Yoga is thought to have been first elaborated in the Upanishads. They are considered to be the last parts of
the Vedas. There has been a debate about whether the Upanishads can be a logical
extension of Vedic thought. In a close examination, the spiritual realms the
Upanishads delve into are poles apart from the philosophy and rituals that have
been propounded by the Vedas; thus, connecting them both could be a grave
mistake of the students.
The indelible influence
of the Samana philosophy can be seen on the ancient
Upanishads. Before the word "Brahma" appeared in the Upanishads, the
word "Yaksha" (यक्ष, which means mysterious radiance.) was used as a synonym for Brahma. Moreover, the word Brahman (ब्रह्मन) in the Upanishads
is neither related to the word Brahman (ब्राह्मण) nor to the Vedic
word "Brahma" (ब्रह्म). The Vedic word
Brahma comes in the sense of mantra (chant), while in the Upanishads, it comes
in the sense of the cause of creation. Different philosophies use different
terminological meanings for the same word. Hence, finding similar terms applied
in different streams with different connotations doesn’t help us to lead us to
a single source. Upanishad philosophies too, thus, cannot be connected with the
Vedas since both stand opposite to each other, though the big claim has been
made that the Upanishads are end part of the Vedas and thus called Vedanta, which cannot
be true, though this impression has hyped us.
The term “Yoga” also has
different connotations to explain physical or spiritual activities and their
aims. In textual form, the term ‘yuj” appears in the Vedas as
a process of yoking horses to a chariot. This simply describes an action,
essential to ready a chariot for travel. It has nothing to do with the usual
meaning we take for the term Yoga. Yoga has over forty different meanings over
a hundred synonyms as given in the dictionaries.
The spiritual usage of
this word first appears in a late Taittiriya Upanishad, which especially
elaborates on the necessity of meditation and Brahmvidya, to remove
the cause that leads to recourse to Karmas. The Yoga term is used here to unite self with blissful self. This is an expansion of the meaning of the
original term “Yoga” in the form of the metaphor associated with karma and
rebirth. The time of Taittiriya Upanishad is estimated by different scholars to
be the first half of the first million BC. According to Patrick Olivelle, the
Taittiriya Upanishad was composed in a pre-Buddhistic period, possibly 6th to
5th BCE. We find further expansion of the term in Shvetashvatar
and Maitri Upanishads which are dated by the scholars to be about fifth to
second century BCE.
If we take a dip in the
philosophical views of the Vedic Aryans in the Vedas, a very contradictory
picture appears. Unlike the Upanishads, the Vedic world is centered on
sacrificial fire rituals offering oblations to a pantheon of the major to minor
gods to receive their blessings to get victories in the wars or the material
wealth. Though at some places the Rigveda, such as in verses 5.82.7, 6.44.8, 9.113.4, 10.133.6, and
10.190.1, and hymn Hymn 10.117 mentions core ethical values but there is an absence of spiritual
ideology. The word Yoga appearing in the Rigveda just means yoking horses to
the chariots. There is no spiritual connotation associated with this word. The
term Atma is used to address the self and not as an eternal
entity governing the self.
Vedics couldn’t have been authors of the Yoga
in the absence of the term Atma and clear understanding that
the Atma is cause of the life and that the soul is immortal.
This is the basic doctrine of Yoga (originally Vratas), which is absent from
the Vedas.
For example, term Atma appears
in the Rigveda in 10.168.4. “ आत्मा देवानां भुवनस्य गर्भो यथाव॒शं चरति देवा एषः । घोषा॒ इदस्य शृण्विरे॒ न रूपं तस्मै॒ वात॑य ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥“ To which Wilson translates as “The soul of the gods, the germ of the world, this
divinity moves according to his plural asure; his voices are heard, his form is
not (seen); let us worship that Vata with oblations. Nutritious
life-sustaining (waters); Rudra, have compassion upon the food which has four
feet.” Here vata (wind) is treated as the soul of the
gods which should be worshipped with oblations to get the food. The term is not
used in the same sense as being used or considered in the Yoga philosophy
schools and Yoga’s progenitor The Samana tradition. Vata (wind), though
couldn't be seen, it can be heard and sensed as said in this verse implying
that the Vedic Aryans had a very vague idea of the Atma concept.
