Yoga

cetic circles as the early sramana movements.[8][note 1] The

earliest accounts of yoga-practices are in the Buddhist
Nikayas.[9] Parallel developments were recorded around
400 CE in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,[10] which combines prephilosophical speculations and diverse ascetic
practices of the rst millennium BCE with Samkhyaphilosophy. Hatha yoga emerged from tantra by the turn
of the rst millennium.[11][12]

This article is about the umbrella term yoga which includes religion, philosophy, and practices. For one of the
six Hindu philosophy schools, see Rja yoga. For the popular yoga that explains and emphasizes the physical practices or disciplines, see Hatha Yoga.
For other uses, see Yoga (disambiguation).
Yoga (/jo/; Sanskrit: , Listen) is a physical,

Yoga gurus from India later introduced yoga to the

west,[13] following the success of Swami Vivekananda in
the late 19th and early 20th century.[13] In the 1980s, yoga
became popular as a system of physical exercise across
the Western world. This form of yoga is often called
Hatha yoga.
Yoga physiology described humans as existing of three
bodies (physical, subtle and causal) and ve sheets (food
sheet, prana-breath, mind sheet, intellect, and bliss)[14]
which cover the atman, and energy owing through
energy channels and concentrated in chakras.
Many studies have tried to determine the eectiveness
of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer,
schizophrenia, asthma, and heart disease.[15][16][17][18]

1 Terminology

Yogi sitting in a garden

mental, and spiritual practice or discipline, that aims to

transform body and mind. The term denotes a variety
of schools, practices and goals[1] in Hinduism, Buddhism
(including Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism[2][3][4] ) and
Jainism,[5][6][7][6] the best-known being Hatha yoga and
Raja yoga. The term yoga is derived from the literal
meaning of yoking together a span of horses or oxen,[1]
but came to be applied to the yoking of mind and
body.[1]

Statue of Shiva in Bangalore, India, performing yogic meditation

The origins of Yoga have been speculated to date back in the Padmasana posture.
to pre-vedic Indian traditions, but most likely developed
around the sixth and fth centuries BCE, in the same as- In Vedic Sanskrit, the more commonly used, literal mean1

3 SCHOOLS OF YOGA

ing of the Sanskrit word yoga which is to add, to join, meanings:[27]

to unite, or to attach from the root yuj, already had a
much more gurative sense, where the yoking or harness1. Yoga as a disciplined method for attaining a goal;
ing of oxen or horses takes on broader meanings such as
2. Yoga as techniques of controlling the body and the
employment, use, application, performance (compare
mind;
the gurative uses of to harness" as in to put something
to some use). All further developments of the sense of
3. Yoga as a name of one of the schools or systems of
this word are post-Vedic. More prosaic moods such as
philosophy (darana);
exertion, endeavour, zeal, and diligence are also
[19]
found in Epic Sanskrit.
4. Yoga in connection with other words, such as
hatha-, mantra-, and laya-, referring to traditions
There are very many compound words containing yog
specialising in particular techniques of yoga;
in Sanskrit. Yoga can take on meanings such as connection, contact, method, application, addition,
5. Yoga as the goal of Yoga practice.[27]
and performance. In simpler words, Yoga also means
"combined". For example, gu-yoga means contact
with a cord"; chakr-yoga has a medical sense of ap- According to David Gordon White, from the 5th cenplying a splint or similar instrument by means of pul- tury CE onward, the meanings of the term yoga became
[28]
leys (in case of dislocation of the thigh)"; chandr- more or less xed, but having various meanings:
yoga has the astronomical sense of conjunction of the
moon with a constellation"; pu-yoga is a grammati1. Yoga as an analysis of perception and cognition;[28]
cal term expressing connection or relation with a man,
2. Yoga as the rising and expansion of
etc. Thus, bhakti-yoga means devoted attachment in
consciousness;[29]
the monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriy-yoga
has a grammatical sense, meaning connection with a
3. Yoga as a path to omniscience;[30]
verb. But the same compound is also given a technical
meaning in the Yoga Sutras (2.1), designating the prac4. Yoga as a technique for entering into other bodies,
tical aspects of the philosophy, i.e. the union with
generating multiple bodies, and the attainment of
the Supreme due to performance of duties in everyday
other supernatural accomplishments;[31]
[20]
life
According to Pini, a 6th-century BCE Sanskrit grammarian, the term yoga can be derived from either of
two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samdhau (to
concentrate).[21] In the context of the Yoga Sutras of
Patanjali, the root yuj samdhau (to concentrate) is
considered by traditional commentators as the correct
etymology.[22] In accordance with Pini, Vyasa who
wrote the rst commentary on the Yoga Sutras,[23] states
that yoga means samdhi (concentration).[24] In other
texts and contexts, such as the Bhagavad Gt and the
Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the word yoga has been used in
conformity with yujir yoge (to yoke).[25]

3 Schools of Yoga
The term yoga has been applied to a variety of practices and methods. The well-known Hindu schools of
Yoga being Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Laya
Yoga and Hatha Yoga, but also including Jain and Buddhist practices. Yoga Sutras of Pantajali, constitute classical Ashtanga Yoga (the eight limbs), also called Raja
Yoga.[32]

3.1 Buddhism

According to Dasgupta, the term yoga can be derived

from either of two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj
Main articles: Buddhist meditation, Dhyna in Budsamdhau (to concentrate).[21] Someone who practices
dhism, Yogacara and Vajrayana
yoga or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of
commitment is called a yogi (may be applied to a male or
a female) or yogini (traditionally denoting a female).[26] Buddhist meditation encompasses a variety of
meditation techniques that aim to develop mindfulness,
concentration, supramundane powers, tranquility, and
insight.

Goal of Yoga

The ultimate goal of Yoga is moksha (liberation) though

the exact denition of what form this takes depends on
the philosophical or theological system with which it is
conjugated.
According to Jacobsen, Yoga has ve principal

Core techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist

texts and have proliferated and diversied through
teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward Enlightenment and
Nirvana.[note 2] The closest words for meditation in
the classical languages of Buddhism are bhvan[note 3]
and jhna/dhyna.[note 4] Buddhist meditation techniques

3.3

Jainism

have become increasingly popular in the wider world, Vajrayana Buddhism, founded by the Indian
with many non-Buddhists taking them up for a variety Mahasiddhas,[48] has a series of asanas and pranayamas,
of reasons.
such as tummo (Sanskrit cal )[4] and trul khor which
parallel hatha yoga.

3.2

Hinduism
3.2.4 Shaivism

3.2.1

Raja Yoga
Main articles: Shaivism, Shaiva Siddhanta and Nath

Main articles: Rja yoga and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

In Shaivism, yoga is used to unite kundalini with Shiva.[49]
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are often labelled as Rja Mahabharata denes the purpose of yoga as the experiyoga.[33] It denes yoga as citta-vtti-nirodha (the cessa- ence of uniting the individual tman with the universal
tion of the perturbations of the mind).[27] The aim is to Brahman that pervades all things.[50]
still the mind in order to reach Kaivalya, the isolation
of purusha (the motionless consciousness essence) from
prakriti (the primordial matter from which everything is 3.3 Jainism
made, including mind and emotions).[34][35] In Hinduism,
Raja yoga is considered as one of the six stika schools Main article: Jain meditation
(those which accept the authority of the Vedas)[36] of Jain meditation has been the central practice of spirituHindu philosophy.[37] Meditation is one of the keys for
Raja Yoga
3.2.2

Tantra

Main articles: Tantra, Yogi and Siddhi

Tantra is the name given by scholars to a style of meditation and ritual which arose in India no later than the
5th century CE.[38] The earliest documented use of the
word Tantra is in the Rigveda (X.71.9).[39] Tantra has
inuenced the Hindu, Bon, Buddhist, and Jain traditions
and Silk Road transmission of Buddhism that spread Buddhism to East and Southeast Asia.[40]
3.2.3

Hatha yoga

Main article: Hatha yoga

Hatha yoga, also called hatha vidy (), is a kind
of yoga focusing on physical and mental strength building
exercises and postures described primarily in three texts
of Hinduism:[41][42][43]
1. Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Svtmrma (15th century)
2. Shiva Samhita, author unknown (1500 C.E
late 17th century)

[44]

or

3. Gheranda Samhita by Gheranda (late 17th century)

Many scholars also include the preceding Goraksha
Samhita authored by Gorakshanath of the 11th century
in the above list.[41] Gorakshanath is widely considered
to have been responsible for popularizing hatha yoga as
we know it today.[45][46][47]

Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara

ality in Jainism along with the Three Jewels.[51] Meditation in Jainism aims at realizing the self, attain salvation,
take the soul to complete freedom.[52] It aims to reach
and to remain in the pure state of soul which is believed
to be pure conscious, beyond any attachment or aversion.
The practitioner strives to be just a knower-seer (Gyata-

HISTORY

Drashta). Jain meditation can be broadly categorized to 4.1.1 Pre-Vedic India

the auspicious Dharmya Dhyana and Shukla Dhyana and
Yoga may have pre-Vedic elements.[56][57]
inauspicious Artta and Raudra Dhyana.

