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The History of Yoga and Its Different Philosophies

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Yoga, in today's world has become a commodity and something of a statement. Arguably India's greatest cultural export, yoga has morphed into a mass culture phenomenon. All our popular assumptions about this ancient science actually date back to the last 100 -odd years. Yoga has been subjected to reinventions for thousands of years. Yoga, today involves a complex regimen of postures (asanas) - that are either held for a long duration of time or are executed in a rapid manner - along with breath control (pranayamas). However, the ancient Hindu texts, like Bhagvad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali make no mention of body postures and breathe control. They have laid more stress on the theory and practice of meditation (dhyana).

So, what are we missing here? How did Yoga undergo such a transformation since its use in the classical scriptures? To understand this, let us have a brief look at the history of yoga.

The word Yoga was first mentioned in the oldest sacred Hindu scriptures, The Vedas. The Vedas are a collection of texts that describe rituals, hymns, mantras and songs to be used by Brahmans, or the Vedic priests. The first mention of the term yoga was found in a hymn to the Sun-God in the Rig Veda (1700-500 BCE). The Vedas were known to contain the oldest known Yogic teachings and these teachings found in the Vedas are called Vedic Yoga. This is characterized by rituals and ceremonies that strive to surpass the limitations of the mind. During the courses.onlineyoga.school of Vedic Yoga, people practiced the ritualistic way of life. Various rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices were considered as a means to connect to the spiritual world.

Pre-classical period 500-200 BCE:

The vedic priests or the Brahmanas, redefined and developed the yoga and they then documented their beliefs and practices in the Upanishads. Upanishads are a huge work that contains more than 200 scriptures. Upanishads changed the idea of ritual sacrifice of Vedas and taught the principles of sacrificing the ego through a medium of self-knowledge, action (Karma yoga) and wisdom (Jnana yoga). Upanishads also introduced the acoustic spells, most prominent amongst them being, 'OM', which is the spell of the Supreme Being.

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on Jan 04, 21