Rigveda is supposed to have been composed
around 1500 BC. Most of the part of Rigveda was composed in ancient Iran and
the remaining part was composed when the Vedic Aryans arrived in the Indian
subcontinent. The new deities and the community like Shudra first
appear in the tenth mandala of Rigveda because of the geographical movement of
the Vedic Aryans. They seem to have got introduced to the ritualistic and
spiritual practices of the local ascetics during their initial phase of stay
and gradually learned more from them as they advanced towards the Kuru-Panchal
region to which they named as Aryavarta. Till then Vedic Aryans
held hostile views towards the Vratyas belonging to the Samana tradition.
But as some groups moved further in the Magadha region, which was avoided by
them in the early phase, this group had intimate contacts with the Vratyas, which
changed their worldviews and limitations of the philosophy they possessed
earlier. The impact of this newly acquired, previously unknown knowledge is
reflected in the Atharv Veda and Upanishads.
The early stage of the
Vrata, alias Yoga
In the absence of written records, from archeological proof and logical guesswork, we can infer the earliest stage of the Vrata (Yoga). Though today, Yoga has been branched in many schools with different connotations, originally, in a primordial state, it must have been used to unite physical and spiritual activity that could provide mental bliss. Indians have been idolatrous since time immemorial. The term Puja does not appear in the bulk of the Vedas as it was not their ritualistic practice ever. The external journey was thought to be insufficient to eliminate miseries or moral problems; the necessity of the inner journey must have been felt by the early thinkers who started practicing Vrata as a new ritual in a crude form. Yoga was known to the Samana (equanimity) thinkers as Vrata (vow), which was used to purify the soul. This was the beginning of modern yoga. Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (not stealing), Aparigraha (non-acquisition) and Brahmacarya (chaste living) were the essential Vratas that were adapted by Patanjali as yama and secondary vows as niyamas.
In the Indus civilization, we find some seals that depict males
seated in Yogic positions. Though there are multiple speculations, we cannot
get an idea from the seating position what the purpose of the depictions.
We have no idea in the absence of the written record, whether the seated
person in certain Asana poses was to gain supernatural powers or had spiritual
ambition. Yet, we can get a clear idea that the specific seating or standing
positions that are basic requirements of Yoga had emerged long before the time
of the Vedas came into existence. The early yoga and the philosophy behind it
must have formalized over a million years before the composition of the Vedas
began.
When Vedic Aryans arrived in India, indigenous folk religion was
thriving. Vedic Aryans borrowed freely many local deities, adorning Vedic
characteristics. At the same time, the Samana culture of thinkers and ascetics
was flourishing almost everywhere. The ultimate aim of these thinkers was to
win over the bad qualities of the mind; thus, the movement was also named Jina,
victors over inner disorders and to see the world with equanimity, thus called
Samana. The ultimate aim of yoga, though divided into many sects, remains the
same as was determined by the ancestors. The spiritual quests of ascetics had
invented means to attain ultimate bliss; Vrata (Yoga) was one, though they
might have decided on spiritual destinations differently. The thinkers who
thought of the equanimity of all living beings caused a cultural movement that
is known to us as Samana culture. The Samana thinkers of the past, as we can
guess from their fundamental philosophy, were not interested in mundane
pleasures, instead, they strived to get answers to the questions, such as what
is the meaning of life, whether there is a creator or not, what are the sorrow
and how to get rid of them and how to solve ethical problems faced by the world
thus acquiring true knowledge by defeating the inner foes to become Jina.