3.4

Modern wellness

Apart from the spiritual goals, the physical postures of

yoga are used to alleviate health problems, reduce stress
and make the spine supple in contemporary times. Yoga
is also used as a complete exercise program and physical
therapy routine.[53]
While the practice of yoga continues to rise in contemporary American culture, sucient and adequate knowledge of the practices origins does not. According to Andrea R. Jain, Yoga is undoubtedly a Hindu movement for
spiritual meditation, yet is now being marketed as a supplement to a cardio routine. This scope dilutes its Hindu
identity. Contemporaries of the Hindu faith argue that
the more popular yoga gets, the less concerned people
become about its origins in history. These same contemporaries do state that while anyone can practice yoga, only
those who give Hinduism due credit for the practice will
achieve the full benet of the custom.[54]

Indus Valley Civilisation (before 1900 BCE) Some

argue that yoga originates in the Indus Valley Civilization.[62] Marshall argued in the 1920s that Several seals
discovered at Indus Valley Civilization sites depict gures in positions resembling a common yoga or meditation pose.[63] This interpretation is rejected by more recent interpretations.[64]
4.1.2 Vedic civilisation (1700-500 BCE)
According to Crangle, Indian researchers have generally favoured a linear theory, which attempts to interpret the origin and early development of Indian contemplative practices as a sequential growth from an
Aryan genesis,[65][note 6] just like traditional Hinduism
regards the Vedas to be the source of all spiritual
knowledge.[66][note 7]
Ascetic practices, concentration and bodily postures used
by Vedas priests to conduct Vedic ritual of re sacrice
may have been precursors to yoga.[69][70]

History

North-eastern India (before 500 BCE) According to

Zimmer, Yoga is part of the pre-Vedic heritage, which
The origins of yoga are a matter of debate.[55] Sug- also includes Jainism, Samkhya and Buddhism:[57]
gested origins are the Indus Valley Civilisation (26001900 BCE)[56] and pre-Vedic north-eastern India,[57] the
[Jainism] does not derive from BrahmanVedic civilisation (1500-500 BCE), and the sramanaAryan
sources, but reects the cosmology and
[58]
movement (starting ca. 500 BCE).
According to
anthropology
of a much older pre-Aryan upGavin Flood, continuities may exist between those varper
class
of
northeastern
India - being rooted in
[59]
ious traditions:
the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the
[T]his dichotomization is too simplistic,
other non-Vedic Indian systems.[71][note 8]
for continuities can undoubtedly be found
between renunciation and vedic Brahman4.1.3 Sramana movement (from 500 BCE)
ism, while elements from non-Brahmanical,
Sramana traditions also played an imporAccording to Georey Samuel
tant part in the formation of the renunciate
ideal.[59][note 5]
Our best evidence to date suggests that [yogic practice] developed in the same ascetic cirPre-philosophical speculations of yoga begin to emerge in
cles as the early sramana movements (Budthe texts of c. 500200 BCE. Between 200 BCE500 CE
dhists, Jainas and Ajivikas), probably in around
philosophical schools of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainthe sixth and fth centuries BCE.[8]
ism were taking form and a coherent philosophical system
[61]
The Middle Ages saw the
of yoga began to emerge.
development of many satellite traditions of yoga. Yoga
came to the attention of an educated western public in 4.2 Vedic period (1700-500 BCE)
the mid 19th century along with other topics of Indian
4.2.1 Textual references
philosophy.

4.1

Origins (before 500 BCE)

According to White, the rst use of the word yoga

is in the Rig Veda, where it denotes a yoke, but also a
war chariot.[74] Yoga is discussed quite frequently in the

4.3

Preclassical era (500-200 BCE)

Upanishads, many of which predate Patanjalis Sutras.[75]

The actual term yoga rst occurs in the Katha Upanishad[76] and later in the Shvetasvatara Upanishad.[77]
White states:
The earliest extant systematic account of
yoga and a bridge from the earlier Vedic uses
of the term is found in the Hindu Kathaka Upanisad(Ku), a scripture dating from about the
third century BCE[...] [I]t describes the hierarchy of mind-body constituentsthe senses,
mind, intellect, etc.that comprise the foundational categories of Smkhya philosophy,
whose metaphysical system grounds the yoga
of the YS, Bhg, and other texts and schools
(Ku3.1011; 6.78).[78]

5
are said to directly enliven the bodys inner
intelligence.[89]
According to Feuerstein, breath control and curbing the
mind was practiced since the Vedic times.,[90] and yoga
was fundamental to Vedic ritual, especially to chanting
the sacred hymns[91]

4.3 Preclassical era (500-200 BCE)

Diused pre-philosophical speculations of yoga begin to

emerge in the texts of c. 500200 BCE such as the
Buddhist Nikayas, the middle Upanishads, the Bhagavad
Gita and Mokshadharma of the Mahabharata. The terms
samkhya and yoga in these texts refer to spiritual methodologies rather than the philosophical systems which de[92]
According to David Frawley, verses such as Rig Veda veloped centuries later.
5.81.1 which reads,
Seers of the vast illumined seer yogically [yunjante] control their minds and their
intelligence[79]
show that at least the seed of the entire Yoga teaching is
contained in this most ancient Aryan text.[80]
An early reference to meditation is made in
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the earliest Upanishad
(c. 900 BCE).[note 9] In the Mahabharata yoga comes
to mean a divine chariot, that carried him upward in
a burst of light to and through the sun, and on to the
heaven of gods and heroes.[78]

4.3.1 Early Buddhist texts

Werner notes that only with Buddhism itself as expounded in the Pali Canon do we have the oldest preserved comprehensive yoga practice:
But it is only with Buddhism itself as expounded in the Pali Canon that we can speak
about a systematic and comprehensive or even
integral school of Yoga practice, which is thus
the rst and oldest to have been preserved for
us in its entirety.[9]

Another yoga system that predated the Buddhist school is

Jain yoga. But since Jain sources postdate Buddhist ones,
4.2.2 Vedic ascetic practices
it is dicult to distinguish between the nature of the early
[9]
Ascetic practices (tapas), concentration and bodily pos- Jain school and elements derived from other schools.
tures used by Vedic priests to conduct yajna (Vedic Most of the other contemporary yoga systems alluded
ritual of re sacrice), might have been precursors to in the Upanishads and some Pali canons are lost to
yoga.[note 10] Vratya, a group of ascetics mentioned in the time.[93][94][note 12]
Atharvaveda, emphasized on bodily postures which probThe early Buddhist texts describe meditative practices
ably evolved into yogic asanas.[69] Early Vedic Samhitas
and states, some of which the Buddha borrowed from
also contain references to other group ascetics such as,
the ramana tradition.[96][97] One key innovative teachMunis, the Kein, and Vratyas.[83] Techniques for coning of the Buddha was that meditative absorption must be
trolling breath and vital energies are mentioned in the
combined with liberating cognition.[98] Meditative states
Brahmanas (ritualistic texts of the Vedic corpus, c. 1000
alone are not an end, for according to the Buddha, even
800 BCE) and the Atharvaveda.[69][84] Nasadiya Sukta of
the highest meditative state is not liberating. Instead of
the Rig Veda suggests the presence of an early contemplaattaining a complete cessation of thought, some sort of
tive tradition.[note 11]
mental activity must take place: a liberating cognition,
The Vedic Samhitas contain references to ascetics, and based on the practice of mindful awareness.[99] The Budascetic practices known as (tapas) are referenced in the dha also departed from earlier yogic thought in discardBrhmaas (900 BCE and 500 BCE), early commen- ing the early Brahminic notion of liberation at death.[100]
taries on the Vedas.[87] The Rigveda, the earliest of the While the Upanishads thought liberation to be a realizaHindu texts mentions the practice.[88] Robert Schneider tion at death of a nondual meditative state where the ontoand Jeremy Fields write,
logical duality between subject and object was abolished,
Buddhas theory of liberation depended upon this duality
Yoga asanas were rst prescribed by the anbecause liberation to him was an insight into the subjects
cient Vedic texts thousands of years ago and
experience.[100]

HISTORY

The Pali canon contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the palate for
the purposes of controlling hunger or the mind, depending on the passage.[101] However there is no mention of
the tongue being inserted into the nasopharynx as in true
khecar mudr. The Buddha used a posture where pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to even
modern postures used to stimulate Kundalini.[102]
4.3.2

