The term yoga can be applied to any systematic effort made by man to alleviate his spiritual thirst by the use of suitable psychosomatic exercises out of the vast inventory of methods mentioned in yoga texts and other religious documents. According to Georg Feuerstein, yoga is the generic name for the various Indian paths of ecstatic self-transcendence, or the methodical modification of consciousness to the point of liberation from the spell of the ego-personality. It is a psychospiritual technology specific to India.
The Genesis and Antiquity of Yoga
The Vedic literature bears witness to the existence of two classes of non-Brahmin magician priests in the Vedic and proto historic periods, respectively called the Vratyas and the Yatis. In classical Sanskrit, Yati denotes an ascetic. The term is derived from the root yat, to strive, to exert oneself, and is also connected with the root yam, to restrain, to subdue, to control. Etymologically, Yati can only mean a person engaged in religious exercise such as tapas, austerities and Yoga. The marble statuettes of Mohenjodaro, with head, neck and body quite erect and half-shut eyes fixed on the tip of the nose have the exact posture of one engaged in practicing Yoga. These statuettes were those of the Yatis of the proto-historic and prehistoric Indus civilization intended either for worship or as votive offerings, according to R.P.Chanda.
But the mythology, the poetry and the elaborate sacrificial rites of the Rishis made a stronger appeal to the nobility and the masses than the Yoga exercise carried on in solitude. So as Vedic religion became more and more popular, the Yatis receded into the background and were gradually reduced to the condition of the outcast religious mendicants or Vratyas. But when the growth of belief in the doctrines of transmigration and of Atman (Self), the knowledge of Self or the Absolute came to be recognized as the way to final emancipation, the Yoga of the Yatis came to its own again as a means of gaining that knowledge and gave birth to the Brahmanic order of the Sannyasins, who are Yatis par excellence and to the non-Brahmin order of the Sramanas like the Sakyaputriyas (Buddhists), the Nigranthas (Jainas), the Ajivikas and others. According to Mundaka Upanishad, the Yatis (referred to in the Rigveda as hostile to Vedic rites) are depicted as persons who had given up worldly affairs, practiced Yoga and realized Brahman.
According to R.N.Dandekar, a study of the early Veda would make it abundantly clear that the concepts relating to Yoga are quite foreign to it. The most distinctive characteristic of the Vedic religious practice was homa, while the non-Vedic religious practice was characterized by Bali, Puja and Yoga. The followers of non-Vedic cults like the Vratya cult, the Brahmacarin cult and the Muni cult had no faith in the efficacy of the Vedic rituals and as against it had developed the practices of Yoga which helped them attain magical and miraculous powers. The Vratyas are said to have practiced pranayama and other similar austerities and were instrumental in the transmission of Yoga-like knowledge. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika mentions that Hatha Yoga started from Adinath (Shiva) and then enumerates thirty five great Siddhas in all from Matsyendranatha, Goraksanatha onwards.
Yogis of Yore
Many works mention Hiranyagarbha as the proponent of Yoga. For instance Vacaspati in his commentary on the Yoga Sutra states that Yogi Yajnavalkya mentions that Hiranyagarbha was the proponent of Yoga. Ahirbudhnya Samhita states that Hiranyagarbha propounded two Yoga Samhitas, namely Nirodha Yoga and Karma Yoga. In the Mahabharata (Shantiparva) it is said that Hiranyagarbha was the ancient knower of yoga and no one else knew it. Similarly there is reference to one Jaigisavya as a great Yogi in the Mahabharata (Shalyaparva and Shantiparva), Varaha Purana and Buddhacarita. This shows that Jaigisavya was a great teacher of yoga long before the Christian era and probably had composed a work on yoga that is currently unavailable.
The doctrines of Yoga had been developed even before the Katha, Mundaka, Shvetasvatara and other Upanishads. Based on the reference to Yoga in Apastamba Dharma Sutra, P.V.Kane says that long before the 4th or 5th century B.C., Yoga as a discipline of the mind had been well developed.
Meaning of the term Yoga
The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root yuj, meaning to yoke, to join or to unite. The word Yoga occurs in the Rigveda in various senses, such as yoking or harnessing, achieving the unachieved, connection, etc. There is a great distance or gap between the meaning of the word yoga in the Rigveda and its meaning in some of the Upanishads and in classical Sanskrit. According to S.N.Dasgupta, tapas (asceticism) and brahmacharya (vows of celibacy) were regarded as the greatest virtues and as these could be achieved only by controlling one’s senses, the word yoga which was originally applied to the control of steeds began to be applied to the control of the senses.
Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
Patanjali, who composed the Yoga Sutra was not the founder of the Yoga but an editor who collected the different forms of Yoga practices, gleaned the diverse ideas that were or could be associated with Yoga, grafted them all on the Sankhya metaphysics, and gave them the form in which they have been handed down to us.
