Editing Yoga (section)

==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 (as reflected in Vedic texts), and influenced Buddhism.{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=1-6}} This model is mainly supported by Hindu scholars.{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=1-6}} According to the synthesis model, yoga is a synthesis of indigenous, non-Vedic practices with Vedic elements. This model is favoured in Western scholarship.{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=103-138}}

The earliest yoga-practices may have appeared in the Jain tradition at ca. 900 BCE.{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2007|p=511}} Speculations about yoga are documented in the early Upanishads of the first half of the first millennium BCE, with expositions also appearing in Jain and Buddhist texts {{circa|500|200 BCE}}. Between 200 BCE and 500 CE, traditions of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain<!--{{sfn|Larson|2008|p=36}}: this is [[WP:RS|Reliably Cited]]--> philosophy were taking shape; teachings were collected as [[sutra]]s, and a philosophical system of ''Patanjaliyogasastra'' began to emerge.{{sfn|Larson|2008|p=36}} The Middle Ages saw the development of a number of yoga satellite traditions. It and other aspects of Indian philosophy came to the attention of the educated Western public during the mid-19th century.

===Origins===

{{anchor|Synthetic model}}
==== Synthesis model ====

Heinrich Zimmer was an exponent of the synthesis model,{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=5}} arguing for non-Vedic [[East India|eastern states of India]].{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=217, 314}} According to Zimmer, yoga is part of a non-Vedic system which includes the [[Samkhya]] school of [[Hindu philosophy]], [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]]:{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=217, 314}} "[Jainism] does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India [Bihar] – being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, [[Samkhya|Sankhya]], and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems."{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=217}}{{refn|group=note|Zimmer's point of view is supported by other scholars, such as Niniam Smart in ''Doctrine and argument in Indian Philosophy'', 1964, pp. 27–32, 76{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=7}} and S. K. Belvakar and [[Inchegeri Sampradaya]] in ''History of Indian philosophy'', 1974 (1927), pp. 81, 303–409.{{sfn|Crangle|1994|pp=5–7}}}} More recently, [[Richard Gombrich]]{{sfn|Gombrich|2007}} and Geoffrey Samuel{{sfn|Samuel|2008}} also argue that the ''[[śramaṇa]]'' movement originated in the non-Vedic eastern Ganges basin,{{sfn|Samuel|2008}} specifically [[Greater Magadha]].{{sfn|Gombrich|2007}}

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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McEvilley|first=Thomas|year=1981|title=An Archaeology of Yoga|journal=Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics |volume=1 |issue=spring |page=51 |doi=10.1086/RESv1n1ms20166655 |s2cid=192221643|issn=0277-1322}}</ref> According to Gavin D. Flood, the Upanishads differ fundamentally from the Vedic ritual tradition and indicate non-Vedic influences.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=78}} However, the traditions may be connected:
{{blockquote|[T]his dichotomization is too simplistic, for continuities can undoubtedly be found between renunciation and vedic Brahmanism, while elements from non-Brahmanical, Sramana traditions also played an important part in the formation of the renunciate ideal.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=77}}{{refn|group=note|Gavin Flood: "These renouncer traditions offered a new vision of the human condition which became incorporated, to some degree, into the worldview of the Brahman householder. The ideology of asceticism and renunciation seems, at first, discontinuous with the brahmanical ideology of the affirmation of social obligations and the performance of public and domestic rituals. Indeed, there has been some debate as to whether asceticism and its ideas of retributive action, reincarnation and spiritual liberation, might not have originated outside the orthodox vedic sphere, or even outside Aryan culture: that a divergent historical origin might account for the apparent contradiction within 'Hinduism' between the world affirmation of the householder and the world negation of the renouncer. However, this dichotomization is too simplistic, for continuities can undoubtedly be found between renunciation and vedic Brahmanism, while elements from non-Brahmanical, Sramana traditions also played an important part in the formation of the renunciate ideal. Indeed there are continuities between vedic Brahmanism and Buddhism, and it has been argued that the Buddha sought to return to the ideals of a vedic society which he saw as being eroded in his own day."{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=76–77}}}}}}

The ascetic traditions of the eastern Ganges plain are thought to drew from a common body of practices and philosophies,{{sfn|Bryant|2009|p=xxi}}{{sfn|Samuel|2008}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=233}} with proto-samkhya concepts of ''purusha'' and ''prakriti'' as a common denominator.{{sfn|Larson|2014}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=233}}

====Linear model====

According to Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, Hindu researchers have favoured a linear theory which attempts "to interpret the origin and early development of Indian contemplative practices as a sequential growth from an Aryan genesis";{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=4}}{{refn|group=note|See also Gavin Flood (1996), ''Hinduism'', p.87–90, on "The orthogenetic theory" and "Non-Vedic origins of renunciation".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=87–90}}}} traditional Hinduism regards the [[Vedas]] as the source of all spiritual knowledge.{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=5}}{{refn|group=note|Post-classical traditions consider [[Hiranyagarbha]] the originator of yoga.{{sfn|Feuerstein|2001|loc=Kindle Locations 7299–7300}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Aranya |first=Swami Hariharananda |author-link=Swami Hariharananda Aranya |title=Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali with Bhasvati |year=2000 |publisher=University of Calcutta |location=Calcutta, India |isbn=81-87594-00-4|page=xxiv | chapter=Introduction}}</ref>}} Edwin Bryant wrote that authors who support [[Indigenous Aryanism]] also tend to support the linear model.{{sfn|Bryant2009|p=xix-xx}}