Upanishads

Alexander Wynne, author of The Origin of Buddhist

Meditation, observes that formless meditation and elemental meditation might have originated in the UpanKrishna narrating the Gita to Arjuna.
ishadic tradition.[103] The earliest reference to meditation is in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the
oldest Upanishads.[83] Chandogya Upanishad describes tice, including meditation,[114] it introduces three promithe ve kinds of vital energies (prana). Concepts used nent types of yoga:[note 14]
later in many yoga traditions such as internal sound and
veins (nadis) are also described in the Upanishad.[69]
Karma yoga: The yoga of action.[note 15]
Taittiriya Upanishad denes yoga as the mastery of body
[104]
and senses.
Bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion.[note 16]
The term yoga rst appears in the Hindu scripture
Katha Upanishad (a primary Upanishad c. 400 BCE)
Jnana yoga: The yoga of knowledge.[note 17]
where it is dened as the steady control of the senses,
which along with cessation of mental activity, leads to the
supreme state.[83][note 13] Katha Upanishad integrates the
monism of early Upanishads with concepts of samkhya In Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains to
and yoga. It denes various levels of existence according Arjuna about the essence of yoga as practiced in daily
to their proximity to the innermost being tman. Yoga is lives:
therefore seen as a process of interiorization or ascent of
consciousness.[106][107] It is the earliest literary work that
:
highlights the fundamentals of yoga. Shvetashvatara Up
anishad (c. 400-200 BCE) elaborates on the relationship
:
between thought and breath, control of mind, and the ben
ets of yoga.[107] Like the Katha Upanishad the transcen(yoga-stha kuru karmani sanyugam tyaktv
dent Self is seen as the goal of yoga. This text also recdhananjay
ommends meditation on Om as a path to liberation.[108]
siddhy-asiddhyo samo bhutv samatvam yoga
Maitrayaniya Upanishad (c. 300 BCE) formalizes the
ucyate)
sixfold form of yoga.[107] Physiological theories of later
- Bhagavad Gita 2.48
yoga make an appearance in this text.[109][110]
While breath channels (nis) of yogic practices had
already been discussed in the classical Upanishads,
it was not until the eighth-century Buddhist Hevajra
Tantra and Carygiti, that hierarchies of chakras were
introduced.[111][112] Further systematization of yoga is
continued in the Yoga Upanishads of the Atharvaveda
(viz., ilya, Pupata, Mahvkya).[113]

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translates it as

Be steadfast in yoga (yoga-stha), O Arjuna. Perform
your duty (kuru karmani) and abandon all attachment
(sangam) to success or failure (siddhy-asiddhyo). Such
evenness of mind (samatvam) is called yoga.[119]

Madhusdana Sarasvat (b. circa 1490) divided the Gita

into three sections, with the rst six chapters dealing with
Karma yoga, the middle six with Bhakti yoga, and the
4.3.3 Bhagavad Gita
last six with Jnana (knowledge).[120] Other commentators ascribe a dierent 'yoga' to each chapter, delineatMain article: Bhagavad Gita
ing eighteen dierent yogas.[121] Aurobindo, a freedom
ghter and philosopher, describes the yoga of the Gita as
The Bhagavad Gita ('Song of the Lord'), uses the term a large, exible and many-sided system with various elyoga extensively in a variety of ways. In addition to an ements, which are all successfully harmonized by a sort
entire chapter (ch. 6) dedicated to traditional yoga prac- of natural and living assimilation.[122]

4.4
4.3.4

Classical era (200 BCE 500 CE)

Mahabharata

Description of an early form of yoga called nirodhayoga

(yoga of cessation) is contained in the Mokshadharma
section of the 12th chapter (Shanti Parva) of the Mahabharata epic. The verses of the section are dated to
c. 300200 BCE. Nirodhayoga emphasizes progressive
withdrawal from the contents of empirical consciousness
such as thoughts, sensations etc. until purusha (Self) is
realized. Terms like vichara (subtle reection), viveka
(discrimination) and others which are similar to Patanjalis terminology are mentioned, but not described.[123]
There is no uniform goal of yoga mentioned in the Mahabharata. Separation of self from matter, perceiving
Brahman everywhere, entering into Brahman etc. are all
described as goals of yoga. Samkhya and yoga are conated together and some verses describe them as being
identical.[50] Mokshadharma also describes an early practice of elemental meditation.[124]

4.4
4.4.1

Classical era (200 BCE 500 CE)

Raja yoga

Main article: Rja yoga

Traditional Hindu depiction of Patanjali as an avatar of the divine serpent Shesha.

During the period between the Mauryan and the Gupta

era (c. 200 BCE500 CE) philosophical schools of
[129][130]
The yoga school was founded
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were taking form sophical schools.
by
Patanjali.
Karel
Werner,
author of Yoga And Inand a coherent philosophical system of yoga began to
dian
Philosophy,
believes
that
the process of system[61]
emerge.
atization of yoga which began in the middle and Yoga
Upanishads culminated with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.[note 18] Scholars also note the inuence of BudSamkhya Further information: Samkhya
dhist and Samkhyan ideas on the Yoga Sutras.[131][132]
Patanjalis Yoga Sutras reminds us of Buddhist formulaSamkhya emerged in the rst century CE.[125] When tions from the Pli Canon, Sarvstivda Abhidharma and
Patanjali systematized the conceptions of yoga, he set Sautrntika.[133] The yoga school accepts the samkhya
them forth on the background of the metaphysics of psychology and metaphysics, but is more theistic than the
samkhya, which he assumed with slight variations. In the samkhya, as evidenced by the addition of a divine entity
early works, the yoga principles appear together with the to the samkhyas twenty-ve elements of reality.[134][135]
samkhya ideas. Vyasas commentary on the Yoga Sutras, The parallels between yoga and samkhya were so close
also called the Samkhyapravacanabhasya (Commentary that Max Mller says that the two philosophies were
on the Exposition of the Sankhya Philosophy), brings out in popular parlance distinguished from each other as
the intimate relation between the two systems.[126] Yoga Samkhya with and Samkhya without a Lord....[136] The
agrees with the essential metaphysics of samkhya, but dif- intimate relationship between samkhya and yoga is exfers from it in that while samkhya holds that knowledge plained by Heinrich Zimmer:
is the means of liberation, yoga is a system of active striving, mental discipline, and dutiful action. Yoga also inThese two are regarded in India as twins,
troduces the conception of god. Sometimes Patanjalis
the
two
aspects of a single discipline. Skhya
system is referred to as Seshvara Samkhya in contradis[127]
provides
a basic theoretical exposition of
tinction to Kapilas Nirivara Samkhya.
human nature, enumerating and dening
its elements, analyzing their manner of coYoga Sutras of Patanjali Main articles: Raja Yoga
operation in a state of bondage ("bandha"),
and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
and describing their state of disentanglement
In Hindu philosophy, yoga is the name of one of the six
or separation in release ("moka"), while yoga
orthodox (which accept the testimony of Vedas) philotreats specically of the dynamics of the

4
process for the disentanglement, and outlines
practical techniques for the gaining of release,
or isolation-integration (kaivalya).
[137]

Patanjali is widely regarded as the compiler of the formal

yoga philosophy.[138] The verses of Yoga Sutras are terse
and are therefore read together with the Vyasa Bhashya
(c. 350450 CE), a commentary on the Yoga Sutras.[139]
Patanjalis yoga is known as Raja yoga, which is a system
for control of the mind.[140] Patanjali denes the word
yoga in his second sutra, which is the denitional sutra
for his entire work:
: - :
(yoga citta-vtti-nirodha)
- Yoga Sutras 1.2
This terse denition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as Yoga is the inhibition (nirodha) of the modications (vtti) of the mind
(citta)".[141] The use of the word nirodha in the opening
denition of yoga is an example of the important role that
Buddhist technical terminology and concepts play in the
Yoga Sutras; this role suggests that Patanjali was aware of
Buddhist ideas and wove them into his system.[142] Swami
Vivekananda translates the sutra as Yoga is restraining
the mind-stu (Citta) from taking various forms (Vrittis).[143]

HISTORY

This eight-limbed concept derived from the 29th Sutra

of the 2nd book, and is a core characteristic of practically every Raja yoga variation taught today. The Eight
Limbs are:
1. Yama (The ve abstentions): Ahimsa (nonviolence), Satya (Truth, non-lying), Asteya (nonstealing), Brahmacharya (non-sensuality, celibacy),
and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
2. Niyama (The ve observances): Shaucha (purity),
Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (study of the Vedic scriptures to know about
God and the soul), and Ishvara-Pranidhana (surrender to God).
3. Asana: Literally means seat, and in Patanjalis Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation.
4. Pranayama (Suspending Breath): Prna, breath,
"yma, to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force.
5. Pratyahara (Abstraction): Withdrawal of the
sense organs from external objects.
6. Dharana (Concentration): Fixing the attention on
a single object.
7. Dhyana (Meditation): Intense contemplation of
the nature of the object of meditation.
8. Samadhi (Liberation): merging consciousness
with the object of meditation.
In the view of this school, the highest attainment does
not reveal the experienced diversity of the world to be
illusion. The everyday world is real. Furthermore, the
highest attainment is the event of one of many individual
selves discovering itself; there is no single universal self
shared by all persons.[144]
4.4.2 Yoga Yajnavalkya
Main article: Yoga Yajnavalkya

sayogo yoga ityukto jvtma-paramtmano
Union of the self (jivtma) with the Divine (paramtma)
is said to be yoga.
Yoga Yajnavalkya[145]

The Yoga Yajnavalkya is a classical treatise on yoga attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. It takes the form
of a dialogue between Yajnavalkya and his wife Gargi,
A sculpture of a Hindu yogi in the Birla Mandir, Delhi
a renowned female philosopher.[146] The text contains
Patanjalis writing also became the basis for a system re- 12 chapters and its origin has been traced to the peferred to as Ashtanga Yoga (Eight-Limbed Yoga). riod between the second century BCE and fourth century