Yoga Sutra is divided into four chapters/parts, Samadhi Pada (concentration), Sadhana Pada (means of attainment), Vibhuti Pada (supernormal powers) and Kaivalya Pada (aloofness, liberation). According to S.N.Dasgupta, the last chapter/part is a subsequent addition by a hand other than that of Patanjali.
Yoga Sutra gives us an eight fold path of discipline to control the body, the senses and the mind. They are Yama (moral observances), Niyama (self-restraint or self purification by discipline), Asana (postures), Pranayama (breath control), Pratyahara (withdrawal and emancipation of the mind from the dominance of the senses and exterior objects), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (a state of trance or super consciousness or ecstasy).
Patanjali might have lived anytime between the 4th century and the 2nd century B.C. Apart from Yoga Sutra, he is said to have written Mahabhasya, a commentary on Panini’s, Astadhyayi and a medical text called the Patanjala tantra. While some scholars identify the author of Yoga Sutra and Mahabhashya as one and the same, others hold them to be different.
Commentaries on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra were written by Vyasa (4th century A.D.), king Bhoja (10th century A.D.), and Vijnanabhiksu (15th century A.D.), Vacaspati (9th century A.D.), wrote a commentary on Vyasa’s commentary on Yoga Sutra.
Yoga and Sankhya
Yoga is intimately allied to Sankhya philosophy. The Bhagavad Gita calls them one. Yoga means spiritual action and Sankhya means knowledge. Sankhya is theory and Yoga is practice. For all practical purposes, Sankhya and Yoga may be treated as the theoretical and practical side of the same system. Yoga accepts the three pramanas- perception, inference and testimony of Sankhya and also the 25 metaphysical principles. Both Sankhya and Yoga consider each individual Soul as eternal and its destiny is to become free from the influence of Prakrti and its evolutes and to remain forever as ‘Pure Intelligence’.
At the same time, there are certain points of difference between the two. The standard Sankhya finds no place for God (Ishvara) and it is frankly atheistic while Yoga finds a place for God. Another point of difference between them is that while Sankhya postulated that an intellectual understanding of the nature of Purusha and of Prakrti and the difference between the two was sufficient for the emancipation of the individual Self from the liability of rebirth, Yoga emphasized systematic training of the will and emotions.
Interpretation of the term Yoga
The term Yoga is most frequently interpreted as the union of the individual self (jivataman) with the supreme Self (Paramatman). This notion of union is valid for the schools of Yoga that are influenced by the Vedanta philosophy. However the metaphor of union does not at all fit the system of classical Yoga as formulated by Patanjali, in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, there is no mention of a union with the transcendental Reality as the ultimate target of the Yogic endeavour. Given Patanjali’s dualist metaphysics, which strictly separates the transcendental Self (Purusha) from Nature (Prakrti) and its products, this would not make any sense. Patanjali defines Yoga simply as ‘restraint in the fluctuations of mind stuff’. Bhojaraja, commentator of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, explains Yoga as being a state of complete separation of the Purusha (Self) and Prakrti (Primordial Nature). This view of Bhojaraja is in keeping with the fundamental metaphysical position of the Sankhya and Yoga philosophy. The Shandilya Upanishad mentions Yoga as one of the two ways of the cessation of the minds working and the Maha Upanishad calls Yoga ‘a method of making the mind silent’. On the other hand Yoga Yajnavalkhya defines Yoga as the union of jivatman and the Paramatman and the Vishnu Purana defines Yoga as the union of the purified mind with Brahman.
Yoga an adjunct to religion
Yoga is an adjunct to religion and has always been treated as such in India. Many of the disciplines and practices of Yoga are common to all the great religions of mankind or at least to their esoteric aspects. The main difference is that in Yoga they have been brought into a methodological system divested of other rituals. This gives to Yoga the semblance of an independent cult. Yoga is counted among the six traditional or viewpoints (darshanas) of Hinduism.
In Bhagavad Gita, Yoga is treated as a powerful means towards emancipation; as an integral and essential part of man’s religious zeal. In fact, all sects, creeds and faiths (the followers of Vedanta, Shaktas, Shaivas, Vaishnavas, Buddhists, etc.) in India depend on Yoga for the demonstration of their truths and the verification of their varied and sometimes diametrically opposed beliefs.
Types of Yoga
Yoga although one is differentiated according to practice and usage. Some late Sanskrit works like the Yogatattvopanishad and Sivasamhita speak of four Yogas viz., Mantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Laya Yoga and Raja Yoga. In Bhagavad Gita the term Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga occurs. Other forms of Yoga are Nada Yoga, Kriya Yoga and Kundalini Yoga.