====Indus Valley Civilisation====

[[File:Shiva Pashupati.jpg|thumb|The Pashupati seal from the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] (3300 BCE) shows a seated figure, surrounded by animals, in a posture thought by 20th century scholars to be [[Mulabandhasana]]. This is rejected by more recent scholars.{{sfn|Samuel|2008|pp=1–14}}]]

The twentieth-century scholars [[Karel Werner]], [[Thomas McEvilley]], and Mircea Eliade believed that the central figure of the [[Pashupati seal]] is seated in the [[Mulabandhasana]] posture,{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=25–34}} and the roots of yoga are in the [[Indus Valley civilisation]].{{sfn|Samuel|2008|pp=1–14}} This is rejected by more recent scholarship; for example, [[Geoffrey Samuel]], Andrea R. Jain, and [[Wendy Doniger]] describe the identification as speculative; the meaning of the figure will remain unknown until [[Indus script |Harappan script]] is deciphered, and the roots of yoga cannot be linked to the IVC.{{sfn|Samuel|2008|pp=1–14}}<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Doniger |first=Wendy |date=2011 |title=God's Body, or, The Lingam Made Flesh: Conflicts over the Representation of the Sexual Body of the Hindu God Shiva |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23347187 |journal=Social Research |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=485–508 |jstor=23347187 |issn=0037-783X}}</ref>{{refn |group=note |Some scholars are now considering the image to be an instance of Lord of the Beasts found in Eurasian neolithic mythology or the widespread motif of the [[Master of Animals]] found in ancient [[Near East]]ern and Mediterranean art.{{sfn |Witzel |2008 |pp=68–70, 90}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kenoyer |first=Jonathan Mark |title=The Master of Animals in Old World Iconography |publisher=Archaeolingua Alapítvány |year=2010 |editor-last=Counts |editor-first=Derek B. |pages=50 |chapter=Master of Animals and Animal Masters in the Iconography of the Indus Tradition |editor-last2=Arnold |editor-first2=Bettina}}</ref>}}

{{anchor|Earliest textual references (1000–500 BCE)}}

===Earliest references (1000–500 BCE)===

{{further|Vedic period}}

The [[Vedas]], the only texts preserved from the early Vedic period and codified between c. 1200 and 900 BCE, contain references to yogic practices primarily related to ascetics outside, or on the fringes of [[Historical Vedic religion#Brahmanism|Brahmanism]].{{sfn|Jacobsen|2018|p=6}}{{sfn|Werner|1977}} The earliest yoga-practices may have come from the Jain tradition at ca. 900 BCE.{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2007|p=511}}

The ''Rigveda''{{'s}} [[Nasadiya Sukta]] suggests an early Brahmanic contemplative tradition.{{refn|group=note|
* Wynne states that "The Nasadiyasukta, one of the earliest and most important cosmogonic tracts in the early Brahminic literature, contains evidence suggesting it was closely related to a tradition of early Brahminic contemplation. A close reading of this text suggests that it was closely related to a tradition of early Brahminic contemplation. The poem may have been composed by contemplatives, but even if not, an argument can be made that it marks the beginning of the contemplative/meditative trend in Indian thought."{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=50}}
* Miller suggests that the composition of Nasadiya Sukta and ''[[Purusha Sukta]]'' arises from "the subtlest meditative stage, called absorption in mind and heart" which "involves enheightened experiences" through which seer "explores the mysterious psychic and cosmic forces...".{{sfn|Whicher|1998|p=11}}
* Jacobsen writes that dhyana (meditation) is derived from the Vedic term dhih which refers to "visionary insight", "thought provoking vision".{{sfn|Whicher|1998|p=11}}}} Techniques for controlling breath and vital energies are mentioned in the ''Atharvaveda'' and in the [[Brahmana]]s (the second layer of the Vedas, composed c. 1000–800 BCE).{{sfn|Jacobsen|2018|p=6}}{{sfn|Lamb|2011|p=427}}{{sfn|Whicher|1998|p=13}}

According to Flood, "The [[Samhita]]s [the mantras of the Vedas] contain some references&nbsp;... to ascetics, namely the [[Muni (saint)|Munis]] or [[Keśin]]s and the Vratyas."{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=94–95}} Werner wrote in 1977 that the ''Rigveda'' does not describe yoga, and there is little evidence of practices.{{sfn|Werner|1977}} The earliest description of "an outsider who does not belong to the Brahminic establishment" is found in the [[Keśin]] hymn 10.136, the ''Rigveda''{{'s}} youngest book, which was codified around 1000 BCE.{{sfn|Werner|1977}} Werner wrote that there were
{{Blockquote|... individuals who were active outside the trend of Vedic mythological creativity and the Brahminic religious orthodoxy and therefore little evidence of their existence, practices and achievements has survived. And such evidence as is available in the Vedas themselves is scanty and indirect. Nevertheless the indirect evidence is strong enough not to allow any doubt about the existence
of spiritually highly advanced wanderers.{{sfn|Werner|1977}}}}