4.5

Middle Ages (5001500 CE)

CE.[147] Many yoga texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika,

the Yoga Kundalini and the Yoga Tattva Upanishads have
borrowed verses from or make frequent references to the
Yoga Yajnavalkya.[148] In the Yoga Yajnavalkya, yoga is
dened as jivatmaparamatmasamyogah, or the union between the individual self (jivatma) and the Divine (paramatma).[145]

text, yoga is the sum of all the activities of mind,

speech and body.[7] Umasvati calls yoga the cause of
asrava or karmic inux[149] as well as one of the
essentialssamyak caritrain the path to liberation.[149]
In his Niyamasara, Acarya Kundakunda, describes yoga
bhaktidevotion to the path to liberationas the highest form of devotion.[150] Acarya Haribhadra and Acarya
Hemacandra mention the ve major vows of ascetics and
12 minor vows of laity under yoga. This has led certain
Indologists like Prof. Robert J. Zydenbos to call Jainism,
4.4.3 Jainism
essentially, a system of yogic thinking that grew into a
full-edged religion.[151] The ve yamas or the constraints
Main article: Jainism
According to Tattvarthasutra, 2nd century CE Jain of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali bear a resemblance to the
ve major vows of Jainism, indicating a history of strong
cross-fertilization between these traditions.[152][note 19]
Mainstream Hinduisms inuence on Jain yoga is noticed
as Haribhadra founded his eightfold yoga and aligned it
with Patanjalis eightfold yoga.[154]

4.4.4 Yogacara school

Main article: Yogacara
In the late phase of Indian antiquity, on the eve of the
development of Classical Hinduism, the Yogacara movement arises during the Gupta period (4th to 5th centuries). Yogacara received the name as it provided a
yoga, a framework for engaging in the practices that
lead to the path of the bodhisattva.[155] The yogacara sect
teaches yoga as a way to reach enlightenment.[156]

4.5 Middle Ages (5001500 CE)

Middle Ages saw the development of many satellite traditions of yoga. Hatha yoga emerged as a dominant practice
of yoga in this period.[157]

4.5.1 Bhakti movement

Main article: Bhakti Yoga

Tirthankara Parsva in Yogic meditation in the Kayotsarga posture.

The Bhakti movement was a development in medieval

Hinduism which advocated the concept of a personal God
(or "Supreme Personality of Godhead"). The movement
was initiated by the Alvars of South India in the 6th to
9th centuries, and it started gaining inuence throughout India by the 12th to 15th centuries.[158] Shaiva and
Vaishnava bhakti traditions integrated aspects of Yoga
Sutras, such as the practical meditative exercises, with
devotion.[159] Bhagavata Purana elucidates the practice
of a form of yoga called viraha (separation) bhakti. Viraha bhakti emphasizes one pointed concentration on
Krishna.[160]

10
4.5.2

4
Tantra

By the turn of the rst millennium, hatha yoga emerged

from tantra.[11][12]
Tantrism is a practice that is supposed to alter the relation of its practitioners to the ordinary social, religious,
and logical reality in which they live. Through Tantric
practice, an individual perceives reality as maya, illusion,
and the individual achieves liberation from it.[161] Both
Tantra and yoga oer paths that relieve a person from depending on the world. Where yoga relies on progressive
restriction of inputs from outside; Tantra relies on transmutation of all external inputs so that one is no longer
dependent on them, but can take them or leave them at
will. They both make a person independent.[162] This
particular path to salvation among the several oered by
Hinduism, links Tantrism to those practices of Indian religions, such as yoga, meditation, and social renunciation,
which are based on temporary or permanent withdrawal
from social relationships and modes.[161]
During tantric practices and studies, the student is instructed further in meditation technique, particularly
chakra meditation. This is often in a limited form in comparison with the way this kind of meditation is known and
used by Tantric practitioners and yogis elsewhere, but is
more elaborate than the initiates previous meditation. It
is considered to be a kind of Kundalini yoga for the purpose of moving the Goddess into the chakra located in
the heart, for meditation and worship.[163]
4.5.3

Vajrayana

Main article: Vajrayana

HISTORY

in 15th century CE. This yoga diers substantially from

the Raja yoga of Patanjali in that it focuses on shatkarma,
the purication of the physical body as leading to the purication of the mind (ha), and prana, or vital energy
(tha).[168][169] Compared to the seated asana, or sitting
meditation posture, of Patanjalis Raja yoga,[170] it marks
the development of asanas (plural) into the full body 'postures now in popular usage[171] and, along with its many
modern variations, is the style that many people associate
with the word yoga today.[172]
It is similar to a diving board preparing the body for
purication, so that it may be ready to receive higher
techniques of meditation. The word Hatha comes
from Ha which means Sun, and Tha which means
Moon.[173]
4.5.5 Sikhism
Various yogic groups had become prominent in Punjab
in the 15th and 16th century, when Sikhism was in its
nascent stage. Compositions of Guru Nanak, the founder
of Sikhism, describe many dialogues he had with Jogis, a
Hindu community which practiced yoga.[174] Guru Nanak
rejected the austerities, rites and rituals connected with
Hatha Yoga.[175] He propounded the path of Sahaja yoga
or Nama yoga (meditation on the name) instead.[176] The
Guru Granth Sahib states:
Listen O Yogi, Nanak tells nothing but the
truth. You must discipline your mind. The
devotee must meditate on the Word Divine. It
is His grace which brings about the union. He
understands, he also sees. Good deeds help one
merge into Divination.[177]

While breath channels (nis) of yogic practices had

already been discussed in the classical Upanishads,
it was not until the eighth-century Buddhist Hevajra 4.6 Modern history
Tantra and Carygiti, that hierarchies of chakras were
4.6.1 Reception in the West
introduced.[111][112]
4.5.4

Hatha Yoga

Main articles: Hatha yoga and Hatha Yoga Pradipika

The earliest references to hatha yoga are in Buddhist
works dating from the eighth century.[164] The earliest
denition of hatha yoga is found in the 11th century Buddhist text Vimalaprabha, which denes it in relation to the
center channel, bindu etc.[165] The basic tenets of Hatha
yoga were formulated by Shaiva ascetics Matsyendranath
and Gorakshanath c. 900 CE. Hatha yoga synthesizes elements of Patanjalis Yoga Sutras with posture and breathing exercises.[166] Hatha yoga, sometimes referred to as
the psychophysical yoga,[167] was further elaborated by
Yogi Swatmarama, compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika

An early illustration of Indians performing Yoga asans in 1688

Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public

in the mid-19th century along with other topics of Indian
philosophy. In the context of this budding interest, N. C.
Paul published his Treatise on Yoga Philosophy in 1851.

4.6

Modern history

11

The rst Hindu teacher to actively advocate and disseminate aspects of yoga to a western audience, Swami
Vivekananda, toured Europe and the United States in the
1890s.[178] The reception which Swami Vivekananda received built on the active interest of intellectuals, in particular the New England Transcendentalists, among them
R. W. Emerson (1803-1882), who drew on German Romanticism and the interest of philosophers and scholars like G. F. W. Hegel (1770-1831), the brothers
August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767-1845) and Karl Wilhelm
Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), Max Mueller (18231900), A. Schopenhauer (1788-1860) and others who
had (to varying degrees) interests in things Indian.[179]

2009), Swami Vishnu-devananda (1927-1993), and

Swami Satchidananda (1914-2002).[187][188][189] Yogi
Bhajan brought Kundalini Yoga to the United States in
1969.[190] Comprehensive, classical teachings of Ashtanga Yoga, Samkhya, the subtle body theory, Fitness
Asanas, and tantric elements were included in the yoga
teachers training by Baba Hari Dass (1923-), in the
United States and Canada.[191]

tures) or as a form of exercise.[185] During the 1910s and

1920s in the USA, yoga suered a period of bad publicity due largely to the backlash against immigration, a rise
in puritanical values, and a number of scandals. In the
1930s and 1940s yoga began to gain more public acceptance as a result of celebrity endorsement. In the 1950s
the United States saw another period of paranoia against
yoga,[180] but by the 1960s, western interest in Hindu spirituality reached its peak, giving rise to a great number
of Neo-Hindu schools specically advocated to a western public. During this period, most of the inuential
Indian teachers of yoga came from two lineages, those
of Sivananda Saraswati (18871963) and of Tirumalai
Krishnamacharya (18881989).[186] Teachers of Hatha
yoga who were active in the west in this period included
B.K.S. Iyengar (1918-2014), K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-

The American College of Sports Medicine supports the

integration of yoga into the exercise regimens of healthy
individuals as long as properly-trained professionals deliver instruction. The College cites yogas promotion of
profound mental, physical and spiritual awareness and
its benets as a form of stretching, and as an enhancer of
breath control and of core strength.[195]

