Chapter 28.3 - Introduction to the Yoga school of Philosophy

[Full title: The Six Systems—Orthodox philosophy (2): Yoga]

Yoga is the most ancient heritage of India. The word occurs in the Rgveda, the Satapatha Brahmana and the Brhadaranyakaupanisad though in different meanings. It is only in the later period that it came to mean 'to control mind and senses'. Grammatically the word can be formed from either of the roots, one meaning 'to meditate', yuj samadhau and the other 'to unite', yujir yoge. The Gita and the Arthasastra use it in both the senses. It now has come to mean in popular perception 'the control over the mental faculties', yogas cittavrttinirodhah, the way it is defined in the Yogasutra. The Yoga system had its origin with Patanjali. It is very similar to the Samkhya system. The Mahabharata describes the two as complimentary to each other. Samkhya is theory (Siddhanta), Yoga is practice (Vyavahara). According to Yoga the world is all sorrow the freedom from which is possible only through salvation, Moksa. Yoga is the means for it. Moksa is the 'unity', yoga, non-distinction between 'Being' Atman and the 'Supreme Being', Paramatman. All the systems of Indian philosophy except Carvaka accept Yoga as the means for achieving full control over body, mind and senses. The Bhagavadgita proclaims Samkhya and Yoga to be one; i.e. not different from each other; it is only the ignorant who, according to it, differentiate between the two and not the wise: samkhyayogau prthag balah pravadanti na panditah. Like Samkhya, Yoga also accepts twenty-five basic elements which include Isvara. Main Doctrines of Yoga Patanjali has divided Yoga in eight parts/paths, astangas which Karika: are summed up in the follow Belhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

Yamas yamo niyamas casanam ca pranayamas tatah param/ pratyaharo dharana ca dhyanam atmasamadhina// astangany ahur etani yoginam yogasiddhaye/ They are ten: brahmacaryam daya ksantir danam satyam akalkata ahimsa 'steyamadhurye damas ceti yamah smrtah// (Y. 3.313) Celibacy (sexual restraint), compassion, tolerance, charity, truth(fullness), lack of deceit/hypocracy, non-injury to living beings, non-stealing, sweetness/amiability, self-control are said to be the ten Yamas or anrsamsyam daya satyam ahimsa ksantir arjavam/ pritih prasado madhuryam mardavam ca yama dasall Non-cruelty, compassion, truth(fullness), non-violence, tolerance, straightforwardness, love, happiness, sweetness/ amiability, gentleness are the ten Yamas. These are compressed to the following five ahimsa satyavacanam brahmacaryam akalkata/ asteyam iti pancaite yamakhyani vratani cal/ Non-violence, non-injury to living beings, ahimsa; truth, satya; sexual restraint, brahmacarya; lack of deceit/hypocracy, akalkata; non-stealing, asteya. Niyamas ocin ago They are also five: cleanliness (external cleanliness by ablution and internal cleanliness by removal of impure thoughts), sauca; contentment (=the habit of bearing all privations of heat and cold or keeping the body unmoved), santosa, austerities (like Delhi. Digitized by

remaining silent in speech), tapas; regular study of scriptures, svadhyaya; meditation on God, to concentrate on Him, to dedicate oneself to Him, Isvara-pranidhana. Asana It means postures or modes of sitting. There are eighty-four of them. To practice them is the physical part of Yoga. Some of them are quite hard and require expert guidance. Their practice leads to strong physique and provides the cure for diseases and ailments by purging the body of impurities. This part of Yoga goes by the name Hatha Yoga. The different activities of limbs and their positions are called Mudras the best of which is the Khecari through which the tongue is turned towards the throat and the sight is fixed on a point between the eyebrows. Pranayama This denotes breathing exercises. Literally it means 'to restrain or hold the breath', prana-breath, ayama-to restrain, to suspend, to hold, in other words to control. The nose plays an important part in this. It has three stages called puraka, kumbhaka and recaka. Puraka is to inhale the breath in all its fullness (that is why the word puraka= purnataya). Kumbhaka is to suspend the breath inhaled (as if it were in a pitcher, kumbha). Recaka is to exhale the breath. Pranayama is the best exercise for the detoxification of the body. With its regular practice a person can prolong his life. The inhaling and exhaling needs to be practiced in the form of anuloma and viloma, inhaling through one side of the nose and exhaling through the other side of it. Pratyahara It means withdrawl of the organs, to exercise control over the senses, to keep the mind and the senses away from external objects.

The above five parts of Yoga have external dimensions. The rest of the three out of the eight have internal ones. They are: Dharana A This means meditative fixation, to concentrate the mind on any place or object. In this state the mind is fixed on it and does not think of any thing else. Through this stage a Yogin can go up to the stages of Dhyana and Samadhi. Dhyana This means fixing the mind on an object and repeating the same thought constantly in the mind. With this the Yoga practitioner does not have any other thought except the one on which he has fixed his mind. With that achieved, the path for self-realization gets cleared. Samadhi and adi blod After sufficient practice in Dhyana the mind acquires the capacity to steady itself. With that it becomes one with the object. That is the final stage. In this the practitioner gets transformed into that on which he has fixed his mind, tadakrticittavrttih. In it the individual self and the supreme self unite. The duality of knower and the known then gets dissolved for all times. Yoga accepts three entities, Isvara, Jiva and Prakrti. In this it is in alignment with that section of the Samkhya exponents which accepts Isvara. In Yoga view He is the efficient cause, the instrument, the nimitta-karana that brings Prakrti and Purusa together. He is free from actions, their fruit, happiness and sorrow and so on. In Samadhi stage one can realize Isvara. According to Yoga the absorption of Jiva in Isvara, in other words the union (yoga-union) of Atman and Paramatman is moksa, emancipation. Just as rivers by flowing into the ocean

turn into ocean, in the same way Jiva or Atman joins Paramatman. The individual soul then loses its identity by uniting with the Supreme One. What the Samkhya wants to achieve by means of equilibrium between the attributes, Gunas of Prakrti, the Yoga purports to achieve by means of control over the mind and the senses. Yoga Literature In 200 A.D. Patanjali wrote the Yoga-sutras which are divided in four chapters, Adhyayas called Samadhi, Sadhana, Vibhuti and Kaivalya. On the Yogasutras Vyasa wrote his Bhasya (a form of commentary where aphorisms are explained word for word with comments of its own) in 4 th cen. A.D. On this Vacaspatimisra wrote a commentary under the title Tattvavaisaradi. On the Bhasya of Vyasa Nagesabhatta of 18 th cen. wrote a commentary called Chaya. Among other works on Yoga mention could be made of the Rajamartanda of Bhoja (11 th cen. A.D.), the Yogavartika and the Yogasarasangraha of Vijnanabhiksu (16 th cen. A.D.). Vijnanabhiksu refuted Vacaspatimisra and brought the Yoga philosophy closer to the Upanisadic one. Some of the works like the Hathayogapradipika of Svatmarama put more emphasis on the Yogic exercises. There are other works on Yoga like the Goraksasataka and the Gherandasamhita whose authorship and date of composition are uncertain.