kin and peers in an entertaining way, and as a healthy alternative to the encroachment of gadgetry.

About the Ramayan Game, Sudhamahi Regunathan wrote: “… In the absence of a firm foundation in one’s own cultural heritage the impact of alien cultures may and does lead to substitution rather than assimilation… This game is to familiarise children and adults with their roots and introduce peoples of other cultures with perhaps the oldest extant civilisation… The game is well presented and colourful.” (Saying Hello to Valmiki’s epic with a board game, in The Hindu, October 2, 2000).

And about Mahabharata Game, the Yoga Journal of U.S.A. said: “INDIA’S EPIC MAHABHARATA GAME provides 22 pages of narration, a genealogy diagram, and a list of further reading to guide players along... Those up for the challenge ...”

More information about the two board games can be found on Board Games page of this website.

Nirankar has been interested in preventive healthcare since his graduate school days at University of Lucknow. Beginning with Hatha-yoga asanas in 1970, he continued to enlarge the base of his knowledge during his sojourn in Germany and USA during the 1970’s. In 1978, he joined a 3-month Yoga Instructors Course at Jammu (J&K) run by Vishawayatan Yogashram under the Ministry of Health, Govt. of India. For various reasons he left the course 2 weeks before completion but he is thankful to this day for having learned the techniques of several highly beneficial and not easily accessible shat-karma kriyas. As one example, he has taught simple jala neti (nasal cleansing with saline water) for alleviating pollen-allergy and respiratory problems. He did, however, finish a month-long Yoga Instructor’s Course of Swami Vivekanada Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana of Bengaluru in 2013 at the age of 69. In 1986 he learned vision improvement regimes based on the hypothesis of Dr. Bates of New York at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, and helped establish a similar program at the The Mother’s Integral Health Centre of Sri Aurobindo Ashram-Delhi Branch. Numerous individuals have benefitted from this program as he reveals in his ebook “Eyes & Vision; Care Relief Repair” available at Amazon Books. He himself is a signal beneficiary of this regimen as even at the age of 77, he is able to do his normal reading and computer work without glasses although eye doctors affirm that “Presbiopia …is what makes people need reading glasses when they reach their mid-fortiesc… By the mid-fifties or sixty, all focusing ability is lost and your presyopia cannot get worse.”

He also attended 5-Day International Marma Science and Therapy Training Program of Mrityunjay Mission, Haridwar (Uttarakhand), in 2016 and 2017, and has successfully used Self Marma Therapy on alleviating some of his problems and has also helped others in lessening theirs.

As an illustration of folk medicine (derived from Ayurveda perhaps) many people have been relieved of throat sore and infections, often a precursor of colds and related conditions, by sucking on black pepper corns for a day or two. In many cases, this simple routine proved to give faster and better results than the use of antibiotics.

From 1986-2008 during camp activity in Nainital, Nirankar had hands-on experience on the efficacy of homeopathic system of medicine. Van Niwas, the venue of the camps (generally over 2,000 campers annually) is located on a separate hill-top at an altitude of 7,500 feet and is about 2.5 Km. from nearest medical facility and therefore a little problematical about medical assistance. Shri K.M. Aggarwala, a devotee, was running a homeopathic medicine clinic at Sri Aurobindo Ashram-Delhi Branch and would provide medicines for cold, fever, diarrhea, sore throat, cough, stomach upset, shortness of breath, muscle pain, and many other conditions with instructions for their use. Over those 23 annual seasons, I saw that in numerous instances these medicines were more effective than other treatments. I became a believer and through practical experience knowing a little bit about this system, promote it whenever an occasion arises in addition to using it myself. Some of the great advantage of this system are that in India the medicines are available without much stricture, for many acute conditions easy to remember, at low potency almost no side-effect, and comparatively much cheaper.

Nirankar is in the process of gradually expanding simple routines for preventive care and relief in conditions of various body systems. To learn more, kindly visit the self-care health regime on Preventative Health Care page of this website.