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According to the anonymous author of the Katha-Upanishad (I.2.12), the wise individual leaves behind both joy and sorrow and realizes God (deva) in the cave of the heart through the agency of what is called adhyatma-yoga, the Yoga of the inmost self. This is the contemplation of the eternal Spirit, entailing the pacification of the mind and the senses. Yet, paradoxically, the Spirit or Self cannot be realized by effort alone. As the Katha-Upanishad (I.2.23) states, it can be attained “only by the one whom it chooses.” In other words, there must be grace. The element of grace in the yogic process is emphasized by many other authorities, and it plays a leading role in Bhakti-Yoga, as first articulated in the Bhagavad-Gita.
This sacred text is the most treasured Yoga scripture in India; Mahatma Gandhi reverently called it “My Mother.” It is embedded in the Mahabharata epic, one of India's two great national epics (the other is the Ramayana, whose spirituality falls in the category of asceticism, or tapas). The Mahabharata is the story of the war between two ancient Indian tribes, the Kurus and the Pandavas. Its legendary author Vyasa weaves all kinds of spiritual teachings into his lengthy description of the events leading up to the war, the eighteen-day war itself, and the aftermath. The Bhagavad-Gita is such a teaching episode, which occurs on the morning of the first battle when Arjuna, one of the Pandava princes, refuses to fight because he has spotted teachers and friends among the ranks of the enemy. Krishna, the divine incarnation serving as his charioteer, encourages him to do his duty as a warrior in this just war, whose purpose is to reestablish the lawful kingdom and moral order. The Bhagavad-Gita is the dialogue ensuing between them.
Yogic teachings also are given in the Moksha-Dharma (Liberation Teaching) section of the twelfth book of the Mahabharata. Like the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita, they have been characterized as Epic Yoga or Preclassical Yoga and belong to varying periods extending from about 500 B.C.E to perhaps 100 C.E. During this span of time, many Upanishads containing yogic teachings were composed. The Shvetashvatara-Upanishad and the Maitrayaniya-Upanishad are especially significant.
The former work (I.3), whose curious name is apparently derived from the initiatory title of an unknown sage, speaks of the contemplative discipline (dhyana-yoga) by which the self-power of the hidden God is revealed. That God is called the Lord (isha) who supports the universe. The yogic discipline recommended involves meditative recitation of the sacred syllable om—one of the most ancient practices of Yoga. Upon stilling the mind, the initiate may experience a number of internal visions. These are merely signposts and must not be confused with the ultimate goal of Self- or God-realization.
The yogic path is more systematically treated in the Maitrayaniya-Upanishad, which contains the following passage:
This is the rule for accomplishing this [spiritual work]: breath control, sense-withdrawal, meditation, concentration, inquiry (tarka), and ecstasy (samadhi) are said to be Yoga. When seeing by means of this he sees the gold-colored maker, the Lord, the Spirit, the source of Brahma, then the sage, abandoning good and evil, makes everything unitary in the supreme Indestructible. For thus it has been said: “As birds and deer do not occupy a burning mountain, so the defects (dosha) never occupy a knower of the Absolute (brahman).” (IV.18)
Toward the end of this period in the evolution of Yoga or slightly later, perhaps around 200 C.E, Classical Yoga emerged. It was codified by Patanjali in his famous Yoga-Sutra (Aphorisms of Yoga) and became the philosophical system of Yoga par excellence. Many Sanskrit commentaries have been written on this work, which consists of no more than 195 (or, in some editions, 196) terse aphorisms (sutra). The oldest and most valuable commentary, which is attributed to Vyasa (a name meaning “compiler”), is the Yoga-Bhashya (Speech on Yoga).
In addition to Classical Yoga, there were many other yogic schools in the period following Patanjali. Whereas Classical Yoga espoused a dualistic philosophy (distinguishing between spirit and matter), virtually all these other yogic schools subscribed to the nondualist (advaita) metaphysics that has been at home in India since ancient times. They are generally referred to as Postclassical Yoga.
