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    Yoga 2

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    Talha ki Diary
    There are two theories about the origins of yoga - the linear model which sees it developing from Vedic traditions, and the synthesis model which argues it synthesized indigenous non-Vedic practices with Vedic elements. Speculations about yoga began emerging in early Upanishads from the 1st millennium BCE. The origins of yoga traditions are unclear but some aspects like breath control and meditation are seen in the Vedic texts from 1200-900 BCE, while the actual term 'yoga' first appears in the Katha Upanishad from the 5th-1st centuries BCE. Scholars disagree on how much yoga may have been influenced by the Indus Valley Civilization.

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    Yoga 2

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    Talha ki Diary
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    There are two theories about the origins of yoga - the linear model which sees it developing from Vedic traditions, and the synthesis model which argues it synthesized indigenous non-Vedic practices with Vedic elements. Speculations about yoga began emerging in early Upanishads from the 1st millennium BCE. The origins of yoga traditions are unclear but some aspects like breath control and meditation are seen in the Vedic texts from 1200-900 BCE, while the actual term 'yoga' first appears in the Katha Upanishad from the 5th-1st centuries BCE. Scholars disagree on how much yoga may have been influenced by the Indus Valley Civilization.

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    There are two theories about the origins of yoga - the linear model which sees it developing from Vedic traditions, and the synthesis model which argues it synthesized indigenous non-Vedic practices with Vedic elements. Speculations about yoga began emerging in early Upanishads from the 1st millennium BCE. The origins of yoga traditions are unclear but some aspects like breath control and meditation are seen in the Vedic texts from 1200-900 BCE, while the actual term 'yoga' first appears in the Katha Upanishad from the 5th-1st centuries BCE. Scholars disagree on how much yoga may have been influenced by the Indus Valley Civilization.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    35 views2 pages

    Yoga 2

    Uploaded by

    Talha ki Diary
    There are two theories about the origins of yoga - the linear model which sees it developing from Vedic traditions, and the synthesis model which argues it synthesized indigenous non-Vedic practices with Vedic elements. Speculations about yoga began emerging in early Upanishads from the 1st millennium BCE. The origins of yoga traditions are unclear but some aspects like breath control and meditation are seen in the Vedic texts from 1200-900 BCE, while the actual term 'yoga' first appears in the Katha Upanishad from the 5th-1st centuries BCE. Scholars disagree on how much yoga may have been influenced by the Indus Valley Civilization.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    History

    There is no consensus on yoga's chronology or origins other than its development in ancient India. There
    are two broad theories explaining the origins of yoga. The linear model holds that yoga has Vedic origins,
    and influenced Buddhism. This model is mainly supported by Hindu scholars. According to the synthesis
    model, yoga is a synthesis of indigenous, non-Vedic prac ces with Vedic elements. This model is
    favoured in Western scholarship.

    Specula ons about yoga began to emerge in the early Upanishads of the first half of the first millennium
    BCE, with exposi ons also appearing in Jain and Buddhist texts. Between 200 BCE and 500 CE, tradi ons
    of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophy were taking shape; teachings were collected as sutras, and a
    philosophical system of Patanjaliyogasastra began to emerge. The Middle Ages saw the development of a
    number of yoga satellite tradi ons. It and other aspects of Indian philosophy came to the a en on of
    the educated Western public during the mid-19th century.

    Origins

    Linear model

    According to Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, Hindu researchers have favoured a linear theory which
    a empts "to interpret the origin and early development of Indian contempla ve prac ces as a
    sequen al growth from an Aryan genesis"; tradi onal Hinduism regards the Vedas as the source of all
    spiritual knowledge. Edwin Bryant wrote that authors who support Indigenous Aryanism also tend to
    support the linear model.

    Synthesis model

    Heinrich Zimmer was an exponent of the synthesis model, arguing for non-Vedic eastern states of India.
    According to Zimmer, yoga is part of a non-Vedic system which includes the Samkhya school of Hindu
    philosophy, Jainism and Buddhism: " does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the
    cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India – being rooted
    in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical specula on as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-
    Vedic Indian systems." Richard Gombrich and Geoffrey Samuel believe that the śramaṇa movement
    originated in non-Vedic Greater Magadha.

    Thomas McEvilley favors a composite model in which a pre-Aryan yoga prototype existed in the pre-
    Vedic period and was refined during the Vedic period. According to Gavin D. Flood, the Upanishads differ
    fundamentally from the Vedic ritual tradi on and indicate non-Vedic influences. However, the tradi ons
    may be connected:

    The asce c tradi ons of the eastern Ganges plain are thought to drew from a common body of prac ces
    and philosophies, with proto-samkhya concepts of purusha and prakri as a common denominator.

    Indus Valley Civilisa on

    The twen eth-century scholars Karel Werner, Thomas McEvilley, and Mircea Eliade believe that the
    central figure of the Pashupa seal is in a Mulabandhasana posture, and the roots of yoga are in the
    Indus Valley civilisa on. This is rejected by more recent scholarship; for example, Geoffrey Samuel,
    Andrea R. Jain, and Wendy Doniger describe the iden fica on as specula ve; the meaning of the figure
    will remain unknown un l Harappan script is deciphered, and the roots of yoga cannot be linked to the
    IVC.

    Earliest references

    The Vedas, the only texts preserved from the early Vedic period and codified between c. 1200 and 900
    BCE, contain references to yogic prac ces primarily related to asce cs outside, or on the fringes of
    Brahmanism. Werner wrote that there were

    According to Whicher, scholarship frequently fails to see the connec on between the contempla ve
    prac ces of the rishis and later yoga prac ces: "The proto-Yoga of the Vedic rishis is an early form of
    sacrificial mys cism and contains many elements characteris c of later Yoga that include: concentra on,
    medita ve observa on, asce c forms of prac ce, breath control prac ced in conjunc on with the
    recita on of sacred hymns during the ritual, the no on of self-sacrifice, impeccably accurate recita on of
    sacred words, mys cal experience, and the engagement with a reality far greater than our psychological
    iden ty or the ego." Jacobsen wrote in 2018, "Bodily postures are closely related to the tradi on of,
    asce c prac ces in the Vedic tradi on"; asce c prac ces used by Vedic priests "in their prepara ons for
    the performance of the sacrifice" may be precursors of yoga. "The ecsta c prac ce of enigma c
    longhaired muni in Rgveda 10.136 and the asce c performance of the vratya-s in the Atharvaveda
    outside of or on the fringe of the Brahmanical ritual order, have probably contributed more to the
    asce c prac ces of yoga."

    According to Bryant, prac ces recognizable as classical yoga first appear in the Upanishads. Alexander
    Wynne agrees that formless, elemental medita on might have originated in the Upanishadic tradi on.
    An early reference to medita on is made in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the Principal
    Upanishads. The Chandogya Upanishad describes the five vital energies, and concepts of later yoga
    tradi ons are also described in this upanishad. The prac ce of pranayama is men oned in hymn 1.5.23
    of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, The Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana teaches breath control and
    repe on of a mantra. The 6th-c. BCE Tai riya Upanishad defines yoga as the mastery of body and
    senses. According to Flood, "he actual term yoga first appears in the Katha Upanishad, dated to the fi h
    to first centuries BCE.

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