Yoga of history is a set of physical, mental, and spiritual activities or disciplines that originated in ancient India that attempt to control (yoke) and rest the mind, identifying a detached witness-consciousness undisturbed by the mind (Chitta) and everyday grief (Dukha). There are different schools of yoga, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and both traditional and modern yoga are practiced worldwide.
Defining yoga:
In Indian philosophical and religious traditions, defining yoga the term yoga has been defined in a variety of ways (source: Yoga#History).
| Vaisesika Sutra | 4th century BCE | “The interaction of the sense organs, the mind, and objects produces pleasure and misery. When this does not happen, there is no joy or grief for an embodied person because the mind resides in the self. That’s how yoga functions.” |
| Katha Upanishad | last centuries BCE | “When the five senses, as well as the mind, are still and the intellect is not operating, this is the ultimate state. Yoga is seen by them as a strict control of the senses. Then, because yoga is emerging and passing away, one is un-distracted.” |
| Bhagavad Gita | 2nd century BCE | “Allow yourself to be surprised by both achievement and failure. Yoga is the word given to this state of serenity.” (2.48) “Yoga is a display of skill.” (2.50) “Be aware that what is referred to as yoga is the separation from sadness” (6.23). |
| Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | first centuries CE | “Yoga is the slowing down of mind fluctuations/patterns,” says 1.2. chitta vritti nirodhah. 1.3. The Seer’s essential and fundamental character is then established. 1.4. Assimilation (of the Seer) occurs in conjunction with changes in other states (of the mind). |
Yoga Theory
The origins of yoga can be divided into two categories. This worldview is primarily embraced by Hindu scholars, according to author Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle. According to the linear model, yoga has Vedic origins, as evidenced by the Vedic textual corpus, and was inspired by Buddhism. Yoga is a synthesis of indigenous, non-Vedic, and Vedic elements, according to the synthesis model; this paradigm is widely acknowledged in Western academics.
Yoga First Mentioned
Yoga is stated in various Hindu scriptures and was first mentioned in the Rigveda. The Katha Upanishad, which was most likely composed between the fifth and third centuries BCE, has the word “yoga” with the same meaning as the present term.
Throughout the fifth and sixth century BCE, yoga evolved as a systematic study and practice in ancient India’s ascetic and Sramaa movements. Yoga philosophy became recognized as one of Hinduism’s six orthodox philosophical schools (Darsanas) in the second century CE, when Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the most comprehensive treatise on Yoga, were written in the early years of the Common Era. Between the ninth and eleventh centuries, hatha yoga literature, which originated in tantra, began to emerge.
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The meaning of the word yoga (Etymology)
The Sanskrit noun yoga is derived from the root yuj, which means “to attach, unite, harness, or yoke” in English. The word “yoga” comes from the English word “yoke.” The word “yoga” was originally employed in a hymn of the Rigveda, a worship to the rising Sun-god, where it was translated as “yoke” or “control,” according to Mikel Burley. [note]
The name yoga can be derived from one of two roots, according to Paini (th century BCE): yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samdhau (to yoke) (“to concentrate”). In the context of the Yoga Sutras, traditional interpreters feel that the root yuj samdhau (to concentrate) is the correct derivation.
Vyasa (the first commentator on the Yoga Sutras) explains that yoga means samadhi, according to Paini (concentration). Kriyyoga is a term used in the Yoga Sutras to describe yoga’s “practical” aspect: “connection with the ultimate” in daily actions. A yogi is a person who does yoga or believes in the idea of yoga with zeal; a female yogi is known as a yogini.
Yoga of history:
Yoga originate from which country? The origins of yoga are explained by two primary ideas. According to the linear model, yoga has Vedic origins (as evidenced by Vedic scriptures) and has influenced Buddhism. Hindu intellectuals are largely in favor of this model. Yoga is a synthesis of indigenous, non-Vedic traditions with Vedic elements, according to the synthesis model. In Western academia, this model is favored.
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Yoga was initially mentioned in the early Bhagavad Gita of the first millennium BCE, with expositions later appearing in Jain and Buddhist scriptures between 500 and 200 BCE. Traditions of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophy began to emerge between 200 BCE and 500 CE; teachings were collected as sutras, and a philosophical system known as Patanjaliyogasastra emerged. A number of yoga satellite traditions arose during the Middle Ages. During the mid-nineteenth century, it and other components of Indian philosophy were brought to the notice of the educated Western public.
Origination of yoga
Yoga’s origins can be traced back to northern India for over 5,000 years. Yoga was initially recorded in ancient religious texts such as the Rig Veda. The Vedas are a compilation of four sacred Sanskrit books that date back thousands of years.
Yoga is said to have been performed since the beginning of time. Yoga science has been around for thousands of years, even before the first religions or belief systems emerged. In yogic literature, Shiva is considered as the first yogi, or Adiyogi, as well as the first Guru, or Adi Guru.
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Linear model
According to Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, Hindu researchers prefer a linear theory that tries “to interpret the origin and early development of Indian contemplative practices as a sequential growth from an Aryan genesis”;[note] traditional Hinduism considers the Vedas to be the source of all spiritual knowledge. Authors that accept Indigenous Aryanism, according to Edwin Bryant, also support the linear model.
Synthesis model
Heinrich Zimmer advocated for India’s non-Vedic eastern states as part of the synthesis model. Yoga is part of a non-Vedic system that includes the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, Jainism, and Buddhism, according to Zimmer: “[Jainism] does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India [Bihar] – being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sank The Ramaa movement, according to Richard Gombrich and Geoffrey Samuel, began in non-Vedic Greater Magadha.
Sources
- History of Yoga: Yoga Book (Sri Ananda)
- The Origins of Yoga and Tantra (Geoffrey Samuel)
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