(Bhagavati Sutra, 4.160)
Occult practices (Tantrashastra) of folk religion could have
helped emerge this practice, which was primarily meant to gain supernatural
powers to command the netherworld by chanting mysterious verses. In all
probability, the syllable Om could have been invented by them
for the sound created an aura of mysticism. We should not forget that the Om syllable
is absent from Vedic literature. In a later course, the sound of Om might
have gotten the attention of all those who followed the spiritual path by
giving it fantastic meaning, which originally may not have been intended. New
goals must have been set by the early thinkers to use vratas for a wider
application, such as to attain salvation that is Moksha or Nirvana, which was
never part of Vedic doctrine, nor Puja or Yoga in the
modern sense.
It is clear from the Rigveda
that the Vedics came across new identities like the Yatis, the Vratyas, the
Munis, and the Keshis. (10.136.1-2) when they arrived in the Indian
sub-continent around 1200 and 1000 BC. Vratyakanda of Atharvaveda clearly shows
how the mystic Vratyas had impressed the Vedic Aryans who settled in the region
of Magadha, which Vedic Aryans delving in the Aryavarta region despised in the
early phase and had expressed conflicting views about them. But the Vedic
Aryans, who later on moved towards Magadha in around 900 BCE, had a closer
acquaintance with the Vratyas (who followed different vratas). They learned many
aspects of their philosophy, forcing them to abandon their previously held beliefs. It changed their perspective on the world. A historical figure, Jaina Tirtankar Parshvanath, lived in the ninth to eighth century
BC, which coincides with the time of the movement of the Vedic Aryans towards the further east.
The fifteenth chapter
(kanda) of the Atharvaveda is the 'Vratyakanda', in which the Vratyas are
glorified. In the ninth and tenth verses of this Kanda, it is said that a
Vratya who is favorable to the assembly, committee, army, and Sura, goes as a
guest to the king, that the king should respect a Vratya as superior to
himself. The Vratyas of the Atharvaveda are self-conscious vratins (yogis) and
a different type of sacrifice performer in which Soma was not involved.
Sacrifice here seems to have been used as a simile for spiritual and mystic
activity. Vratya is also called 'Mahadev' in the Atharvaveda. Vratya
and Yogi are synonymous, both required to renounce the world and hence were
respected the most. Likewise, the yati and keshis could be the individuals
following different types of vratas or vows to attain spiritual powers. The
meaning of the term Vrata cannot be taken in a modern sense though it still
needs some observance, but does not cover all the aspects that originally were
meant.
However, an association
of the Vrata (Yoga) and Tapa with the above-mentioned identities is undeniable.
The term Rishi was used for only those who composed or recited Vedic Richa’s
(verses). Muni is a person who observes the vow of silence. Both terms are not
the same as assumed.
Initially the Vedics
couldn’t grasp the spirituality associated with their (yati, vratya, keshi
etc.) seemingly strange practices, still they were awestruck. Though they have
expressed their respect towards them by fitting them in Vedic phrasings still
they used the word Vata (invisible wind) for Atma.
केश्यग्निं केशी विषं केशी बिभर्ति रोदसी । केशी विश्वं स्वर्दृशे केशीदं ज्योतिरुच्यते ॥१॥
मुनयो वातरशनाः पिशङ्गा वसते मला । वातस्यानु ध्राजिं यन्ति यद्देवासो अविक्षत ॥२॥
(ऋ. १०.१३६.१-२)
“1. HE with the long loose
locks supports Agni, and moisture, heaven, and earth:
He is all sky to look upon: he with long hair is called this light.
2 The Munis, girdled with the wind, wear garments soiled of yellow hue. They,
following the wind's swift course, go where the Gods have gone before. (Trans. by Griffith)
To the Vedic, at their
initial stage of understanding the meaning of the Atma, they associated the
soul with the wind, invisible but that could be sensed, quite
contrary to what the term actually meant to Indian Samanic thinkers. The idea
Vedics took was obviously fantastic, grafting it in the Vedic sense in the
absence of alternative terminology. It normally happens that while borrowing
ideas or concepts, people often tend to use their own terminology while
attempting to fit new concepts in their environment. Vedic Aryans settled in
Magadha and applied their word “Yuj” as “yoga” to explain the phenomena of
attaching the individual soul to the universal self. However, the understanding
of the Samanik thinkers was that the cosmic soul and individual soul were one
and the same.
