The history of the yoga tradition is a fascinating story about human endeavors into transcendence. This story was developed centuries ago, and humanity keeps writing it.
Yoga in the Indus Valley Civilization?
Some people believe yoga has been around for 5000 years, practiced since Indus-Valleys’ Civilisation. This belief, or sometimes over-claim, is based on the excavation of seals and figurines from Harappa’s and Mohenjodaro’s sites.
The most famous seal is called Paśupati Seal, or Proto-Śiva Seal, which depicts a person sitting in a meditative pose, surrounded by animals. While the figurines depict asana-like poses.
Of course, these archaeological heritages are tempting to make us believe that the yoga tradition was practiced in that era.
But, the fact is, we don’t know for sure. Not yet. The figures have been interpreted in many ways, and not all relate to yoga. While the Indus Valley script has not yet been deciphered. We don’t even know for sure if it is a script at all.
Yoga in the Vedic Period
After the Indus Valley Civilization, the Indo-Aryan Civilisation and Vedic Period arises in India. The People from this civilization is called The Aryan, or noble one. They passed down the oldest scriptures known to humanity, the Rig Veda.
The Rig Veda is probably composed between c. 1500 to 1000 BCE. Long before it was written, it was around as an oral tradition.
The discourse about yoga is NOT yet found in The Rig Veda. The word yoga in this text refers to conjoining a chariot to horses, mainly for battle purposes. No spiritual, philosophical, or practical association is attached to it.
But in the Rig Veda, we found an interesting hymn dedicated to sages called The Keśin. They are depicted with long dreadlock hair and wearing yellow cloth. The Keśins are wanderers who said to ride the winds and drink some liquor with Rudra. Their characteristics resemble modern-day’s sadhus of India. This Keśin is maybe a depiction of ascetic tradition from that era.
Even though the Rig Veda is not yet describing yoga, it is believed that the Vedic Mantras were heard by the Rishis during their “meditation,” which is why the Vedas are considered non-human origins but divine revelation. So this could also mean that yoga as some kind of meditative practice was present at that time.
Yoga in The Upaniṣad
Around 1000 years after Rig Veda, the literature called the Upaniṣads was composed. The Upaniṣads, or more precisely the Principal Upaniṣads, is a group of texts written from 700-200 BCE to the beginning of the century era.
It is in this text that the discourses related to yoga begin to be recorded in the literature, along with philosophical discourses that later became mainstream in every school of Hinduism, such as Ātman, Brahman, Karma, Mokṣa, Subtle body, prāṇa, channels, etcetera.
Since the Upaniṣads have been written over centuries, the discourses presented are also developing. Scholars also argue that within a single Upaniṣad, sometimes can be found ideas that were added much later.
The earliest definition of yoga is written in the Katha Upaniṣad, where yoga is defined as “the control of the senses.”
There are references to pratyāhāra and prāṇāyāma in The Chāndogya Upaniṣad, as well as a series of channels of the heart (hṛdaya-nāḍī) in which contemplative processes take place. Then The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad describes a meditation yoga (dhyānayoga) that leads to the understanding of the nature of divinity (deva), the self (ātman), and power (śakti).
And then the first systematized form of yoga, known as The Yoga of Six Limbs, later became popular within The Tantric Tradition, is described in the Maitrī Upaniṣad, a principal Upaniṣad from the early 1st millennium BCE, regardless if the Yoga of Six Limbs is originated in the Maitrī Upaniṣad, or add into it from another tradition.
The Śramaṇa Movement
Around the Upaniṣad Period, India also developed various ascetic traditions that were collectively called The Śramaṇas – with diverse philosophical views and practical approaches.
The Śramaṇa is an ascetic group that developed independently from Vedic orthodoxy. They are known for practicing various tapas, that are still present in modern-day India, such as; raising one hand for a lifetime, standing on one foot for years, and more.
This is the ascetic group that was once joined by Siddhartha Gautama before his enlightenment. Later, Buddhism becomes one of the Śramaṇa groups along with Jainism, Ajivikas, etc.
Other than Buddhist Pali Literature, another early source for the Śramaṇa is Alexander’s account of his time in India, where he met the Śramaṇa ascetics.
According to scholars, yoga is developed within this tradition. As well as several ideas that later become mainstream in Hindu Tradition such as saṃsara and mokṣa.
Yoga in The Epics
The Four Vedas are known as Śruti, meaning revealed texts that are not originated from the human mind but are revealed by the divine through the Rishis.
As opposed to those texts are textual corpus known as the Smṛti – traditional texts. Among the texts are The Epics, including Mahābhārata, Ramayana, and the Puranas. The Epic is a rich source for yoga tradition, both in the didactic and narrative forms. But primarily, we will talk about The Mahābhārata, stories of the Great Bharatas dating from 400-200 BCE.
The Mahābhārata is divided into 18 Books or Parva. The famous Hindu Scripture, The Bhagavad Gītā, is sections from the 6th Book of Mahābhārata.
Other than the Bhagavad Gītā, there are also other sources for yogic teachings in the Mahābhārata, such as in the section from the 12th Book (Śanti Parva), called Mokṣadharma, the section from the 5th Book (Udyoga Parva) called Sanatsujatiya, and sections from 14th Book (Ashvamedhika Parva) called Anugītā, literally means continuations of the Gītās.
Yoga in Mokṣadharma
In his dialogue with King Janaka, Sage Vasiṣṭha defines yoga as ekāgrata (focused attention) and prāṇāyāma (breath control). These two components of yoga are also referred to as coarse (saguṇa) and subtle (nirguṇa) aspects of yoga; breath control is coarse, while concentration is the subtle aspect of yoga.
One of the goals of doing yoga, as expressed in Mahābhārata, is to attain supernatural powers; from the ability to walk on the wind to the ability to make others bend to our will; from how to force the gods to give us boons, to how to enter other people’s bodies. However, it has been stated several times that these powers are not recommended to be used or pursued.
Another goal of Yoga in Mahābhārata is associated with “the way of dying” or melting into light. This way of dying is equated with mokṣa (union with Brahman). For example, Droṇa, who entered the state of yoga, melted into light (after hearing that his only child had died in the war). This narrative seems to have survived much later when speaking of mokṣa as associated with “melting into light.”
In a practical sense, Yoga in Mahābhārata is divided into 4 sections; the first is the moral and behavioral codes. The codes consist of things to do, such as meditation, study, honesty, humility, patience, purity, and food hygiene. Then some things need to be avoided, such as lust, anger, greed, fear and sleep.
In Mahābhārata, Yoga involves postures, but the posture referred to is virāsana—a meditation position. Meanwhile, breathing techniques (prāṇāyāma) are mentioned, but it is not explained how to practice them.
In Mahābhārata, the terms’ yoga’ and ‘sāṁkhya’ are often used not as a philosophical system (darśana) but to refer to theory and practice respectively.
Yoga in the Bhagavad Gītā
In The Bhagavad Gītā, yoga is a general term to denote any spiritual techniques and various mental states.
The Bhagavad Gītā describes several types of yogas, such as Buddhi Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jñāna Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Dhyāna Yoga. Nevertheless, the essence of the Bhagavad Gītā is Bhakti Yoga.
More specifically, Yoga in Bhagavad Gītā is about trying to control oneself (svaprkṛti) and all its dynamics. A yogi is also called a yuktātman (one who can control himself).
Another definition of yoga (as a state of mind) is samatva – the state of contentment in pain and pleasure.