According to Whicher (1998), scholarship frequently fails to see the connection between the contemplative practices of the ''[[rishi]]s'' and later yoga practices: "The proto-Yoga of the Vedic [[rishi]]s is an early form of sacrificial mysticism and contains many elements characteristic of later Yoga that include: concentration, meditative observation, ascetic forms of practice (''tapas''), breath control practiced in conjunction with the recitation of sacred hymns during the ritual, the notion of self-sacrifice, impeccably accurate recitation of sacred words (prefiguring ''mantra-yoga''), mystical experience, and the engagement with a reality far greater than our psychological identity or the ego."{{sfn|Whicher|1998|p=12}} Jacobsen wrote in 2018, "Bodily postures are closely related to the tradition of ''[[Tapas (Indian religion)|tapas]]'', ascetic practices in the Vedic tradition"; ascetic practices used by Vedic priests "in their preparations for the performance of the [[Yajna|sacrifice]]" may be precursors of yoga.{{sfn|Jacobsen|2018|p=6}} "The ecstatic practice of enigmatic longhaired ''muni'' in ''Rgveda'' 10.136 and the ascetic 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 ascetic practices of yoga."{{sfn|Jacobsen|2018|p=6}}

According to Bryant, practices recognizable as classical yoga first appear in the Upanishads (composed during the late [[Vedic period]]).{{sfn|Bryant|2009|p=xxi}} Alexander Wynne agrees that formless, elemental meditation might have originated in the Upanishadic tradition.{{sfn|Wynne|2007|pp=44–45, 58}} An early reference to meditation is made in the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] (c. 900 BCE), one of the [[Principal Upanishads]].{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=94–95}} The [[Chandogya Upanishad]] (c. 800–700 BCE) describes the five vital energies (''[[prana]]''), and concepts of later yoga traditions (such as [[Nadi (yoga)|blood vessels]] and an internal sound) are also described in this upanishad.{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=6}} The practice of [[pranayama]] (focusing on the breath) is mentioned in hymn 1.5.23 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,<ref name=Eliade2009/> and [[pratyahara]] (withdrawal of the senses) is mentioned in hymn 8.15 of Chandogya Upanishad.<ref name=Eliade2009>Mircea Eliade (2009), Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-691-14203-6}}, pages 117–118</ref>{{refn|group=note|Original Sanskrit: स्वाध्यायमधीयानो धर्मिकान्विदध'''दात्मनि सर्वैन्द्रियाणि संप्रतिष्ठा'''प्याहिँसन्सर्व भूतान्यन्यत्र तीर्थेभ्यः स खल्वेवं वर्तयन्यावदायुषं ब्रह्मलोकमभिसंपद्यते न च पुनरावर्तते न च पुनरावर्तते॥ १॥ – [[Chandogya Upanishad]], VIII.15<ref>[http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/छान्दोग्योपनिषद्_४ wikisource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822070520/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%9B%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_%E0%A5%AA |date=22 August 2016 }}, Chandogya Upanishad, अष्टमोऽध्यायः॥ पञ्चदशः खण्डः॥</ref><br />
Translation 1 by [[Max Muller]], The Upanishads, The [[Sacred Books of the East]] – Part 1, Oxford University Press: (He who engages in) self study, concentrates all his senses on the Self, never giving pain to any creature, except at the tîrthas, he who behaves thus all his life, reaches the world of [[Brahman]], and does not return, yea, he does not return.<br />
Translation 2 by G.N. Jha: [https://archive.org/stream/Shankara.Bhashya-Chandogya.Upanishad-Ganganath.Jha.1942.English#page/n503/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad] VIII.15, page 488: (He who engages in self study),—and having withdrawn all his sense-organs into the Self,—never causing pain to any living beings, except in places specially ordained,—one who behaves thus throughout life reaches the ''Region of Brahman'' and does not return,—yea, does not return.—}} The [[Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana]] (probably before the 6th c. BCE) teaches breath control and repetition of a [[mantra]].{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=xii}} The 6th-c. BCE [[Taittiriya Upanishad]] defines yoga as the mastery of body and senses.{{sfn|Whicher|1998|p=17}} According to Flood, "[T]he actual term ''yoga'' first appears in the [[Katha Upanishad]],{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=95}} dated to the fifth<ref>Richard King (1995). ''[https://books.google.com/books?cd=1&q=9780791425138&btnG=Search+Books Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: the Mahāyāna context of the Gauḍapādīya-kārikā]''. SUNY Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7914-2513-8}}, page 52</ref> to first centuries BCE.{{sfn|Olivelle|1996|p=xxxvii}}

===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>

===Classical era (200 BCE – 500 CE)===

The Indic traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were taking shape during the period between the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan]] and the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] eras (c. 200 BCE – 500 CE), and systems of yoga began to emerge;{{sfn|Larson|2008|p=36}} a number of texts from these traditions discussed and compiled yoga methods and practices. Key works of the era include the ''[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali]],'' the ''[[Yoga Yajnavalkya|Yoga-Yājñavalkya]],'' the ''[[Yogacarabhumi-sastra|Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra]]'', and the ''[[Visuddhimagga]].''

