Yoga
All you wanted to know about Yoga.
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Yoga has been written about in
the Hindu mythological literature on many
occasions. Some of the compilations are used till
today and are published and discussed in various
ways. The main ones are:
Bhagwad Gita: Bhagwad Gita
is a part of the epic Mahabharata. It describes
the sequence when just before the war Arjuna feels
uncomfortable and reluctant to go into the war as
the enemies were all members of his extended
family. Lord Krishna advises him against having
any cowardly feelings and preaches to him the
importance of right effort under any kind of moral
or social dilemma. This is indeed the essence of Karma
Yoga. Bhagwad Gita is till date the oldest
work of Hindu mythological origin. It describes
various forms of Yoga, most of which are practiced
till date. These branches of Yoga are mainly Karma
Yoga, Gyana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raj
Yoga, Kundalini Yoga and Tantra Yoga.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Originally
propounded by Maharishi Patanjali between 100 BC
and 200 AD, this work remains of interest even
today. This fact can be proven by seeing the
number of commentaries given by various people in
the field of Yoga on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,
most of which are available in the forms of books
in the marketplace. The reason for this popularity
could be that Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are based
on bodily exercises and meditation. He emphasizes cittavritti
nirodha or control of mental fluctuations
through Yoga. Patanjali calls his form of
Yoga as Ashtang Yoga owing to the eight limbs of
the entire system. But according to the most
frequently used definitions it comes closer to Raj
Yoga because of the approach to meditation. These
became very acceptable eight branches and are used
till date by the practitioners of Hatha Yoga
also.
- Yama: Cleansing the mind consciously
from the five vices of violence, dishonesty,
theft, impure sexual thoughts, and unnecessary
possessions.
- Niyama: Observation of five rules of
purity, austerity, satisfaction, study and
surrender to God.
- Asana: Refers to the seated position
during meditation. In the advance stages all the
postures of Hatha Yoga are also covered.
- Pranayama: Prana means breath
that unites the body into a chord of vitality
and vigour. These are basically breathing
exercises to cleanse the system and provide the
necessary oxygen to each and every part of the
body.
- Pratyahara: This refers mainly to
the process of redirecting the sense organs
inwards as against their normal outwardly
orientation.
- Dharana: This refers to
concentrating whole attention on a single
object.
- Dhyana: This refers to intense
concentration on the inner reality and cutting
off from the external distractions temporarily.
- Samadhi: Attaining a state of
complete unison with the supreme consciousness.
This is also the state of complete liberation.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika: It is
the compilation made first by Swami Swatmarama. He
has identified the body to be used as tool for
mental purification as opposed to the approach of
Maharishi Patanjali who says that mind has to be
developed first through meditation and then the
knowledge should be utilized by the body to
energize and ultimately liberate itself. Hatha
Yoga Pradipika emphasizes the importance of
various asanas. In the Western world many
people consider this as the essence of Yoga
because the various bodily postures give physical
health and vitality, but the exploration and
development of the mind is never reached. Hatha
Yoga has influence of Tantric Yoga
substantially on it.
There are various other
compilations. Due to their ancient nature and not
enough archiving done, many of them may have been
lost during the years. Sri Tirumalai
Krishnamacharya has done the only known
translation of Yogayajnavalikya Samhita.
He has also reconstructed the Yog Rahasya
propounded by Rishi Nathmuni, for which no records
were available. There are various texts and
books available on Yoga these days. Most of them
deal with one branch of Yoga or the other. There
are very few compilations that give complete
knowledge of Yoga. Another very important feature
is that Yoga emphasizes the role of a teacher or
guru who can impart the knowledge in unselfish and
useful way with all explanations. So just reading
a few books is not enough as complete knowledge is
essential in this field. Many of the books available are
in the form of commentaries of practitioners of
Yoga and Yogic gurus. These generally have heavy
influence of commentator's personal biases,
interpretations and inclinations and should not be
thought of as translations of the original works. To ease out the discrepancies
an attempt is made through this website to impart
impartial and comprehensive information in the
most comprehensible way to the people who are
making an attempt to understand the ancient
methodology of yoga
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