The provenance of any
concept thus gets blurred by applying a new term for the original, which has a
different meaning. This often creates confusion in the minds of the students of
the later generations, making them unsure of what really transpired in the
past. term yoga became obviously the victim of this tendency.
Vrata was a synonym for equanimity to Indian Samanic thinkers, as
they never thought to connect something with something in duality, as they
thought of oneness between the cosmic soul and the self to which they gave the
term Moksha, i.e., emancipation from the perpetual cycle of birth and death. To
achieve this, one needed to perform Vratas i.e., spiritual practices. Though
physical postures were thought to be essential for beginners, they were never
thought to be an essential part of spirituality.
When Upanishada says “Aham Brahmasmi” (Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad 1.4. 10), it clearly echoes Samanik thought. When inner foes are
defeated, the person's soul dissolves in the supreme cosmic entity; thus, such
a person is called a Jina. Brahma here is the cosmic soul. Here, yoking
(yoga) does not carry the proper meaning that is intended by the original term
“Vrata”.
Vedics too, as always in the quest for mundane pleasures, praying
to their abstract deities through the Fire Sacrificial rituals, began to
understand that outer efforts were not sufficient to attain supreme fulfillment
and eternal bliss; they started following age-old Samanic principles, adding
self-innovated elements, and advocating it in a new garb under the title of the
Yoga, avoiding the original term “Vrata” because they might be comfortable with
this term. Yoga, as a spiritual means to attain emancipation, entered the Vedic
stream in such a manner. Controlling the mind and yoking the mind with the
divine has a fundamental contrast.
Patanjali of the Yoga Sutra stresses upon restraints on chitta, vrutti,
i.e. “Yoga is the control (nirodhah, regulation, channeling, mastery,
integration, coordination, stilling, quieting, setting aside) of the
modifications (gross and subtle thought patterns) of the mind field.”
(Patanjali Yogsutra 1.2) This has nothing to do with yoking. In fact, Patanjali
is repeating Jain philosophy, which principally asks for restraints on the
thoughts and actions (Karma) that bring disorder. Originally, Jaina's thoughts
go far ahead, which asks for not just restraints but winning over the
disorder. Vedic people, what we
can understand from their philosophy as appears in the Vedas, were hedonists;
their prayers to their abstract gods were for the victories in the wars and for
the wealth. They strived to live as long as a hundred years. The term “Atma”
does not appear in the Vedas in the same sense that is fundamentally considered
in the Samana terminology. In the absence of this term, the term Yoga is left
with no meaning. This only means that Yoga in the modern sense is a later
development in the Vedic stream of philosophy.
We are aware of the fact
that to reach a certain destination, there is a beginning, which always is
uncertain and filled with difficulties, and crude understandings as one
proceeds, the vision clears gradually, and when one reaches the ultimate goal, the vision is clear. The Samana tradition began with a feeling of equanimity
between all the souls which gradually reached towards the oneness that meant
salvation from the karmic cycle. Yoga could put this goal before the seekers
because there was a solid background built by the Samanic tradition.
The Yoga in the Jaina
tradition
As the meaning of Jin is
‘The victor over inner disorders”, it can explain the provenance of the Yoga.
The Jaina tradition credits the first Tirthankara as an inventor of Yoga alias
vrata. Rishabhnatha has proven to be a historical figure and his time is
estimated between 3000 and 2700 BC. In the absence of other comparative
sources, it can be safely stated that the Samana movement began with
Rishabhnatha which branched later in many philosophical schools, giving
different philosophical dimensions, resulting in several sects.