A second yoga boom followed in the 1980s, as Dean

Ornish, a follower of Swami Satchidananda, connected
yoga to heart health, legitimizing yoga as a purely physical system of health exercises outside of counter-culture
or esotericism circles, and unconnected to any religious
Theosophists also had a large inuence on the Amer- denomination.[178] Numerous asanas seemed modern in
ican publics view of Yoga.[180] Esoteric views current origin, and strongly overlapped with 19th and early-20th
at the end of the 19th century provided a further ba- century Western exercise traditions.[192]
sis for the reception of Vedanta and of Yoga with its
theory and practice of correspondence between the spiritual and the physical.[181] The reception of Yoga and
of Vedanta thus entwined with each other and with the
(mostly Neoplatonism-based) currents of religious and
philosophical reform and transformation throughout the
19th and early 20th centuries. M. Eliade, himself rooted
in the Romanian currents of these traditions, brought a
new element into the reception of Yoga with the strong
emphasis on Tantric Yoga in his seminal book: Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.[note 20] With the introduction of
the Tantra traditions and philosophy of Yoga, the conception of the transcendent to be attained by Yogic practice
shifted from experiencing the transcendent (AtmanBrahman in Advaitic theory) in the mind to the body A group of people practicing yoga in 2012.
itself.[182]
Since 2001, the popularity of yoga in the USA has risen
The modern scientic study of yoga began with the works constantly. The number of people who practiced some
of N. C. Paul and Major D. Basu in the late 19th century, form of yoga has grown from 4 million (in 2001) to 20
and then continued in the 20th century with Sri Yogen- million (in 2011).
dra (1897-1989) and Swami Kuvalayananda.[183] West- [193]
ern medical researchers came to Swami Kuvalayanandas
Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center, start- As of 2013 some schools in the United States oppose
ing in 1928, to study Yoga as a science.[184]
the practice of yoga inside educational facilities, saying
Hinduism in violation of the Establishment
The West, in the early 21st century typically associates it promotes
[194]
Clause.
the term yoga with Hatha yoga and its asanas (pos-

4.6.2 Medicine
Main article: Yoga as exercise or alternative medicine

Potential benets for adults While much of the medical community regards the results of yoga research as

12
signicant, others point to many aws which undermine results. Much of the research on yoga has taken
the form of preliminary studies or clinical trials of low
methodological quality, including small sample sizes, inadequate blinding, lack of randomization, and high risk
of bias.[196][197][198] Long-term yoga users in the United
States have reported musculoskeletal and mental health
improvements, as well as reduced symptoms of asthma
in asthmatics.[199] There is evidence to suggest that regular yoga practice increases brain GABA levels, and
yoga has been shown to improve mood and anxiety more
than some other metabolically-matched exercises, such as
walking.[200][201] The three main focuses of Hatha yoga
(exercise, breathing, and meditation) make it benecial
to those suering from heart disease. Overall, studies of the eects of yoga on heart disease suggest that
yoga may reduce high blood-pressure, improve symptoms of heart failure, enhance cardiac rehabilitation, and
lower cardiovascular risk factors.[202] For chronic low
back pain, specialist Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs has
been found 30% more benecial than usual care alone
in a UK clinical trial.[203] Other smaller studies support
this nding.[204][205] The Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs
programme is the dominant treatment for society (both
cheaper and more eective than usual care alone) due to
8.5 fewer days o work each year.[206] A research group
from Boston University School of Medicine also tested
yogas eects on lower-back pain. Over twelve weeks,
one group of volunteers practiced yoga while the control
group continued with standard treatment for back pain.
The reported pain for yoga participants decreased by one
third, while the standard treatment group had only a ve
percent drop. Yoga participants also had a drop of 80%
in the use of pain medication.[207]
There has been an emergence of studies investigating
yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer patients.
Yoga is used for treatment of cancer patients to decrease
depression, insomnia, pain, and fatigue and to increase
anxiety control.[208] Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
(MBSR) programs include yoga as a mind-body technique to reduce stress. A study found that after seven
weeks the group treated with yoga reported signicantly
less mood disturbance and reduced stress compared to
the control group. Another study found that MBSR had
showed positive eects on sleep anxiety, quality of life,
and spiritual growth in cancer patients.[209]
Yoga has also been studied as a treatment for
schizophrenia.[210] Some encouraging, but inconclusive, evidence suggests that yoga as a complementary
treatment may help alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia
and improve health-related quality of life.[16]
Implementation of the Kundalini Yoga Lifestyle has
shown to help substance abuse addicts increase their quality of life according to psychological questionnaires like
the Behavior and Symptom Identication Scale and the
Quality of Recovery Index.[211]

HISTORY

Yoga has been shown in a study to have some cognitive

functioning (executive functioning, including inhibitory
control) acute benet.[212]

Physical injuries See also: Sports injury

Since a small percentage of yoga practitioners each year
suer physical injuries analogous to sports injuries;[213]
caution and common sense are recommended.[214] Yoga
has been criticized for being potentially dangerous and
being a cause for a range of serious medical conditions
including thoracic outlet syndrome, degenerative arthritis
of the cervical spine, spinal stenosis, retinal tears, damage to the common bular nerve, so called "Yoga foot
drop,[215] etc. An expos of these problems by William
Broad published in January, 2012 in The New York Times
Magazine[216] resulted in controversy within the international yoga community. Broad, a science writer, yoga
practitioner, and author of The Science of Yoga: The
Risks and the Rewards,[217] had suered a back injury
while performing a yoga posture.[218] Torn muscles, knee
injuries,[219] and headaches are common ailments which
may result from yoga practice.[220]
An extensive survey of yoga practitioners in Australia
showed that about 20% had suered some physical injury while practicing yoga. In the previous 12 months
4.6% of the respondents had suered an injury producing prolonged pain or requiring medical treatment. Headstands, shoulder stands, lotus and half lotus (seated crosslegged position), forward bends, backward bends, and
handstands produced the greatest number of injuries.[213]
Some yoga practitioners do not recommend certain yoga
exercises for women during menstruation, for pregnant
women, or for nursing mothers. However, meditation, breathing exercises, and certain postures which are
safe and benecial for women in these categories are
encouraged.[221]
Among the main reasons that experts cite for causing negative eects from yoga are beginners competitiveness
and instructors lack of qualication. As the demand for
yoga classes grows, many people get certied to become
yoga instructors, often with relatively little training. Not
every newly certied instructor can evaluate the condition of every new trainee in their class and recommend
refraining from doing certain poses or using appropriate
props to avoid injuries. In turn, a beginning yoga student
can overestimate the abilities of their body and strive to
do advanced poses before their body is exible or strong
enough to perform them.[216][220]
Vertebral artery dissection, a tear in the arteries in the
neck which provide blood to the brain can result from
rotation of the neck while the neck is extended. This can
occur in a variety of contexts, for example, in a beauty
shop while your hair is being rinsed, but is an event which
could occur in some yoga practices. This is a very serious

6.2

Tibetan Buddhism

13

condition which can result in a stroke.[222][223]

Acetabular labral tears, damage to the structure joining
the femur and the hip, have been reported to have resulted
from yoga practice.[224]
Pediatrics It is claimed that yoga can be an excellent
training for children and adolescents, both as a form of
physical exercise and for breathing, focus, mindfulness,
and stress relief: Many school districts have considered
incorporating yoga into their P.E. programs. The Encinitas, California school district gained a San Diego Superior Court Judges approval to use yoga in P.E., holding
against the parents who claimed the practice was intrinsically religious and hence should not be part of a state
funded program.[225]

Yoga physiology

Main article: Yoga physiology

Over time, an extended yoga physiology developed, especially within the tantric tradition and hatha yoga. It pictures humans as composed of three bodies or ve sheats
which cover the atman. The three bodies are described
within the Mandukya Upanishad, which adds a fourth
state, turiya, while the ve sheaths (pancha-kosas) are described in the Taittiriya Upanishad.[226] They are often
integrated:
1. Sthula sarira, the Gross body, comprising the Annamaya Kosha[227]
2. Suksma sarira, the Subtle body, composed of;
(a) the Pranamaya Kosha (Vital breath or Yogin with six chakras, India, Punjab Hills, Kangra, late 18th
century
Energy),
(b) Manomaya Kosha (Mind)
west, Zen is often set alongside yoga; the two schools
of meditation display obvious family resemblances.[230]
3. Karana sarira, the Causal body, comprising the This phenomenon merits special attention since yogic
Anandamaya Kosha (Bliss)[227]
practices have some of their roots manifested in the
Zen Buddhist school.[note 22] Certain essential elements of
Within the subtle body energy ows through the nadis or yoga are important both for Buddhism in general and for
channels, and is concentrated within the chakras.
Zen in particular.[231]
(c) the Vijnanamaya Kosha (Intellect)[227]

Yoga compared with other sys- 6.2 Tibetan Buddhism

tems of meditation
In the Nyingma tradition, the path of meditation practice

is divided into nine yanas, or vehicles, which are said to

be increasingly profound.[232] The last six are described
as yoga yanas": "Kriya yoga", Upa yoga, Yoga yana,
Zen, the name of which derives from the Sanskrit "Mah yoga, "Anu yoga" and the ultimate practice, "Ati
dhyaana via the Chinese ch'an[note 21] is a form of yoga.[233] The Sarma traditions also include Kriya, Upa
Mahayana Buddhism. The Mahayana school of Bud- (called Charya), and Yoga, with the Anuttara yoga class
dhism is noted for its proximity with yoga.[229] In the substituting for Mahayoga and Atiyoga.[234]

6.1

Zen Buddhism

14

YOGA COMPARED WITH OTHER SYSTEMS OF MEDITATION

Other tantra yoga practices include a system of 108

bodily postures practiced with breath and heart rhythm.
The Nyingma tradition also practices Yantra yoga (Tib.
Trul khor), a discipline that includes breath work (or
pranayama), meditative contemplation and precise dynamic movements to centre the practitioner.[235] The
body postures of Tibetan ancient yogis are depicted on
the walls of the Dalai Lamas summer temple of Lukhang.
A semi-popular account of Tibetan yoga by Chang (1993)
refers to caal (Tib. tummo), the generation of heat
in ones own body, as being the very foundation of the
whole of Tibetan yoga.[236] Chang also claims that Tibetan yoga involves reconciliation of apparent polarities,
such as prana and mind, relating this to theoretical implications of tantrism.

