Editing Yoga (section)

===Second urbanisation (500–200 BCE)===

{{main|History of India#Second urbanisation (c. 600 – 200 BCE)|l1=Second urbanisation}}

Systematic yoga concepts begin to emerge in texts dating to c. 500–200 BCE, such as the [[early Buddhist texts]], the middle Upanishads, and the ''[[Mahabharata]]''{{'s}} ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' and ''[[Shanti Parva]]''.{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=34–35, 53}}{{refn|group=note|Ancient Indian literature was transmitted and preserved through an [[oral tradition]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wynne |first1=Alexander |title=The Oral Transmission of the Early Buddhist Literature |journal=Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies |date=2004 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=97–128 |url=http://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8945/2838}}</ref> For example, the earliest written Pali Canon text is dated to the later part of the 1st century BCE, many centuries after the Buddha's death.<ref>Donald Lopez (2004). Buddhist Scriptures. Penguin Books. pp. xi–xv. {{ISBN|978-0-14-190937-0}}</ref>}}

{{anchor|Buddhism and śramaṇa movement}}

====Buddhism and the śramaṇa movement====

[[File:Siddharta Gautama Borobudur.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Bas-relief in [[Borobudur]] of the Buddha becoming a wandering hermit instead of a warrior |alt=Old stone carving of the Buddha with his servants and horse]]

<!--This quotation is repeated, see above-->According to [[Geoffrey Samuel]], the "best evidence to date" suggests that yogic practices "developed in the same ascetic circles as the early [[śramaṇa]] movements ([[Buddhism|Buddhists]], [[Jainism|Jainas]] and [[Ājīvika|Ajivikas]]), probably in around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE." This occurred during India's [[History of India#Second urbanisation (c. 600 – 200 BCE)|second urbanisation]] period.{{sfn|Samuel|2008|p=8}} According to Mallinson and Singleton, these traditions were the first to use mind-body techniques (known as ''Dhyāna'' and ''tapas'') but later described as yoga, to strive for liberation from the round of rebirth.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=13–15}}

Werner writes, "The Buddha was the founder of his [Yoga] system, even though, admittedly, he made use of some of the experiences he had previously gained under various Yoga teachers of his time."{{sfn|Werner|1998|p=131}} He notes:{{sfn|Werner|1998|pp=119–20}}
{{blockquote|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 first and oldest to have been preserved for us in its entirety.{{sfn|Werner|1998|pp=119–20}}}}

Early Buddhist texts describe yogic and meditative practices, some of which the Buddha borrowed from the [[śramaṇa]] tradition.<ref>[[Richard Gombrich]], "Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo." Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, p. 44.</ref><ref>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.</ref> The [[Pāli Canon]] contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the palate to control hunger or the mind, depending on the passage.<ref>Mallinson, James. 2007. ''The Khecarīvidyā of Adinathā.'' London: Routledge. pp. 17–19.</ref> There is no mention of the tongue inserted into the [[Pharynx#Nasopharynx|nasopharynx]], as in [[khecarī mudrā]]. The Buddha used a posture in which pressure is put on the [[perineum]] with the heel, similar to modern postures used to evoke [[Kundalini]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mallinson |2012|pp=20–21}}, "The Buddha himself is said to have tried both pressing his tongue to the back of his mouth, in a manner similar to that of the hathayogic khecarīmudrā, and ukkutikappadhāna, a [[squatting posture]] which may be related to hathayogic techniques such as mahāmudrā, mahābandha, mahāvedha, mūlabandha, and vajrāsana in which pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, in order to force upwards the breath or Kundalinī."</ref> [[Sutra|Suttas]] which discuss yogic practice include the ''[[Satipatthana Sutta]]'' (the [[Satipatthana|four foundations of mindfulness]] sutta) and the ''[[Anapanasati Sutta]]'' (the [[Anapanasati|mindfulness of breathing]] sutta).