I have explained that
the Yoga term was accepted by overall philosophical sects, the original term
was “vrata” (vows), and the people who strictly followed the Vrata practice
were known as Vratyas. From the descriptions, we understand that
the Vratyas were mendicants who had renounced the world owing
to their vows. Jaina ideology fundamentally stands on the concept of
Vratas (Vows), such as Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya (non-stealing), celibacy, and
non-possessions at the very initial stage. Vrata was the foundation of the
alternative term Yoga, since it too essentially needed restraints on human
tendencies. Patanjali also adds these five mahavratas of Jainism as yamas in
his Yogsutra. In the later course of time, the term, Vratya for
yogi was defamed owing to the supremacist tendency of the Vedics, who tried
hard to take credit for the novel concepts that didn’t belong to them. Thus, by
the third century BC, the alternate term Yoga acquired fame, though the basics
of yoga remained the same, i.e., Vratas.
In fact, Yama, those are
Vratas or vows, is the first limb of the Yoga as described by Patanjali. Niyama
is the second limb that involves supporting vows (vratas) and then only
comes asanas (bodily postures).
The fifth Jain Agama, “Bhagavati Sutra” Lord Mahavira’s teachings have been recorded and were
committed to writing in 466 AD during the last Jaina council held at Vallabhi.
Till then the text was preserved by oral tradition. In this sutra, Lord
Mahavira explains to Somila that his lifestyle is of six types: 1. Tapas, 2.
Niyama, 3. Sanyama, 4. Svadhyaya, 5. Dhyana, and 6. Avashyaka (observance of
essential duties (vratas) with self-awareness). (Sudharma Swami’s
Bhagavati Sutra, Vol.1, Translated by K.C. Lalwani, pub. Jain Bhavan, Calcutta,
1999).
Patanjali has correlated
these essentials in the Yoga Sutra under different names under titles Yama and Niyamas.
Saucha (शौच) means mental purity to Jainas, but, on the contrary, Patanjali
stresses bodily purity. Though Jainas had accepted Asana (bodily posture) as
one of the limbs of Yoga, under the title Kayaklesh-tapa, and the sixth kind of
external tapas, Patanjali treats asanas as sadhana. Thus, various limbs of Yoga
as discussed in the Yogasutra, have been elaborated under different titles and with
different perspectives. Yoga Sutra can be saidto be a further expansion of the Jaina
or Samana way of meditation as a means to get salvation.
The Provenance of the
Yoga system belonging to Samanas or Jains is obvious for the gradual
progressiveness that can be tracked in the Jaina canons. The Jain yoga was centered
on a fourfold path of emancipation 1. Right faith, 2. Right knowledge, 3.
Right conduct, and 4. Right austerity. Although the paths under different
heads have been applied by other schools also in later times, the fundamentals
never changed. Yoga originally meant Vrata to the Jainas or the masters of
the samana movement. Vrata obviously was the earliest term for
yoga since Vrata needed certain observances that became key foundations of the
Yoga philosophy as described later by Patanjali. Vratyas, described by early
Vedic Aryans, were the Yogis of those times whose practice was new to them.
Vrata was always an individual effort to attain enlightenment for emancipation;
it had nothing to with yoking self with the outer supreme force. In the
earliest part of Jain philosophy yoga meant a process through which the
impulses of karma adhered to and hence occluded the luminosity of the soul.
However, according to
Christopher Key Chapple, “Responding to a shift in cultural usage of this
term that probably arose during the later Upanisads, Jaina thinkers began to
describe their religious practice in light of new definitions of Yoga as
referring to techniques employed to achieve a state of mental quiescence.”
(Yoga in Jainism, edited by Christopher Key Chapple, pub.-Routledge, 2016, page
10)
This only means that
though the terminologies changed over time, the original essence remained the same, even in the Upanishads. This is why the samanic impact over the Upanishads is
quite obvious, though the Upanishads have used alternate terminologies under
Vedic influence.