==== ''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali'' ====

[[File:Patanjali.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Statue of Patanjali as half man, half snake|Traditional Hindu depiction of [[Patanjali]] as an avatar of the divine serpent [[Shesha]]]]

One of the best-known early expressions of [[Brahmin]]ical yoga thought is the ''[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]]'' (early centuries CE,{{sfn|Bryant|2009|p=xxxiv}}{{sfn|Desmarais|2008|p=16-17}}{{efn|name="YS_dating"}} the original name of which may have been the ''Pātañjalayogaśāstra-sāṃkhya-pravacana'' (c. 325–425 CE); some scholars believe that it included the sutras and a commentary.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=xvi–xvii}} As the name suggests, the metaphysical basis of the text is [[samkhya]]; the school is mentioned in Kauṭilya's [[Arthashastra]] as one of the three categories of ''anviksikis'' (philosophies), with yoga and ''[[Charvaka|Cārvāka]]''.<ref>Original Sanskrit: साङ्ख्यं योगो लोकायतं च इत्यान्वीक्षिकी |<br />English Translation: [https://archive.org/stream/Arthasastra_English_Translation/Arthashastra_of_Chanakya_-_English#page/n9/mode/2up Arthasastra Book 1, Chapter 2] Kautiliya, R Shamasastry (Translator), page 9</ref><ref>Olivelle, Patrick (2013), King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya's Arthasastra, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-989182-5}}, see Introduction</ref> Yoga and samkhya have some differences; yoga accepted the concept of a personal god, and Samkhya was a rational, non-theistic system of Hindu philosophy.<ref name="lpfl" />{{sfn|Burley|2012|pp=31–46}}{{sfn|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1967|p=453}} Patanjali's system is sometimes called "Seshvara Samkhya", distinguishing it from [[Kapila]]'s Nirivara Samkhya.{{sfn|Radhakrishnan|1971|p=344}} The parallels between yoga and samkhya were so close that [[Max Müller]] says, "The two philosophies were in popular parlance distinguished from each other as Samkhya with and Samkhya without a Lord."{{sfn|Müller|1899|p=104}} [[Karel Werner]] wrote that the systematization of yoga which began in the middle and early Yoga Upanishads culminated in the ''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali''.{{refn|Werner writes, "The word Yoga appears here for the first time in its fully technical meaning, namely as a systematic training, and it already received a more or less clear formulation in some other middle Upanishads....Further process of the systematization of Yoga as a path to the ultimate mystic goal is obvious in subsequent Yoga Upanishads and the culmination of this endeavour is represented by Patanjali's codification of this path into a system of the eightfold Yoga."{{sfn|Werner|1998|p=24}}|group=note}}

{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+ Yoga Sutras of Patanjali{{sfn|Stiles|2001|p=x}}
|-
!Pada (Chapter)||English meaning||Sutras
|-
|Samadhi Pada||On being absorbed in spirit|| style="text-align: center" | 51
|-
|Sadhana Pada||On being immersed in spirit|| style="text-align: center" | 55
|-
|Vibhuti Pada||On supernatural abilities and gifts|| style="text-align: center" | 56
|-
|Kaivalya Pada||On absolute freedom|| style="text-align: center" | 34
|}

The ''Yoga Sutras'' are also influenced by the Sramana traditions of Buddhism and Jainism, and may be a further Brahmanical attempt to adopt yoga from those traditions.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=xvi–xvii}} Larson noted a number of parallels in ancient samkhya, yoga and [[Abhidharma]] Buddhism, particularly from the second century BCE to the first century AD.{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=43–45}} Patanjali's ''Yoga Sutras'' are a synthesis of the three traditions. From Samkhya, they adopt the "reflective discernment" (''adhyavasaya'') of ''prakrti'' and ''purusa'' (dualism), their metaphysical rationalism, and their three [[epistemology|epistemological]] methods of obtaining knowledge.{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=43–45}} Larson says that the ''Yoga Sutras'' pursue an altered state of awareness from Abhidharma Buddhism's ''nirodhasamadhi''; unlike Buddhism's "no self or soul", however, yoga (like Samkhya) believes that each individual has a self.{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=43–45}} The third concept which the ''Yoga Sutras'' synthesize is the [[Sannyasa|ascetic]] tradition of meditation and introspection.{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=43–45}}