These nondualist yogic teachings can be encountered, for instance, in the Puranas, encyclopedic compilations containing much religious and metaphysical information. Tradition speaks of eighteen major and as many minor Puranas, though their actual number is much higher, and each of these Sanskrit scriptures includes a more or less detailed treatment of the spiritual path. The best-known work of this genre is the Bhagavata-Purana, which contains the Krishna legends and much else besides. It was composed sometime in the tenth century C.E. The name purana means “ancient” and points to the fact that the puranic heritage traces itself back to a very early age. A Purana is first mentioned in the Atharva-Veda (II.7.24), compiled some four thousand years ago, but the Puranic works known today are creations of a much later era.
A Purana-like tenth-century work is the beautifully imaginative and poetic Yoga-Vasishtha, comprising no fewer than 30,000 stanzas. This scripture promulgates nondualist Jnana-Yoga, which unfolds in seven stages. The highest stage of this Yoga is called turya-ga or “abiding in the Fourth,” the Fourth being the transcendental Self beyond the three states of consciousness—waking, dream sleep, and deep sleep.
Another mine of yogic knowledge is the body of scriptures known as the Tantras (Webs), which belong to the tradition of Shaktism (or Shakti worship). They embody the esoteric teachings of Tantrism, about which more is said in chapter 11. The word shakti means "power" and refers to the spiritual energy—visualized as a goddess—behind the manifest universe. Tantrism is concerned with enlisting that goddess energy in the yogic process. Some traditional authorities identify 192 Tantras, of which the best known are the Kula-Arnava-Tantra (Tantra of the Kula Ocean) and the Mahanirvana-Tantra (Tantra of the Great Extinction). There are also numerous Buddhist Tantras, written in Sanskrit and Tibetan.
Yoga also is an integral part of Shaivism (Shiva worship), as given in the Agamas (Traditions), which are said to number twenty-eight in all, though over two hundred are known. Yogic teachings, moreover, are contained in the Samhitas (Compendiums) of Vaishnavism (Vishnu worship). Tradition recognizes 108 Samhitas, but one scholar has compiled a list of 215 and estimated that their original number was even higher. Thus Tantras, Agamas, and Samhitas form a vast literature that is relevant to the study of Yoga but has barely been researched.
A significant development within Yoga, emerging under the influence of Tantrism, is Hatha-Yoga (Forceful Yoga), which has its own scriptures. The creation of Hatha-Yoga is intimately connected with the name of the semilegendary adept Gorakshanatha (Hindi:
Gorakhnath), who may have lived in the eleventh century C.E. He is credited with the authorship of many Sanskrit texts, but these seem to have survived only as fragments and in quotations in later works. The most important Hatha-Yoga texts are the Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika (Light on the Forceful Yoga), the Gheranda-Samhita (Compendium of Gheranda), and the Shiva-Samhita (Shiva's Compendium). The first-mentioned work is the oldest, written sometime in the fourteenth century C.E.
Besides the huge Sanskrit literature on Yoga, there are many Yoga texts in vernacular languages, notably Tamil. Particularly the poetic compositions of the South Indian Alvars (who were Vishnu worshipers) and the sixty-three Nayanmars (who were Shiva worshipers) must be mentioned. Their beautiful compositions, which speak of their heartfelt devotion to God and their longing to be united with Him, are a mainstay of South Indian Bhakti-Yoga. Perhaps the greatest Tamil work on Yoga is the Tirumandiram (Sacred Word) of Tirumular, who lived in the fifth or sixth century C.E. The Tamil literature on Yoga has barely been studied, though it contains much important and fascinating information that complements the Sanskrit scriptures.
The history and literature of Yoga cut across many traditions within Hinduism. Various yogic approaches also can be found within the independent traditions of Buddhism and Jainism. In fact, the Buddha’s “noble eightfold path” represents an early form of non-Vedic Yoga. There has been a lively osmosis between India’s three great spiritual traditions and cultures—Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. All this has created one of the most colorful and complex heritages on earth.
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