6.3

Christian meditation

there must be some t between the nature of [other

approaches to] prayer and Christian beliefs about ultimate reality.[237] Some fundamentalist Christian organizations consider yoga to be incompatible with their religious background, considering it a part of the New Age
movement inconsistent with Christianity.[245]
Another view holds that Christian meditation can lead to
religious pluralism. This is held by an interdenominational association of Christians that practice it. The ritual simultaneously operates as an anchor that maintains,
enhances, and promotes denominational activity and a
sail that allows institutional boundaries to be crossed.
[246]

6.4 Islam

The development of Susm was considerably inuenced

Main articles: Christian meditation, A Christian reec- by Indian yogic practises, where they adapted both physition on the New Age and Aspects of Christian meditation cal postures (asanas) and breath control (pranayama).[247]
The ancient Indian yogic text Amritakunda (Pool of
Some Christians integrate yoga and other aspects of East- Nectar)" was translated into Arabic and Persian as early
ern spirituality with prayer and meditation. This has as the 11th century. Several other yogic texts were apbeen attributed to a desire to experience God in a more propriated by Su tradition, but typically the texts juxtacomplete way.[237] In 2013, Monsignor Raaello Mar- pose yoga materials alongside Su practices without any
tinelli, servicing Congregation for the Doctrine of the real attempt at integration or synthesis. Yoga became
Faith, having worked for over 23 years with Cardinal known to Indian Sus gradually over time, but engageJoseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI),[238] said that for ment with yoga is not found at the historical beginnings
[248]
his Meditation, a Christian can learn from other religious of the tradition.
traditions (zen, yoga, controlled respiration, Mantra): As Yoga is a growing industry in Islamic countries (Two
long as the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true Bikram Yoga studios in Iran). Also, yoga is used in reand holy in these religions, we should not despise these in- gions like Palestine to help the population manage stress.
dications since non-Christian. Instead, we can collect from This article is a comparative study of yoga and Islam,
them what is useful, provided you never lose sight of the showing their similarities.[249][250][251]
Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements,
since it is within this that all these fragments must be refor- Malaysias top Islamic body in 2008 passed a fatwa, which
is legally non-binding, against Muslims practicing yoga,
mulated and assumed.../....[239] Previously, the Roman
Catholic Church, and some other Christian organizations saying it had elements of "Hindu spiritual teachings and
that its practice was blasphemy and is therefore haraam.
have expressed concerns and disapproval with respect to
teachers in Malaysia criticized the decision
some eastern and New Age practices that include yoga Muslim yoga [252]
as insulting.
Sisters in Islam, a womens rights group
[240][241][242]
and meditation.
in Malaysia, also expressed disappointment and said that
In 1989 and 2003, the Vatican issued two documents: its members would continue with their yoga classes.[253]
Aspects of Christian meditation and "A Christian reection on the New Age, that were mostly critical of east- The fatwa states that yoga practiced only as physical exbut prohibits the chanting of reliern and New Age practices. The 2003 document was ercise is permissible,
[254]
and
states that teachings such as the
gious
mantras,
published as a 90 page handbook detailing the Vaticans
uniting
of
a
human
with
God is not consistent with Is[243]
The Vatican warned that concentration on
position.
[255]
In
a
similar vein, the Council of
lamic
philosophy.
the physical aspects of meditation can degenerate into
Ulemas,
an
Islamic
body
in
Indonesia, passed a fatwa
a cult of the body and that equating bodily states with
banning
yoga
on
the
grounds
that it contains Hindu
mysticism could also lead to psychic disturbance and,
[256]
elements
These
fatwas
have,
in turn, been criticized
at times, to moral deviations. Such has been compared
Darul
Uloom
Deoband,
a
Deobandi
Islamic seminary
by
to the early days of Christianity, when the church op[257]
in
India.
posed the gnostics belief that salvation came not through
faith but through a mystical inner knowledge.[237] The In May 2009, Turkeys head of the Directorate of Reliletter also says, one can see if and how [prayer] might gious Aairs, Ali Bardakolu, discounted personal develbe enriched by meditation methods developed in other opment techniques such as yoga as commercial ventures
religions and cultures[244] but maintains the idea that that could lead to extremism. His comments were made

15
in the context of yoga possibly competing with and eroding participation in Islamic practice.[258]
As of May 2014, according to Irans Yoga Association,
Islamic Republic of Iran has approximately 200 yoga centres, a quarter of them in the capital Tehran, where groups
can often be seen practising in parks. This has been met
by opposition among conservatives.[259]

[4] See, for example, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), entry for jhna1 "; Thanissaro (1997); as well as, Kapleau
(1989), p. 385, for the derivation of the word zen from
Sanskrit dhyna. PTS Secretary Dr. Rupert Gethin, in
describing the activities of wandering ascetics contemporaneous with the Buddha, wrote:
"...[T]here is the cultivation of meditative
and contemplative techniques aimed at producing what might, for the lack of a suitable technical term in English, be referred
to as 'altered states of consciousness. In
the technical vocabulary of Indian religious
texts such states come to be termed 'meditations ([Skt.:] dhyna / [Pali:] jhna) or
'concentrations (samdhi); the attainment of
such states of consciousness was generally regarded as bringing the practitioner to deeper
knowledge and experience of the nature of
the world. (Gethin, 1998, p. 10.)

International Yoga Day

On December 11, 2014, The 193-member U.N. General

Assembly approved by consensus, a resolution establishing June 21 as 'International Day of Yoga'.

See also
Yoga physiology
List of asanas
List of yoga schools
Yoga series
International Yoga Day

Notes

[1] Buddhists, Jainas and Ajivikas[8]

[2] For instance, Kamalashila (2003), p. 4, states that Buddhist meditation includes any method of meditation that
has Enlightenment as its ultimate aim. Likewise, Bodhi
(1999) writes: To arrive at the experiential realization of
the truths it is necessary to take up the practice of meditation.... At the climax of such contemplation the mental eye
... shifts its focus to the unconditioned state, Nibbana....
A similar although in some ways slightly broader denition is provided by Fischer-Schreiber et al. (1991), p.
142: "Meditation general term for a multitude of religious practices, often quite dierent in method, but all
having the same goal: to bring the consciousness of the
practitioner to a state in which he can come to an experience of 'awakening,' 'liberation,' 'enlightenment.'" Kamalashila (2003) further allows that some Buddhist meditations are of a more preparatory nature (p. 4).
[3] The Pli and Sanskrit word bhvan literally means development as in mental development. For the association of this term with meditation, see Epstein (1995), p.
105; and, Fischer-Schreiber et al. (1991), p. 20. As an example from a well-known discourse of the Pali Canon, in
The Greater Exhortation to Rahula (Maha-Rahulovada
Sutta, MN 62), Ven. Sariputta tells Ven. Rahula (in Pali,
based on VRI, n.d.): npnassati, rhula, bhvana
bhvehi. Thanissaro (2006) translates this as: Rahula,
develop the meditation [bhvana] of mindfulness of in&-out breathing. (Square-bracketed Pali word included
based on Thanissaro, 2006, end note.)