Equanimity was and is
the foundation of the Vrata or Yoga, the soul of the Saman (समण) tradition. The
word Saman in the Prakrit language means “One who looks at
everything with equanimity”. The Bhagavati Aradhana (Gatha 70, Vijayodaya Tika)
defines the word Saman as “Samano” “Samano” samanasya bhavo samanan,
quchipadpynugata ragadweshata samata samanna sabdenochyate.” This
means that the spirit of the Saman is equality. Samanna is
equanimity, which does not hold grudges against anything. Hargobind Seth’s Prakrit
Dictionary also gives the meaning of Saman as "one who
sees all beings with equal vision". It was obvious that the Saman
tradition, though it first felt equality in all beings later developed the thought
towards equanimity with the cosmic soul. It was the progressive nature of
the thought that is not traceable in the Vedic stream.
Who was Patanjali?
Patanjali is credited
with the codification of Yoga. He is a legendary person whose origins are
shrouded in various mythical stories of his origin and time. He is often called
the father of modern yoga. Also, there are heavily fought debates about whether
Patanjali of the Yogasutras and Patanjali of the Mahabhashya are one and the same or
they are different personalities of different times. The time estimated for Patanjali
by different scholars ranges from the second century BC to the fourth century
AD. In my opinion, the Sutra style was invented after the third century AD, and
since the Yogsutra is written in the Sutra style it could only have been written
during the third to the fifth century. Umaswati of the Jain stream codified the
Jaina Yoga under the title “Tattvarth Sutra” during this time. Though we have
very little to go on, we can safely say that Umaswati’s Samana thought must have
influenced Patanjali. Umaswati begins his text with a statement, "Right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct
constitute the path to liberation", the key philosophy of Samanism.
Patanjali, despite all the legends associated
with him, is in unison related to the Naga cult and the Shaivait tradition. This
only means that he was not from the Vedic tradition. The Yoga he expounds is
the accumulation and proposition of the Samanik Vrata or Yoga. He gives
importance to the Vratas, calling the mahavratas or supreme vows. In the Shaivait
tradition, the Vratas find a significant place.
Sagarmal Jain states in his article published
in the book “Yoga in Jainism,” edited by Christopher Chappel, that the ‘Samatva’
yoga is the principal concept underlying Jainism. To Jains, it is the first
and foremost duty of both monks and householders. Yoga to Jaina is the
observance of equanimity, viewing all living beings as one. And to me, this is
the objective of Vrata or yoga. The Vedic system, on the contrary, is based on
inequality by classifying human society in diminishing order, thus denying the
very principle of equality.
Philosophically, the meanings of yoga can be
taken individually differently, and goals also can be set individually, asanas,
dhyana, or dharana can be practiced differently, but the goal remains the same:
equanimity with the cosmic self. To achieve this one needs to follow vratas, which were explained by the Jaina, the founders of the Samana movement…a
movement of equanimity. The Vedic groups that settled in the Magadha region
borrowed the concept, but as can be seen, the Vedic Aryans who were settled in
Aryavarta never applied the principle of equanimity in social life. The Atharv
Veda and Upanishads emerged in the Magadha region, and not in Aryavarta, can be
seen through the annals of history. However, the Vedic Aryans settled in
Magadha too, could never touch the fundamental philosophy propounded by the
ancient Jains.
To conclude the above article, the following
points must be stressed-
1. Vrata was
the original name of the Yoga and those who followed the path of Vrata were
called Vratya’s.
2. Samana,
an ancient Indian tradition of equanimity, was the founder of the Vrata alias
Yoga system.
3. Jaina,
being progenitors of the samana (Equanimity) tradition, can be
credited with the foundation of Yoga.
4. The
Vedic stream adapted the Vrata tradition from the Vratyas in
the form of yoga and propagated it, though they couldn’t erase its origin.
5.
Patanjali belonged to the non-Vedic Shaivait stream and he used all the previous
streams to codify Yoga in his treatise ‘Yogsutra’ between the third and fifth
centuries AD., just around the time when Umaswati composed his treatise “Tatvarth
Sutra” on Jain Philosophy in sutra style.
6. The
Vedic community has nothing to do with the foundation of yoga as fundamental
tenets of the term yoga go contrary to Vedic philosophy. It cannot have been
evolved from the Vedic
tenets.
-Sanjay Sonawani
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