Patanjali's ''Yoga Sutras'' are considered the first compilation of yoga philosophy.{{refn|group=note|For [[Patanjali]] as the founder of the philosophical system called yoga see: {{harvnb|Chatterjee|Datta|1984 |p=42}}.}} The verses of the ''Yoga Sutras'' are terse. Many later Indian scholars studied them and published their commentaries, such as the ''Vyasa Bhashya'' (c. 350–450 CE).{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=21–22}} Patanjali defines the word "yoga" in his second sutra, and his terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. [[I. K. Taimni]] translates it as "Yoga is the inhibition (''{{IAST|nirodhaḥ}}'') of the modifications (''{{IAST|vṛtti}}'') of the mind (''{{IAST|citta}}'')".{{sfn|Taimni|1961|p=6}} [[Swami Vivekananda]] translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (''Citta'') from taking various forms (''Vrittis'')."{{sfn|Vivekananda|p=115}} [[Edwin Bryant (author)|Edwin Bryant]] writes that to Patanjali, "Yoga essentially consists of meditative practices culminating in attaining a state of consciousness free from all modes of active or discursive thought, and of eventually attaining a state where consciousness is unaware of any object external to itself, that is, is only aware of its own nature as consciousness unmixed with any other object."<ref name=edbryant>Edwin Bryant (2011, Rutgers University), [http://www.iep.utm.edu/yoga/ The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518185305/https://www.iep.utm.edu/yoga/ |date=18 May 2019 }} IEP</ref>{{sfn|Bryant|2009|p=10}}{{sfn|Bryant|2009|p=457}}

[[Baba Hari Dass]] writes that if yoga is understood as [[nirodha]] (mental control), its goal is "the unqualified state of ''niruddha'' (the perfection of that process)".{{sfn|Dass|1999|p=5}} "Yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state&nbsp;... as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation."{{sfn|Dass|1999|p=5}}

Patanjali defined an [[Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga)|eight-limbed yoga]] in ''Yoga Sutras'' 2.29:
# [[Yamas|Yama]] (The five abstentions): [[Ahimsa]] (Non-violence, non-harming other living beings),<ref>James Lochtefeld, "Yama (2)", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-8239-3179-8}}, page 777</ref> [[Satya]] (truthfulness, non-falsehood),<ref name=artid>Arti Dhand (2002), The dharma of ethics, the ethics of dharma: Quizzing the ideals of Hinduism, Journal of Religious Ethics, 30(3), pages 347–372</ref> [[Asteya]] (non-stealing),<ref name=mngulati /> [[Brahmacharya]] (celibacy, fidelity to one's partner),<ref name=mngulati>MN Gulati (2008), Comparative Religions And Philosophies : Anthropomorphism And Divinity, {{ISBN|978-8126909025}}, page 168</ref> and [[Aparigraha]] (non-avarice, non-possessiveness).<ref name=artid />

# [[Niyama]] (The five "observances"): [[Shaucha|Śauca]] (purity, clearness of mind, speech and body),<ref>Sharma and Sharma, Indian Political Thought, Atlantic Publishers, {{ISBN|978-8171566785}}, page 19</ref> [[Santosha]] (contentment, acceptance of others and of one's circumstances),<ref name=ntummers>N Tummers (2009), Teaching Yoga for Life, {{ISBN|978-0-7360-7016-4}}, pages 16–17</ref> [[Tapas (Sanskrit)|Tapas]] (persistent meditation, perseverance, austerity),<ref>Kaelber, W. O. (1976). "Tapas", Birth, and Spiritual Rebirth in the Veda, History of Religions, 15(4): 343–386</ref> [[Svādhyāya]] (study of self, self-reflection, study of Vedas),<ref>SA Bhagwat (2008), Yoga and Sustainability. Journal of Yoga, Fall/Winter 2008, 7(1): 1–14</ref> and [[Ishvarapranidhana|Ishvara-Pranidhana]] (contemplation of God/Supreme Being/True Self).<ref name=ntummers />
# [[Asana]]: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation.
# [[Pranayama]] ("Breath exercises"): ''Prāna'', breath, "āyāma", to "stretch, extend, restrain, stop".
# [[Pratyahara]] ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.
# [[Dharana]] ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object.
# [[Dhyana in Hinduism|Dhyana]] ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.
# [[Samadhi]] ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.

In Hindu scholasticism since the 12th century, yoga has been one of the six [[Āstika and nāstika|orthodox]] philosophical schools (darsanas): traditions which accept the Vedas.{{refn|group=note|For an overview of the six orthodox schools, with detail on the grouping of schools, see: {{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1967|loc="Contents" and pp. 453–487}}.}}{{refn|group=note|For a brief overview of the yoga school of philosophy see: {{harvnb|Chatterjee|Datta|1984|p=43}}.}}{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=16–17}}

==== Yoga and Vedanta ====

Yoga and ''[[Vedanta]]'' are the two largest surviving schools of Hindu traditions. Although they share many principles, concepts, and the belief in Self, they differ in degree, style, and methods; yoga accepts three means to obtain knowledge, and [[Advaita Vedanta]] accepts.{{sfn|Grimes|1996|p=238}} Yoga disputes Advaita Vedanta's [[monism]].<ref name=shphillips /> It believes that in the state of [[moksha]], each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as an independent identity; Advaita Vedanta teaches that in the state of [[moksha]], each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as part of oneness with everything, everyone and the Universal Self. They both hold that the free conscience is transcendent, liberated and self-aware. Advaita Vedanta also encourages the use of Patanjali's yoga practices and the ''Upanishads'' for those seeking the supreme good and ultimate [[Jivanmukta|freedom]].<ref name=shphillips>{{cite book | first=Stephen H. | last=Phillips | title=Classical Indian Metaphysics: Refutations of Realism and the Emergence of "New Logic" | url=https://archive.org/details/classicalindianm00phil | url-access=registration | publisher=Open Court Publishing | year=1995 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/classicalindianm00phil/page/12 12–13]| isbn=9780812692983 }}</ref>