The chronology of these yoga-related early Buddhist texts, like the ancient Hindu texts, is unclear.{{sfn|Samuel|2008|pp=31–32}}{{sfn|Singleton|2010|loc=Chapter 1}} Early Buddhist sources such as the [[Majjhima Nikāya]] mention meditation; the [[Aṅguttara Nikāya]] describes ''jhāyins'' (meditators) who resemble early Hindu descriptions of ''muni'', the Kesin and meditating ascetics,<ref>[[Johannes Bronkhorst|Bronkhorst, Johannes]] (1993), The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120816435}}, pages 1–24</ref> but the meditation practices are not called "yoga" in these texts.{{sfn|White|2011|pp=5–6}} The earliest known discussions of yoga in Buddhist literature, as understood in a modern context, are from the later Buddhist [[Yogachara|Yogācāra]] and [[Theravada]] schools.{{sfn|White|2011|pp=5–6}}

[[Jain meditation]] is a yoga system which predated the Buddhist school. Since Jain sources are later than Buddhist ones, however, it is difficult to distinguish between the early Jain school and elements derived from other schools.{{sfn|Werner|1998|pp=119–120}} Most of the other contemporary yoga systems alluded to in the Upanishads and some Buddhist texts have been lost.<ref name="Eating disorders">{{cite journal |last=Douglass |first=Laura |year=2011 |title=Thinking Through The Body: The Conceptualization Of Yoga As Therapy For Individuals With Eating Disorders |url=http://web.ebscohost.com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=1d8495be-1c1c-4423-ad48-1f6054f42876%40sessionmgr111&hid=103 |journal=Academic Search Premier|page=83 |access-date=19 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1809|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: devraj to jyoti|last=Datta|first=Amaresh|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|year=1988|isbn=978-81-260-1194-0|page=1809}}</ref>{{refn|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 first century BCE, the date of the Alu-vihara 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&nbsp;... In fact, it is not until the time of the commentaries of Buddhaghosa, Dhammapala, and others — that is to say, the fifth to sixth centuries CE — that we can know anything definite about the actual contents of [the Pali] canon."{{sfn|Wynne|2007|pp=3–4}}|group=note}}

====Upanishads====

The Upanishads, composed in the late [[Vedic period]], contain the first references to practices recognizable as classical yoga.{{sfn|Bryant|2009|p=xxi}} The first known appearance of the word "yoga" in the modern sense is in the [[Katha Upanishad]]{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=25–34}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=95}} (probably composed between the fifth and third centuries BCE),{{sfn|Phillips|2009|pp=28–30}}{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=12–13}} where it is defined as steady control of the senses which{{snd}}with cessation of mental activity{{snd}}leads to a supreme state.{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=94–95}}{{refn|For the date of this Upanishad see also Helmuth von Glasenapp, from the 1950 Proceedings of the "Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/vonglasenapp/wheel002.html |title=Vedanta and Buddhism, A Comparative Study |access-date=29 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204142029/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/vonglasenapp/wheel002.html |archive-date=4 February 2013 }}</ref>|group=note}} The Katha Upanishad integrates the [[monism]] of the early Upanishads with concepts of [[samkhya]] and yoga. It defines levels of existence by their proximity to one's [[Ātman (Hinduism)|innermost being]]. Yoga is viewed as a process of interiorization, or ascent of consciousness.{{sfn|Whicher|1998|pp=18–19}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=8}} The upanishad is the earliest literary work which highlights the fundamentals of yoga. According to White,
{{blockquote|The earliest extant systematic account of yoga and a bridge from the earlier Vedic uses of the term is found in the Hindu Katha Upanisad (Ku), a scripture dating from about the third century BCE&nbsp;... [I]t describes the hierarchy of mind-body constituents—the senses, mind, intellect, etc.—that comprise the foundational categories of Sāmkhya philosophy, whose metaphysical system grounds the yoga of the Yogasutras, Bhagavad Gita, and other texts and schools (Ku3.10–11; 6.7–8).{{sfn|White|2011|p=4}}}}

The hymns in book two of the [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]] (another late-first-millennium BCE text) describe a procedure in which the body is upright, the breath is restrained and the mind is meditatively focused, preferably in a cave or a place that is simple and quiet.<ref>See: Original Sanskrit: [http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/shveta.pdf Shvetashvatara Upanishad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304112640/http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/shveta.pdf |date=4 March 2011 }} Book 2, Hymns 8–14;<br /> English Translation: [[Paul Deussen]] (German: 1897; English Translated by Bedekar & Palsule, Reprint: 2010), Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814677}}, pages 309–310</ref>{{sfn|Singleton|2010|p=26}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=8}}

The ''[[Maitrayaniya Upanishad]]'', probably composed later than the Katha and Shvetashvatara Upanishads but before the ''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali'', mentions a sixfold yoga method: breath control, introspective withdrawal of the senses, meditation (''dhyana''), [[Dhāraṇā|mental concentration]], [[Tarka sastra|logic and reasoning]], and [[Samadhi|spiritual union]].{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=25–34}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=8}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=Introducing Yoga's Great Literary Heritage |last=Feuerstein |first=Georg |author-link=Georg Feuerstein |journal=[[Yoga Journal]] |date=January–February 1988 |issue=78 |pages=70–75}}</ref> In addition to discussions in the Principal Upanishads, the twenty [[Yoga Upanishads]] and related texts (such as ''[[Yoga Vasistha]]'', composed between the sixth and 14th centuries CE) discuss yoga methods.{{sfn|Ayyangar|1938|p=2}}{{sfn|Ruff|2011|pp=97–112}}

