Yoga typically means the complete union of the individual soul or consciousness with the Spirit or the Universal Consciousness. Contrary to what most people believe, yoga is not just a series of physical exercises that make you twist, stretch, bend, and breathe in the most complex ways. These constitute only the superficial aspect of this 5000-year-old Indian body of knowledge. Strictly speaking, yoga is a “way of life”. It is the science of unfolding the infinite potentials of the human mind and soul.
Due to its oral transmission of the sacred Vedic texts and the secretive nature of its teachings, the birth and the evolution of yoga has remained obscure for years, even until today. Here’s an attempt at unfolding and understanding the history of yoga and how it gradually evolved over the years.
What Does Yoga Mean?
It was Sanskrit, the Indo-European language of the ancient Vedas, that gave birth to the whole concept of Yoga. Originally derived from the Sanskrit root “yug”, the word “yoga” can have many translations and may be interpreted in multiple ways.
“Yug” originally meant “to hitch up” – as in harnessing a horse to a vehicle. It also had another definition – “to put to active and purposeful use.” A few other translations were “yoke, join, or concentrate.”
Thus, yoga has come to prescribe the literature and techniques aimed at uniting or a method of divine discipline. A male practicing this discipline is called a yogi or yogin, while a female practitioner is called a yogini.
The History Of Yoga: How It All Began
Yoga’s has a long, rich history that may be divided into four main periods where it underwent innovation, practice, and development.
Preclassical Yoga
This period stretched for almost 2000 years up until 2nd century B.C. This was a time that marked the birth of texts like the Brahmanas, the Upanishads, the Aranyakas, the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana. All of these texts included so many varieties of yoga teachings that propounded the final universal truth about how everything ultimately comes together in divine unity.
These texts also spoke about the advent of the dark ages. Through a wide range of stories, they aimed at inspiring people to be courageous enough to defend what is right and to actively fight against the evil. Yoga teachings of this timeframe focused largely on meditation, self-realization and the inherent connection with the universal one.
Classical yoga
Also known as the Raja Yoga, or the age of the eightfold yoga, this was the time when the renowned sage Patanjali spent his life expounding on his own version of yoga and its techniques of practice, through his texts “Yoga-Sutra”. These texts contain 200 intelligent and thought-provoking statements that have been known to arouse the interest of so many yoga masters and practitioners through the following centuries. It is believed that the Patanjali Yoga was written in the 2nd century A.D. The earliest commentary on these texts was found in “Yoga-Bhashya”, believed to have been written by the sage Vyasa in the 5th century A.D.
Sage Patanjali promoted yoga as being beneficial in the separation of the matter and the spirit that each individual is made up of. According to his belief, this was vital for the re-establishment of the purity of the soul and the spirit.
Post-classical Yoga
It was during this time that yoga was, for the first time, recognized for its physical benefits.
In the earlier years, the masters and practitioners were more concerned in understanding the realm of the human spirit and the ultimate aim of this spirit, merging with the divine energy. However, with time, yogis discovered alchemy and began to teach and practice yoga with the main purpose of healing the human body and to re-infuse it with energy so as to increase mortality.
The concept of becoming immortal by changing the entire biochemistry of the human body through yoga was also explored during these years. This newfound focus on the body led to the establishment of Hatha Yoga, which is widely practiced today.
Hatha Yoga: The word “hatha” has several translations. With “Ha” translating to “the sun” and “tha” meaning “the moon”, it is easy to interpret that “Hatha” yoga means the “union of pairs of opposites”.
Hatha yoga may also have a more technical meaning, i.e. “force or determined effort”.
Thus, hatha yoga or the “yoga of activity,” is one that directly addresses the human body and mind and can be mastered with the help of discipline and effort. It makes up the physical aspect of yoga and serves as a vehicle for meditation. Hatha yoga works to prepare the body, particularly the nervous system, for complete stillness while helping one develop the necessary physical strength and stamina that commands the mind to remain calm.
Since it is the yoga that we can experience, right in the here and the now, it may be seen as a powerful process of self-transformation. It is the most practical of the entire series of yogas, and sages have recommended its practice for down the years to help prepare the human body, mind, and spirit for the more advanced varieties of yoga.
Modern Yoga
The age of modern yoga is said to have been brought about with Swami Vivekanand’s visit to the United States for the Parliament of Religions in the year 1893. This was the first time that the world started taking the teachings of yoga seriously. The 20th century marked the emergence of many yoga teachers or gurus. Over time, they made a significant contribution to the evolution of yoga and encouraged the spread of its practice throughout the world. Some of the most famous yoga gurus include Paramahansa Yogananda, Ramacharaka, Yogendra Mastamani, Shrila Prabhupada, Selvarajan Yesudian, Swami Sivananda, Bhagavan Rajneesh and Sri Krishnamacharya among others.