====Yoga Yajnavalkya====

{{Main|Yoga Yajnavalkya}}
{{Quote box
 |quote='''संयोगो योग इत्युक्तो जीवात्मपरमात्मनोः॥''' <br /> ''saṁyogo yoga ityukto jīvātma-paramātmanoḥ॥'' <br />Yoga is the union of the individual self (''jivātma'') with the supreme self (''paramātma'').
 |source=—''[[Yoga Yajnavalkya]]''{{sfn|Larson|2008|p=478}}
 |width=30%
 |align=right
}}

The ''Yoga Yajnavalkya'' is a classical treatise on yoga, attributed to the Vedic sage [[Yajnavalkya]], in the form of a dialogue between Yajnavalkya and the renowned philosopher [[Gargi Vachaknavi]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Rosen |first=Richard |title=Guided Meditation |magazine=Yoga Journal |date=March 2006 |page=121 |issn=0191-0965 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ekDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA121}}</ref> The origin of the 12-chapter text has been traced to the second century BCE and the fourth century CE.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Prahlad |editor1-last=Divanji |title=Yoga Yajnavalkya: A Treatise on Yoga as Taught by Yogi Yajnavalkya |series=B.B.R.A. Society's Monograph |volume=3 |year=1954 |publisher=Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |location=Bombay, India |page=105}}</ref> A number of yoga texts, such as the ''Hatha Yoga Pradipika'', the ''Yoga Kundalini'' and the ''Yoga Tattva Upanishads'', have borrowed from (or frequently refer to) the ''Yoga Yajnavalkya''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mohan|first=A.G.|title=Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6nQQQ0OWo8C&pg=PA127|year=2010|publisher=Shambhala Publications|isbn=978-1-59030-800-4|page=127}}</ref> It discusses eight yoga [[asana]]s (Swastika, Gomukha, Padma, Vira, Simha, Bhadra, Mukta and Mayura),{{sfn|Larson|2008|p=479}} a number of breathing exercises for body cleansing,{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=481–484}} and meditation.{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=485–486}}

{{anchor|Buddhist Abhidharma and Yogacara}}
==== Abhidharma and Yogachara ====

[[File:Muchaku Hokuendo Kofukuji 2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=Old sculpture of the scholar Asanga|[[Asanga]], a fourth-century scholar and co-founder of the Yogachara ("Yoga practice") school of Mahayana Buddhism<ref>{{cite book|author=John M. Koller|title=Asian Philosophies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgAQAQAAIAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Prentice Hall|isbn=978-0-13-092385-1|pages=144–145}}</ref>]]

The Buddhist tradition of [[Abhidharma]] spawned treatises which expanded teachings on Buddhist theory and yoga techniques which influenced [[Mahayana]] and [[Theravada]] Buddhism. At the height of the [[Gupta period]] (fourth to fifth centuries CE), a northern Mahayana movement known as [[Yogachara|Yogācāra]] began to be systematized with the writings of Buddhist scholars [[Asanga]] and [[Vasubandhu]]. Yogācāra Buddhism provided a systematic framework for practices which lead a [[bodhisattva]] towards awakening and full [[Buddhahood]].<ref>Dan Lusthaus. Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogacara Buddhism and the Ch'eng Wei-shih Lun. Published 2002 (Routledge). {{ISBN|0-7007-1186-4}}. pg 533</ref> Its teachings are found in the encyclopedic ''[[Yogacarabhumi-sastra|Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra]]'' (''[[Shastra|Treatise]] for Yoga Practitioners''), which was also translated into Tibetan and Chinese and influenced [[East Asian Buddhism|East Asian]] and [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] traditions.<ref>Ulrich Timme Kragh (editor), ''The Foundation for Yoga Practitioners'': ''The Buddhist Yogācārabhūmi Treatise and Its Adaptation in India, East Asia, and Tibet, Volume 1'' Harvard University, Department of South Asian studies, 2013, pp. 16, 25.</ref> Mallinson and Singleton write that the study of Yogācāra Buddhism is essential to understand yoga's early history, and its teachings influenced the ''Pātañjalayogaśāstra.''{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=xvii–xviii}} The South India and Sri Lankan-based [[Theravada]] school also developed manuals for yogic and meditative training, primarily the ''[[Vimuttimagga]]'' and the ''[[Visuddhimagga]]''.

