"YOGA" == A Brief Overview

=======  THE WORD "YOGA" IN ITS EARLY CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

*"tapasya"*: bodily austerities that concentrate inner "heat" for powerful cosmic effects
= goes back at least to Atharva Veda (c.400's BCE); semi-magical, semi-religious concept
= such austerities may actually coerce and threaten the gods
= the Buddha: austerities/asceticism plus meditation plus *lotus position* (*"padmasana"*)
= "yoga" = "yoke" (to restrain; to harness; to get work from)

= (on such cognate words: *Proto-Indo-European Language website*)
 
yoga in *"The Katha-Upanishad" and "The Svetasvatara-Upanishad"* (c. 200's BCE)
= *Katha Upanishad: Sixth Valli* discusses yoga
= *Svetasvatara Upanishad: Adhyaya II* discusses yoga
= no asanas; yoga as powerful meditational/mystical technique
= a good modern edition: *"Upanisads"*,  trans. by Patrick Olivelle (Oxford Univ. Press, 1996)

yoga in the *"Bhagavad Gita"*in the Mahabharata (c.300 BCE-300 CE)
= Chapter 3, karma-yoga, "the yoga of action"
= Chapter 4, jnana/gyana-yoga, "the yoga of knowledge"
= Chapter 12, bhakti-yoga, "the yoga of devotion"
= no asanas; yoga as a general word for some form of mystical/religious practice
= a good modern edition: *"The Bhagavad-Gita"*, trans. by Barbara Stoler Miller (Random House, 1986)

the *"Yoga Sutra of Patanjali"*, "by 400 CE"
= no asanas; endorses tapasya; enjoins cosmic realization, self-control, breath control; guru needed
= a relevant modern account: *"The Yoga Sutra: A Biography"*, by David G. White (Princeton Univ. Press, 2014)


======= EARLY MODERN HATHA YOGA-- and YOGIS

1) *"Hatha Yoga Pradipika"*, c.1400's-1500's
= attributed to Swami Swatmarama of the *Nath panth/sampraday*, said to be a disciple of *Guru Gorakhnath* (and *tales about the Naths live on*)
= trans. by Pancham Sinh, 1914
= Chapter One calls its practice "Raja Yoga"; secrecy needed, guru needed; 15 asanas: Swastika; Gomukha; Vira; Kurma; Kukkuta; Uttana Kurma; Dhanur; Matsya; Pashcima Tana; Mayura; Shava; Siddha; Padma; Simha; Bhadra
= Chapter Two has forms of breath control (pranayama), preceded by "bodily purifications": Dhauti (mouth); Basti (colon and anus); Neti (nostrils); Trataka (eyes); Nauli (stomach manipulation); Kapala Bhati (lungs); Gaja Karani (vomiting)
= Chapter Three has "mudras" yielding immortality: Maha Mudra, Maha Bandha, Maha Vedha (breath control); Khechari (tongue loosening); Uddiyana Bandha (stomach compression); Mula Bandha (contraction of the anus); Jalandhara Bandha (breath control); Viparita Karani (headstand); Vajroli, Sahajoli, Amaroli (ways of reabsorbing male and female sexual fluids; these are frequently censored; see vs. 83-103); Shakti Chalana (breath control)
= Chapter Four has more on mudras, and on attaining a meditative trance (samadhi); main emphasis is on breath control, pranayama (nadis, chakras, kundalini, the "subtle body"), pursuit of siddhis (immortality, supernatural powers)
= a good modern textual sourcebook: *"Roots of Yoga"*, by James Mallinson and Mark Singleton (Penguin Books, 2017)

2) *"Shiva Samhita"*, c.1400's
= author unknown
= 84 asanas named, 4 described in detail
= yogic/tantric, Advaita Vedantin perspective

3) *"Gheranda Samhita"*, c. late 1600's
= trans. James Mallinson, 2004
= *32 asanas*; 25 mudras, many other practices as well
= ghatastha or "vessel" yoga, body and mind carry and serve the soul

*Some images of "yogis" and their austerities*, c.1700's-1800's
= Shaivite/tantric/Nath-panthi yogis were widely considered to be dirty, dangerous, potentially violent gypsy-like wanderers (outside caste boundaries), who practiced repulsive forms of tapasya


======= MODERN POSTURAL YOGA: A CULTURAL HYBRID, with "HYBRID VIGOR"

c.1860's on -- Indian and Western teachers and promoters of physical culture and yoga, borrowing back and forth from each other, in a successful collaboration
= Western-educated, nationalistic Indians, writing in English, began to assimilate yoga into a scientific and medical paradigm; unappealing asanas were rejected; esoteric claims and occult tantric/yogic pretensions to magic power were repudiated; new practices and positions were adapted and presented as the fruit of ancient wisdom
= Western authors and promoters started from existing practices and ideologies ("muscular Christianity"; Social Darwinism; fear of racial "degeneration"; Christian Science; theosophy; YMCA body-building exercises for men; "harmonious" stretching exercises for women; the emerging cult of physical fitness and health), and sought to offer access to the same desirable health and fitness goals plus ancient, exotic Indian wisdom; photography became an effective (and externalizing) means of transmission

*"Raja Yoga and Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms"*, 1896
= by Swami *Vivekananda*, charismatic star of the Parliament of World Religions, Chicago, 1893
= Disciple of Shri Ramakrishna of Bengal (who himself had strong tantric tendencies)
= no asanas; no esotericism or mystery allowed; "raja yoga" as spiritually powerful, scientifically based knowledge; hatha yoga as "merely physical" pursuit of unworthy goals
= *"Maharishi Mahesh Yogi"*, 1955: no asanas, "transcendental meditation" only

*"Light on Yoga"*, 1966
= by B. K. S. Iyengar; treated Yehudi Menuhin, 1952, became globally famous thereafter
= trained by T. Krishnamacharya, with princely patronage (and gym surroundings) in Mysore
=
57 asanas; 28 of them are strikingly similar or identical to ones from "Primary Gymnastics" (1925) by Niels Bukh, a Danish method long popular in both Europe and India (Singleton 2010, p.200)

*A few depictions of the tantric/yogic "subtle body"*


======= ANALYSIS

**"Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice"** -- highly recommended
by Mark Singleton, Oxford University Press, 2010

*"Not as Old as You Think"* -- refuting right-wing Hindutva claims that they "own" yoga
by Meera Nanda, from Open Magazine, Feb. 12, 2011

*James Mallinson and Mark Singleton, a video talk* -- a good overview
New York Society Library, November 16, 2017

*"In Pakistan, Yoga Rises Above Its Indian Origins"* -- imagine, yoga in Pakistan!
by Bina Shah, New York Times, Dec. 8, 2017


*Fran Pritchett's website -- main index page*