[5] Gavin Flood: These renouncer traditions oered a new

vision of the human condition which became incorporated, to some degree, into the worldview of the Brahman householder. The ideology of asceticism and renunciation seems, at rst, discontinuous with the brahmanical ideology of the armation of social obligations and
the performance of public and domestic rituals. Indeed,
there has been some debate as to whether asceticism and
its ideas of retributive action, reincarnation and spiritual
liberation, might not have originated outside the orthodox vedic sphere, or even outside Aryan culture: that a
divergent historical origin might account for the apparent
contradiction within 'Hinduism' between the world armation of the householder and the world negation of the
renouncer. However, this dichotomization is too simplistic, for continuities can undoubtedly be found between renunciation and vedic Brahmanism, while elements from
non-Brahmanical, Sramana traditions also played an important part in the formation of the renunciate ideal. Indeed there are continuities between vedic Brahmanism
and Buddhism, and it has been argued that the Buddha
sought to return to the ideals of a vedic society which he
saw as being eroded in his own day.[60]
[6] See also Gavin Flood (1996), Hinduism, p.87-90, on
The orthogenetic theory and Non-Vedic origins of
renunciation.[55]
[7] Post-classical traditions consider Hiranyagarbha as the
originator of yoga.[67][68]
[8] Zimmers point of view is supported by other scholars,
such as Niniam Smart, in Doctrine and argument in Indian Philosophy, 1964, p.27-32 & p.76,[72] and S.K. Belvakar & Inchegeri Sampradaya in History of Indian philosophy, 1974 (1927), p.81 & p.303-409.[72] See Crangle
1994 page 5-7.[73]
[9] Flood: "...which states that, having become calm and
concentrated, one perceives the self (atman), within
oneself.[81]
[10]

Jacobsen writes that Bodily postures are closely related to the tradition of tapas, ascetic practices in
the Vedic tradition. The use by Vedic priests of

16

10

ascetic practices in their preparations for the performance of the sacrice might be precursor to
Yoga.[69]
Whicher believes that the proto-Yoga of the Vedic
rishis is an early form of sacricial mysticism
and contains many elements characteristic of later
Yoga that include: concentration, meditative observation, ascetic forms of practice (tapas), breath
control...[82]
[11]

Wynne states that The Nasadiyasukta, one of the

earliest and most important cosmogonic tracts in
the early Brahminic literature, contains evidence
suggesting it was closely related to a tradition of
early Brahminic contemplation. A close reading of
this text suggests that it was closely related to a tradition of early Brahminic contemplation. The poem
may have been composed by contemplatives, but
even if not, an argument can be made that it marks
the beginning of the contemplative/meditative trend
in Indian thought.[85]
Miller suggests that the composition of Nasadiya
Sukta and Purusha Sukta arises from the subtlest
meditative stage, called absorption in mind and
heart which involves enheightened experiences
through which seer explores the mysterious psychic and cosmic forces....[86]
Jacobsen writes that dhyana (meditation) is derived
from Vedic term dhih which refers to visionary insight, thought provoking vision.[86]

[12] On the dates of the Pali canon, Gregory Schopen writes,

We know, and have known for some time, that the Pali
canon as we have it and it is generally conceded to be
our oldest source cannot be taken back further than the
last quarter of the rst century BCE, the date of the Aluvihara redaction, the earliest redaction we can have some
knowledge of, and that for a critical history it can
serve, at the very most, only as a source for the Buddhism
of this period. But we also know that even this is problematic... In fact, it is not until the time of the commentaries
of Buddhaghosa, Dhammapala, and others that is to
say, the fth to sixth centuries CE that we can know
anything denite about the actual contents of [the Pali]
canon.[95]
[13] For the date of this Upanishad see also Helmuth von
Glasenapp, from the 1950 Proceedings of the Akademie
der Wissenschaften und Literatur[105]
[14] Flood writes, "...Bhagavad Gita, including a complete
chapter (ch. 6) devoted to traditional yoga practice.
The Gita also introduces the famous three kinds of yoga,
'knowledge' (jnana), 'action' (karma), and 'love' (bhakti).
[115]

[15] Karma yoga involves performance of action without attachment to results.[116]

[16] The yoga of devotion is similar to the yoga of action, but
the fruits of action, in yoga of devotion, are surrendered
to Krishna.[117]
[17] Jnana yoga is the path of wisdom, knowledge, and direct
experience of Brahman as the ultimate reality. The path

REFERENCES

renounces both desires and actions, and is therefore depicted as being steep and very dicult in the Bhagavad
Gita.[118]
[18] Werner writes, The word Yoga appears here for the rst
time in its fully technical meaning, namely as a systematic training, and it already received a more or less clear
formulation in some other middle Upanishads....Further
process of the systematization of Yoga as a path to the
ultimate mystic goal is obvious in subsequent Yoga Upanishads and the culmination of this endeavour is represented by Patanjalis codication of this path into a system
of the eightfold Yoga.[113]
[19] Worthington writes, Yoga fully acknowledges its debt to
Jainism, and Jainism reciprocates by making the practice
of yoga part and parcel of life.[153]
[20] Eliade, Mircea, Yoga - Immortality and Freedom, Princeton, 1958: Princeton Univ.Pr. (original title: Le Yoga.
Immortalit et Libert, Paris, 1954: Libr. Payot)
[21] The Meditation school, called 'Ch'an' in Chinese from
the Sanskrit 'dhyna,' is best known in the West by the
Japanese pronunciation 'Zen'"[228]
[22] Exact quote: This phenomenon merits special attention
since yogic roots are to be found in the Zen Buddhist
school of meditation.[231]

10 References
[1] White 2011.
[2] Chogyam Trungpa (2001) The Lions Roar: An Introduction to Tantra. Shambhala. ISBN 1-57062-895-5
[3] Edmonton Patric 2007,pali and its sinicance p. 332
[4] Lama Yeshe (1998). The Bliss of Inner Fire. Wisdom
Publications. pp. 135-141.
[5] Denise Lardner Carmody, John Carmody (1996), Serene
Compassion. Oxford University Press US. p. 68.
[6] Stuart Ray Sarbacker, Samdhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga. SUNY Press, 2005, pp. 12.
[7] Tattvarthasutra [6.1], see Manu Doshi (2007) Translation
of Tattvarthasutra, Ahmedabad: Shrut Ratnakar p. 102
[8] Samuel 2008, p. 8.
[9] Werner p. 119-20
[10] Whicher, pp. 3839.
[11] James Mallinson, Sktism and Hathayoga, 28 June
2012. <URL> [accessed 19 September 2013] pg.1
Scholarship on hathayoga, my own included, unanimously declares it to be a reformation of tantric yoga introduced by the gurus of the Nath sampradaya, in particular their supposed founder, Goraksa.

17

[12] Burley, Mikel (2000). Hatha Yoga: Its Context, Theory

and Practice. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 16. It is for
this reason that hatha-yoga is sometimes referred to as a
variety of 'Tantrism'.
[13] White 2011, p. 2.
[14] Vyas, Swami Dev (1964). Science of Soul - Atma Vijnana.
Delhi: Yoga Niketan Trust, Bharat. p. 11. PIN 249192.

[31] White 2011, p. 10.

[32] Hari Dass, Baba (1978). Ashtanga Yoga Primer. Santa
Cruz: Sri Ram Publishing. pp. bk. cover. ISBN 9780918100047.
[33] Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, London,
George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1971 edition, Volume II, pp.
1920.

[15] Smith, Kelly B.; Pukall, Caroline F. (May 2009). An

evidence-based review of yoga as a complementary intervention for patients with cancer. Psycho-Oncology 18
(5): 465475. doi:10.1002/pon.1411. PMID 18821529.

[34] Bryant 2009, p. 10.

[16] Vancampfort, D.; Vansteeland, K.; Scheewe, T.;

Probst, M.; Knapen, J.; De Herdt, A.; De Hert,
M. (July 2012).
Yoga in schizophrenia: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 126 (1):
1220.
doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01865.x.,
art.nr.
10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01865.x

[37] Changing World Religions, Cults & Occult by Jerry

Stokes

[17] Sharma, Manoj; Haider, Taj (October 2012). Yoga as an

Alternative and Complementary Treatment for Asthma:
A Systematic Review. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine 17 (3): 212217.
doi:10.1177/2156587212453727.

[40] White 2000, p. 7.

[35] Bryant 2009, p. 457.

[36] Flood 1996, pp. 82, 22449

[38] Einoo, Shingo (ed.) (2009). Genesis and Development of

Tantrism. University of Tokyo. p. 45.
[39] Banerjee, S.C., 1988.

[41] See Kriyananada, page 112.

[42] See Burley, page 73.
[43] See Introduction by Rosen, pp 12.

[18] Innes, Kim E.; Bourguignon, Cheryl (November

December 2005). Risk Indices Associated with the Insulin Resistance Syndrome, Cardiovascular Disease, and
Possible Protection with Yoga: A Systematic Review.
Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 18 (6):
491519. doi:10.3122/jabfm.18.6.491.
[19] Monier Monier-Williams. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary:
...with Special Reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German,
Anglo-saxon.. Clarendon. p. 804.
[20] Whicher, p. 67.
[21] Dasgupta, Surendranath (1975). A History of Indian Philosophy 1. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 226.
ISBN 81-208-0412-0.
[22] Bryant 2009, p. 5.
[23] Bryant 2009, p. xxxix.
[24] Aranya, Swami Hariharananda (2000). Yoga Philosophy
of Patanjali with Bhasvati. Calcutta, India: University of
Calcutta. p. 1. ISBN 81-87594-00-4.
[25] Dasgupta, Surendranath (1975). A History of Indian Philosophy 1. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 227.
ISBN 81-208-0412-0.
[26] American Heritage Dictionary: Yogi, One who practices
yoga. Websters: Yogi, A follower of the yoga philosophy; an ascetic.

[44] See translation by Mallinson.