{{anchor|Macedonian historical texts}}
====Macedonian texts====

[[Alexander the Great]] reached India in the 4th century BCE. In addition to his army, he brought Greek academics who wrote memoirs about its geography, people, and customs. One of Alexander's companions was [[Onesicritus]] (quoted in Book 15, Sections 63–65 by [[Strabo]] in his ''Geography''), who describes yogis.<ref name=charlesrl>Charles R Lanman, [https://archive.org/stream/jstor-1507563/1507563#page/n3/mode/2up The Hindu Yoga System], Harvard Theological Review, Volume XI, Number 4, Harvard University Press, pages 355–359</ref> Onesicritus says that the yogis were aloof and adopted "different postures – standing or sitting or lying naked – and motionless".<ref name=strabo>Strabo, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15A3*.html#ref101 Geography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101030721/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15A3%2A.html#ref101 |date=1 November 2022 }} Book XV, Chapter 1, see Sections 63–65, Loeb Classical Library edition, Harvard University Press, Translator: H. L. Jones</ref>

Onesicritus also mentions attempts by his colleague, [[Kalanos|Calanus]], to meet them. Initially denied an audience, he was later invited because he was sent by a "king curious of wisdom and philosophy".<ref name=strabo /> Onesicritus and Calanus learn that the yogis consider life's best doctrines to "rid the spirit of not only pain, but also pleasure", that "man trains the body for toil in order that his opinions may be strengthened", that "there is no shame in life on frugal fare", and that "the best place to inhabit is one with scantiest equipment or outfit".<ref name=charlesrl /><ref name=strabo /> According to [[Charles Rockwell Lanman]], these principles are significant in the history of yoga's spiritual side and may reflect the roots of "undisturbed calmness" and "mindfulness through balance" in the later works of [[Patanjali]] and [[Buddhaghosa]].<ref name=charlesrl />

====''Mahabharata'' and ''Bhagavad Gita''====

''Nirodhayoga'' (yoga of cessation), an early form of yoga, is described in the Mokshadharma section of the 12th chapter (''Shanti Parva'') of the third-century BCE ''[[Mahabharata]]''.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=xii–xxii}} ''Nirodhayoga'' emphasizes progressive withdrawal from empirical consciousness, including thoughts and sensations, until ''purusha'' (self) is realized. Terms such as ''vichara'' (subtle reflection) and ''viveka'' (discrimination) similar to Patanjali's terminology are used, but not described.{{sfn|Whicher|1998|pp=25–26}} Although the ''Mahabharata'' contains no uniform yogic goal, the separation of self from matter and perception of [[Brahman]] everywhere are described as goals of yoga. [[Samkhya]] and yoga are [[Conflation|conflated]], and some verses describe them as identical.{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=9}} Mokshadharma also describes an early practice of elemental meditation.{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=33}} The ''Mahabharata'' defines the purpose of yoga as uniting the individual ''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]]'' with the universal Brahman pervading all things.{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=9}}

[[File:Bhagavata Gita Bishnupur Arnab Dutta 2011.JPG|thumb|alt=House decoration of Krishna speaking to Arjuna|[[Krishna]] narrating the ''Bhagavad Gita'' to [[Arjuna]] ]]

The ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' (''Song of the Lord''), part of the ''Mahabharata'', contains extensive teachings about yoga. According to Mallinson and Singleton, the ''Gita'' "seeks to appropriate yoga from the renunciate milieu in which it originated, teaching that it is compatible with worldly activity carried out according to one's caste and life stage; it is only the fruits of one's actions that are to be renounced."{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=xii–xxii}} In addition to a chapter (chapter six) dedicated to traditional yoga practice (including meditation),{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=10}} it introduces three significant types of yoga:{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=96}}
* [[Karma yoga]]: yoga of action{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|pp=10–11}}
* [[Bhakti yoga]]: yoga of devotion{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|pp=10–11}}
* [[Jnana yoga]]: yoga of knowledge<ref>E. Easwaran, Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, Nilgiri Press, {{ISBN|978-1-58638-068-7}}, pages 117–118</ref><ref>Jack Hawley (2011), The Bhagavad Gita, {{ISBN|978-1-60868-014-6}}, pages 50, 130; Arvind Sharma (2000), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-564441-8}}, pages 114–122</ref>