====Jainism====

{{main|Jainism}}

According to ''[[Tattvarthasutra]]'', a second-to-fifth century Jain text, yoga is the sum of all activities of mind, speech and body.{{efn|name="Tattvarthasutra 2007 p. 102"}} [[Umasvati]] calls yoga the generator of [[Asrava|karma]],<ref name="Tattvarthasutra 6.2">Tattvarthasutra [6.2]</ref> and essential to the path to liberation.<ref name="Tattvarthasutra 6.2" /> In his ''[[Niyamasara]]'', [[Kundakunda]] describes ''yoga bhakti''—devotion to the path to liberation—as the highest form of devotion.{{sfn|Kundakunda|pp=134–140}} [[Haribhadra]] and [[Hemacandra]] note the five major vows of ascetics and 12 minor vows of laity in yoga. According to [[Robert J. Zydenbos]], Jainism is a system of yogic thinking which became a religion.{{sfn|Zydenbos|2006|p=66}} The [[Yamas#Five yamas of Patañjali|five yamas]] (constraints) of the ''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali'' are similar to Jainism's [[Ethics of Jainism#Maha vratas (major vows)|five major vows]], indicating cross-fertilization between these traditions.{{sfn|Zydenbos|2006|p=66}}{{refn|Worthington writes, "Yoga fully acknowledges its debt to Jainism, and Jainism reciprocates by making the practice of yoga part and parcel of life."{{sfn|Worthington|1982|p=35}}|group=note}} Hinduism's influence on Jain yoga may be seen in Haribhadra's ''[[Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya]]'', which outlines an eightfold yoga influenced by Patanjali's eightfold yoga.{{sfn|Whicher|1998|p=313}}

===Middle Ages (500–1500 CE)===

 {{multiple image
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The Middle Ages saw the development of satellite yoga traditions. [[Hatha yoga]] emerged during this period.{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=136–139}}

====Bhakti movement====

{{Main|Bhakti yoga}}

In medieval Hinduism, the [[Bhakti movement]] advocated the concept of a [[personal god]] or [[Svayam Bhagavan|Supreme Personality]]. The movement, begun by the [[Alvars]] of South India during the 6th to 9th centuries, became influential throughout India by the 12th to 15th centuries.<ref name="Cutler">{{cite book|last=Cutler|first=Norman|title=Songs of Experience|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1987|page=1|isbn=978-0-253-35334-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veSItWingx8C&pg=PA1}}</ref> [[Shaivism|Shaiva]] and [[Vaishnava]] ''bhakti'' traditions integrated aspects of the ''Yoga Sutras'' (such as meditative exercises) with devotion.{{sfn|Larson|2008|pp=137}} The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' elucidates a form of yoga known as ''viraha'' (separation) ''bhakti'', which emphasizes concentration on Krishna.{{sfn|Jacobsen|2011|p=22}}

{{anchor|Hindu Tantra}}
====Tantra====

''[[Tantra]]'' is a range of esoteric traditions which had begun to arise in India by the 5th century CE.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Einoo |editor-first=Shingo |year=2009 |page=45 |title=Genesis and Development of Tantrism |publisher=University of Tokyo}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|The earliest documented use of the word "Tantra" is in the [[Rigveda]] (X.71.9).<ref name=Banerjee>Banerjee, S.C., 1988.</ref>}} Its use suggests that the word ''tantra'' in the ''Rigveda'' means "technique". George Samuel wrote that ''tantra'' is a contested term, but may be considered a school whose practices appeared in nearly-complete form in Buddhist and Hindu texts by about the 10th century CE.{{sfn|Samuel|2008|p=9}} Tantric yoga developed complex visualizations, which included meditation on the body as a microcosm of the cosmos. It included mantras, breath control, and body manipulation (including its [[Nadi (yoga)|nadis]] and [[chakra]]s. Teachings about chakras and Kundalini became central to later forms of Indian yoga.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=xviii–xx}}

Tantric concepts influenced Hindu, [[Bon]], Buddhist, and Jain traditions. Elements of Tantric rituals were adopted by, and influenced, state functions in medieval Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in [[East Asia|East]] and [[Southeast Asia]].{{sfn|Samuel|2008|pp=324–333}} By the turn of the first millennium, [[hatha yoga]] emerged from [[tantra]].{{sfn|Burley|2000|p=16}}{{efn|name="hatha_yoga_dating"}}

=====Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism=====

[[Vajrayana]] is also known as Tantric Buddhism and ''Tantrayāna''. Its texts began to be compiled during the seventh century CE, and [[Tibetic languages|Tibetan]] translations were completed the following century. These ''tantra'' texts were the main source of Buddhist knowledge imported into Tibet,<ref>John Powers (2004), in Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Editors: Damien Keown et al.), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-31414-5}}, pages 775–785</ref> and were later translated into Chinese and other Asian languages. The Buddhist text [[Hevajra#Hevajra Tantra|Hevajra Tantra]] and ''[[Songs of realization|caryāgiti]]'' introduced hierarchies of chakras.<ref>White, David Gordon. ''Yoga in Practice''. Princeton University Press 2012, page 14.</ref> Yoga is a significant practice in Tantric Buddhism.<ref name="Lama Yeshe 1998, pg.135–141">Lama Yeshe (1998). ''The Bliss of Inner Fire.'' Wisdom Publications. pp. 135–141.</ref><ref>Chogyam Trungpa (2001) ''The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra''. Shambhala. {{ISBN|1-57062-895-5}}</ref><ref>Edmonton Patric 2007, Pali and Its Significance, p. 332</ref>