Mantra Yoga: Mantra Yoga is the rhythmic repetition of a mantra (a sacred word), in front of a deity. The greatest of the mantras is the syllable of obeisance, AUM, which represents the highest and most abstract aspect of Divinity.
Hatha Yoga: Hatha Yoga aims to transform the human body to make it a worthy vehicle for Self-realization through the practice of asanas, pranayama, mudras and bandhas. The Hathayogapradipika declares Hatha Yoga to be a ladder to Raja Yoga. It also states that there can be no Raja Yoga without Hatha Yoga and vice versa. They are counterparts of each other.
Laya Yoga: The word Laya is derived from the root ‘Li ’ having two meanings, one is ‘to become dissolved’ or ‘vanish’ and another is ‘to cling’ and ‘to remain sticking’. The Laya yogins seek to meditatively dissolve themselves by clinging solely to the transcendental Self. They endeavour to transcend all memory trances and sensory experiences by dissolving the microcosm, the mind, into the transcendental Being- Consciousness Bliss.
Raja Yoga: Raja Yoga is a practical and scientifically worked out method of concentration and meditation. This method is needed more or less in every Yoga or the way to spiritualization and therefore it is regarded as the royal path, the king of Yogas. Vijnanabhikshu treats Raja Yoga and Patanjali’s Yoga as synonyms. Raja Yoga became very popular during the composition of various Yoga Upanishads.
Jnana Yoga: This Yoga is based entirely upon the monistic principles of the Advaita or non-dualistic system of the Vedanta. Its purpose is to show that subject and object are but the two expressions of one absolute Being, that God and man, the Creator and the created, are only different aspects of one universal Reality. Jnana Yoga teaches that right discrimination and proper analysis are indispensable to the acquisition of knowledge of the true Self and the Reality that underlies phenomenal objects. It also declares that the knowledge of the Self will bring to the soul the realization of absolute Truth more quickly than the practice of the Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga or Bhakti Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga: This Yoga is especially suited for those who are emotional in nature and have a highly developed feeling of love and devotion. A practitioner of Bhakti Yoga resigns himself entirely to God and surrenders his will to the will of the almighty One. Every action of his body and mind is performed simply to please God.
Karma Yoga: The central idea of Karma Yoga seems to be that we cannot remain without acting even for a short time. We have to respond to the environment. It is for the wise man, however, to respond without any choice or desire for a particular effect. A practitioner of Karma Yoga abandons attachment to the fruits of his labours and learns to work for work’s sake, keeping in mind the idea that by his work he is paying off the debt that he owes to his parents, society, country and all mankind.
Nada Yoga: Nada means sound. In this type of Yoga, the mind is fixed on Nada or Anahata sounds. Anahata literally means unbeaten or unstruck and it is a type of sound not coming from striking or beating certain things or objects but from the Anahata Chakra. By meditating on this sound the Yogi enters samadhi and attains knowledge of the Self.
Kriya Yoga: This Yoga constitutes the performance of austerities (tapas), study of scriptures (svadhyaya) and self-surrender (Isvara Pranidhana).
Kundalini Yoga: In this Yoga the Kundalini is awakened and made to rise through the six centres along the central artery of the subtle body from the Muladhara to the Lotus-of-a-thousand-petals at the top of the head where it merges into the Supreme Person. Kundalini is the consciousness (cit-shakti) which as a result of the evolutionary process of creation becomes limited as jiva (a living being). When Kundalini is aroused she proceeds to revert to her real existence as undifferentiated from the ultimate Reality. She is called Kundalini, as she is visualized as a coiled snake lying inside the lowest Chakra called Muladhara (at the base of the spine). Since cit-shakti is identified with the Goddess, the cosmic woman, Kundalini is referred to as feminine.
Patanjali Yoga vis-à-vis Hatha Yoga
According to P.V.Kane, there are really only two main systems of Yoga, namely the one expounded in the Yoga Sutra and the other dealt with in such works as the Goraksashataka and the Hathayogapradipika of Svatmarama Yogin. Briefly, the difference between the two is that the Yoga of Patanjali concentrates all efforts on the discipline of the mind, while Hatha Yoga mainly concerns itself with the body, its health, its purity and freedom from diseases. Hatha Yoga deals with processes such as Dhauti (washing the stomach), Basti (Yogic enema) and Nauli (shaking the abdomen) about which Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is silent. According to Goraksashataka and Hathayogapradipika, the main aim of asana and pranayama is to rouse the Kundalini (the vital force in a person slumbering at the base of the spine coiled like a snake) and take it through the several Chakras and the Sushumna-nadi to Brahmadvara while the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali hardly ever speaks upon Chakras and Nadis.
Yoga is a unique contribution of India to the world. Since 2015, the International Day of Yoga has been observed around the world on June 21st every year to spread awareness about the benefits of Yoga and meditation.
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Ithihas 