[45] On page 140, David Gordon White says of Gorakshanath:
"... hatha yoga, in which eld he was Indias major systematizer and innovator.
[46] Bajpai writes on page 524: Nobody can dispute about the
top ranking position of Sage Gorakshanath in the philosophy of Yoga.
[47] Eliade writes of Gorakshanath on page 303: "...he accomplished a new synthesis among certain Shaivist traditions
(Pashupata), tantrism, and the doctrines (unfortunately, so
imperfectly known) of the siddhas that is, of the perfect
yogis.
[48] Davidson, Ronald. Indian Esoteric Buddhism. Columbia
University Press. 2002, pg.169-235.
[49] Larson, p. 142.
[50] Jacobsen, p. 9.
[51] Mahapragya, Acharya (2004). Foreword. Jain Yog.
Aadarsh Saahitya Sangh.
[52] Tulsi, Acharya (2004). blessings. Sambodhi. Aadarsh
Saahitya Sangh.
[53] Dupler, Douglas; Frey, Rebecca. Gale Encyclopedia of
Medicine, 3rd ed (2006). Retrieved 30 August 2012.

[29] White 2011, p. 7.

[54] Jain, Andrea R. (2012). The malleability of yoga: a

response to Christian and Hindu opponents of the popularization of yoga. Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies
25: 18. doi:10.7825/2164-6279.1510. Retrieved 25
September 2014.

[30] White 2011, p. 9.

[55] Flood 1996, p. 87-90.

[27] Jacobsen, p. 4.
[28] White 2011, p. 6.

18

10

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[56] Crangle 1994, p. 4-7.

[87] Flood 1996, p. 94.

[57] Zimmer 1951, p. 217, 314.

[88] P. 51 The Complete Idiots Guide to Yoga By Joan

Budilovsky, Eve Adamson

[58] Samuel 2010.

[59] Flood 1996, p. 77.
[60] Flood 1996, p. 76-77.

[89] Total Heart Health P. 170 By Robert H. Schneider, Jeremy

Z. Fields

[61] Larson, p. 36.

[90] P. 531 The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice By Georg Feuerstein (2002)

[62] Samuel 2008, p. 2-3.

[91] P. 538 The Yoga Tradition By Georg Feuerstein

[63] Possehl (2003), pp. 144145

[92] Larson, p. 3435, 53.

[64] Samuel 2010, p. 2-10.

[93] Douglass, Laura (2011). Thinking Through The Body:

The Conceptualization Of Yoga As Therapy For Individuals With Eating Disorders. Academic Search Premier:
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[65] Crangle 1994, p. 4.

[66] Crangle 1994, p. 5.
[67] Feuerstein, Georg (2001). The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice. Arizona, USA:
Hohm Press. p. Kindle Locations 72997300. ISBN
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[68] Aranya, Swami Hariharananda (2000). Introduction.
Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali with Bhasvati. Calcutta, India: University of Calcutta. p. xxiv. ISBN 81-87594-004.
[69] Jacobsen, p. 6.
[70] Whicher, p. 12.
[71] Zimmer 1951, p. 217.
[72] Crangle 1994, p. 7.
[73] Crangle 1994, p. 5-7.
[74] White 2011, p. 3.
[75] P. 132 A Students Guide to A2 Religious Studies for the
OCR Specication By Michael Wilcockson

[94] Datta, Amaresh (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: devraj to jyoti. Sahitya Akademi. p. 1809. ISBN
978-81-260-1194-0.
[95] Wynne, pp. 34.
[96] Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, p. 44.
[97] Barbara Stoler Miller, Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: the
Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali; a Translation of the
Text, with Commentary, Introduction, and Glossary of
Keywords. University of California Press, 1996, p. 8.
[98] Wynne, p. 92.
[99] Wynne, p. 105.
[100] Wynne, p. 95.
[101] Mallinson, James. 2007. The Khecarvidy of Adinath.
London: Routledge. pg.17-19.

[102] James Mallinson, Sktism and Hathayoga, 6 March

2012. PDF le [accessed 10 June 2012] pgs. 20-21
The Buddha himself is said to have tried both pressing
[77] P. 99 The Wisdom of the Vedas By Jagadish Chandra
his tongue to the back of his mouth, in a manner simChatterji
ilar to that of the hathayogic khecarmudr, and ukkutikappadhna, a squatting posture which may be related to
[78] White 2011, p. 4.
hathayogic techniques such as mahmudr, mahbandha,
mahvedha, mlabandha, and vajrsana in which pressure
[79] Burley, Mikel (2000). Hatha Yoga: Its Context, Theory
is put on the perineum with the heel, in order to force upand Practice. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 25. ISBN
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978-8120817067.
[76] Flood 1996, p. 95.

[80] P. 25 Haha-Yoga: Its Context, Theory, and Practice By [103]

Mikel Burley
[104]
[81] Flood 1996, p. 9495.
[105]
[82] Whicher, p. 12.

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Whicher, p. 17.
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[83] Flood, p. 9495.

[106] Whicher, p. 1819.

[84] Whicher, p. 13.

[107] Jacobsen, p. 8.

[85] Wynne, p. 50.

[108] Whicher, p. 20.

[86] Whicher, p. 11.

[109] Whicher, p. 21.

19

[110] Feuerstein, Georg (JanuaryFebruary 1988). Introduc- [134] For yoga acceptance of samkhya concepts, but with ading Yogas Great Literary Heritage. Yoga Journal (78):
dition of a category for God, see: Radhakrishnan and
705.
Moore, p. 453.
[111] White, David Gordon. Yoga in Practice. Princeton Uni- [135] For yoga as accepting the 25 principles of samkhya with
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versity Press 2012, page 14.
[112] White, David Gordon (2003). Kiss of the Yogini. Chicago: [136] Mller (1899), Chapter 7, Yoga Philosophy, p. 104.
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[138] For Patanjali as the founder of the philosophical system
[113] Werner, p. 24.
called yoga see: Chatterjee and Datta, p. 42.
[114] Jacobsen, p. 10.

[139] Larson, p. 2122.

[115] Flood, p. 96.

[140] For raja yoga as a system for control of the mind and
connection to Patanjalis Yoga Sutras as a key work, see:
Flood (1996), pp. 9698.

[116] Fowler, p. xliv.

[117] Jacobsen, p. 11.
[118] Folwer, p. xli.

[141] For text and word-by-word translation as Yoga is the inhibition of the modications of the mind. See: Taimni,
p. 6.

[119] Ch. 2.48 Bhagavad-Gita As It Is by A.C. Bhak[142] Barbara Stoler Miller, Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: the
tivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali; a Translation of the
International.
Text, with Commentary, Introduction, and Glossary of
Keywords. University of California Press, 1996, page 9.
[120] Gambhirananda, p. 16.
[121] Jacobsen, p. 46.
[122] Fowler, p. xlv.
[123] Whicher, p. 2526.
[124] Wynne, p. 33.
[125] Larson, p. 38.

[143] Vivekanada, p. 115.

[144] Phillips, Stephen H. (1995). Classical Indian Metaphysics:
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Open Court Publishing. pp. 1213.
[145] Larson, p. 478.
[146] Yoga Journal, Active Interest Media, Inc., 2006, p. 121,
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[127] Radhankrishnan, Indian Philosophy, London, George
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[148] Mohan, A.G. (2010). Krishnamacharya: His Life and
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[150] Niyamasara [134-40]
[130] For a brief overview of the yoga school of philosophy see:
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[128] Stiles 2001, p. x.

[132] Larson, pp. 4445.

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12 External links
Yoga at DMOZ

24

13

13
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Tom Radulovich, Lussmu, Curps, Jfdwol, Pharotic, Eequor, PlatinumX, Jackol, Pne, Ragib, Bobert wi, Wmahan, Chowbok, Utcursch,
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TheSolomon, Enric Naval, Snakeg, Viriditas, Cmdrjameson, Skywalker, Prosemo, Mansukram, Giraedata, SpeedyGonsales, Jyoti000,
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Blogstrings, Wakari07, Life of Riley, Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa, XLinkBot, InMemoriamLuangPu, 78Laura, PurpleHamster124, Habhab38,
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Perfectidius, Ginsuloft, Karmayogaglobal, Mahendra.muluk, Quenhitran, ChAnastasiades1988, Zenminded, Yoonadue, Jillabcd, Bladesmulti, Samenewguy, Prestigiouzman, Goodfaith17, Lightocha, Owain Knight, Znfowler, Ravi8, Alone22, Samenewguy10, Materielscientist, Sdesigh, Leopetra, DSMRodman, Blolay, Arjunkrishna90, Lycrahammer, Lefnic, FedUpReader, EtatLEal, SamuelChicken, Shyam
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Kkdsubb, KyrahTaylor, Rahulsinghd132, Internationalyogafestival and Anonymous: 1497

13.2

Images

File:A_yogi_seated_in_a_garden.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/A_yogi_seated_in_a_garden.jpg

License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1600_1699/jahangir/yogi/yogi.html
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Contributors: Scanning Attribution: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA Travels Through Turky into Persia and the EastIndies (1688): http://catalog.library.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&BBID=3283072. Original artist: Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
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26

13

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

File:Lord_Mahaveer.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Lord_Mahaveer.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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File:Patanjali.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Patanjali.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
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File:Yogin_with_six_chakras,_India,_Punjab_Hills,_Kangra,_late_18th_century.jpg Source:
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13.3

Content license

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