The ''Gita'' consists of 18 chapters and 700 ''shlokas'' (verses);<ref name="bibekd">Bibek Debroy (2005), The Bhagavad Gita, Penguin Books, {{ISBN|978-0-14-400068-5}}, Introduction, pages x–xi</ref> each chapter is named for a different form of yoga.<ref name=bibekd />{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=46}}<ref>Georg Feuerstein (2011), The Bhagavad Gita – A New Translation, Shambhala, {{ISBN|978-1-59030-893-6}}</ref> Some scholars divide the ''Gita'' into three sections; the first six chapters (280 ''shlokas'') deal with karma yoga, the middle six (209 ''shlokas'') with bhakti yoga, and the last six (211 ''shlokas'') with jnana yoga. However, elements of all three are found throughout the work.<ref name="bibekd" />

====Philosophical sutras====

Yoga is discussed in the foundational [[sutra]]s of [[Hindu philosophy]]. The ''[[Vaiśeṣika Sūtra]]'' of the [[Vaisheshika]] school of Hinduism, composed between the sixth and second centuries BCE, discusses yoga.{{refn|group=note|The currently existing version of ''Vaiśeṣika Sūtra'' manuscript was likely finalized sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the start of the common era. Wezler has proposed that the Yoga related text may have been inserted into this Sutra later, among other things; however, Bronkhorst finds much to disagree on with Wezler.<ref name=Bronkhorst64/>}} According to [[Johannes Bronkhorst]], the ''Vaiśeṣika Sūtra'' describes yoga as "a state where the mind resides only in the Self and therefore not in the senses".<ref name="Bronkhorst64">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZbZDP8MRJoC&pg=PA64|title=The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India |author=Johannes Bronkhorst |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1993 |isbn=978-81-208-1114-0 |page=64}}</ref> This is equivalent to ''pratyahara'' (withdrawal of the senses). The sutra asserts that yoga leads to an absence of ''sukha'' (happiness) and ''dukkha'' (suffering), describing meditative steps in the journey towards spiritual liberation.<ref name="Bronkhorst64" />

The ''[[Brahma Sutras]]'', the foundation text of the [[Vedanta]] school of Hinduism, also discusses yoga.<ref name="Phillips2009p281">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLqrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA281 |title=Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy |author=Stephen Phillips |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-231-14485-8 |pages=281 footnote 36}}</ref> Estimated as completed in its surviving form between 450 BCE and 200 CE,<ref name="Nicholson2013p26">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVusAgAAQBAJ |title=Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History |author=Andrew J. Nicholson |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-231-14987-7 |pages=26}}, "From a historical perspective, the Brahmasutras are best understood as a group of sutras composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years, most likely composed in its current form between 400 and 450 BCE."</ref><ref name="nvisaeva36">NV Isaeva (1992), Shankara and Indian Philosophy, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-1281-7}}, page 36, ""on the whole, scholars are rather unanimous, considering the most probable date for Brahmasutra sometime between the 2nd-century BCE and the 2nd-century CE"</ref> its sutras assert that yoga is a means to attain "subtlety of body".<ref name="Phillips2009p281" /> The ''[[Nyāya Sūtras|Nyaya Sutras]]''—the foundation text of the [[Nyaya]] school, estimated as composed between the sixth century BCE and the secondcentury CE<ref name="jfowlerpor129">Jeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1898723943}}, page 129</ref><ref>B. K. Matilal (1986), "Perception. An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge", Oxford University Press, p. xiv.</ref>—discusses yoga in sutras 4.2.38–50. It includes a discussion of yogic ethics, [[Dhyana in Hinduism|dhyana]] (meditation) and [[samadhi]], noting that debate and philosophy are also forms of yoga.<ref name="Phillips2009p297">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLqrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA281 |title=Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy |author=Stephen Phillips |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-231-14485-8 |pages=281 footnote 40, 297}}</ref><ref name="vidyabhushana137">SC Vidyabhushana (1913, Translator), [https://archive.org/stream/NyayaSutra/nyaya_sutras_of_gautama#page/n161/mode/2up The Nyâya Sutras], The Sacred Book of the Hindus, Volume VIII, Bhuvaneshvar Asrama Press, pages 137–139</ref><ref name="potterteip237">Karl Potter (2004), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Indian metaphysics and epistemology, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120803091}}, page 237</ref>