Tantra yoga practices include postures and breathing exercises. The [[Nyingma]] school practices [[Trul khor|yantra yoga]], a discipline which includes breath work, meditation and other exercises.<ref>"Yantra Yoga: The Tibetan Yoga of Movement" by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu. Snow Lion, 2008. {{ISBN|1-55939-308-4}}</ref> Nyingma meditation is divided into stages,<ref>''The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra'', by Chogyam Trungpa. Shambhala, 2001 {{ISBN|1-57062-895-5}}</ref> such as [[Kriya Yoga school|Kriya Yoga]], Upa yoga, Yoga yana, [[Mahayoga|mahā yoga]], [[Anuyoga|Anu yoga]] and [[atiyoga]].<ref>"Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet" by Ray, Reginald A. Shambhala: 2002. pp. 37–38 {{ISBN|1-57062-917-X}}</ref> The [[Tibetan Buddhism#Tibetan Buddhist schools|Sarma]] traditions also include Kriya, Upa (called "Charya"), and yoga, with [[anuttara yoga]] replacing mahayoga and atiyoga.<ref>"Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet" by Ray, Reginald A. Shambhala: 2002. p. 57 {{ISBN|1-57062-917-X}}</ref>

{{anchor|Yoga and Zen}}
====Zen Buddhism====

[[Zen]], whose name derives from the Sanskrit ''dhyāna'' via the Chinese ''ch'an'',{{refn|"The Meditation school, called 'Ch'an' in Chinese from the Sanskrit 'dhyāna,' is best known in the West by the Japanese pronunciation 'Zen{{'"}}.<ref>The Buddhist Tradition in India, China, and Japan. Edited by William Theodore de Bary. pp. 207–208. {{ISBN|0-394-71696-5}}</ref>|group=note}} is a form of Mahayana Buddhism in which yoga is an integral part.<ref>{{harvnb|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=13}}: "This phenomenon merits special attention since yogic roots are to be found in the Zen Buddhist school of meditation."</ref>

{{anchor|Hatha Yoga}}
====Medieval hatha yoga====

{{main|Hatha yoga}}

[[File:Gorakshanath.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Sculpture of [[Gorakshanath]], an 11th-century yogi of the [[Nath]] tradition and a proponent of hatha yoga<ref>{{cite book|author=Akshaya Kumar Banerjea|title=Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ljn1koKa0CQC |year=1983|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0534-7 |pages=xxi }}</ref>|alt=Sculpture of a young yogi sitting in the lotus position]]

The first references to hatha yoga are in eighth-century Buddhist works.<ref>{{harvnb|Mallinson |2012|p=2}}: "The earliest references to hathayoga are scattered mentions in Buddhist canonical works and their exegesis dating from the eighth century onwards, in which it is the soteriological method of last resort."</ref> The earliest definition of hatha yoga is in the 11th-century Buddhist text ''[[Vimalaprabha]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Mallinson |2012|p=2}}: "In its earliest definition, in Pundarīka's eleventh-century Vimalaprabhā commentary on the Kālacakratantra, hathayoga is said to bring about the "unchanging moment" (aksaraksana) "through the practice of nāda by forcefully making the breath enter the central channel and through restraining the bindu of the bodhicitta in the vajra of the lotus of wisdom". While the means employed are not specified, the ends, in particular restraining bindu, semen, and making the breath enter the central channel, are similar to those mentioned in the earliest descriptions of the practices of hathayoga, to which I now turn."</ref> Hatha yoga blends elements of Patanjali's ''Yoga Sutras'' with posture and breathing exercises.{{sfn|Larson|2008| p=140}} It marks the development of asanas into the full-body postures in current popular use{{sfn|Burley|2000|p=16}} and, with its modern variations, is the style presently associated with the word "yoga".{{sfn|Feuerstein|1996|<!--page needed-->}}

====Sikhism====

Yogic groups became prominent in [[Punjab]] during the 15th and 16th centuries, when [[Sikhism]] was beginning. Compositions by [[Guru Nanak]] (the founder of Sikhism) describe dialogues he had with [[Jogi (caste)|Jogis]], a Hindu community which practiced yoga. Guru Nanak rejected the austerities, rites and rituals associated with hatha yoga, advocating sahaja yoga or nama yoga instead.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mansukhani|first=Gobind Singh|title=Introduction To Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_SirMuPr54C&pg=PA66|year=2009|publisher=Hemkunt Press|isbn=978-81-7010-181-9|page=66 }}</ref> According to the [[Guru Granth Sahib]],

{{blockquote|O Yogi, Nanak tells nothing but the truth. You must discipline your mind. The devotee must meditate on the Word Divine. It is His grace which brings about the union. He understands, he also sees. Good deeds help one merge into Divination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dhillon |first=Harish |title=Guru Nanak |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obRecfp1QCYC&pg=PA178 |year=2010 |publisher=Indus Source Books|isbn=978-81-88569-02-1 |page=178}}</ref>}}

===Modern revival===

===={{anchor|Introduction in the west}}Introduction in the West====

[[File:Swami_Vivekananda_1896.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=Formal photograph of Swami Vivekananda, eyes downcast|Swami Vivekananda in London in 1896]]

Yoga and other aspects of Indian philosophy came to the attention of the educated Western public during the mid-19th century, and [[N. C. Paul]] published his ''Treatise on Yoga Philosophy'' in 1851.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TFyCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT10|title=The Little Red Book of Yoga Wisdom|last=Besaw|first=Kelsie|date=2014-01-07|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781628738704|language=en|page=10}}</ref> [[Swami Vivekananda]], the first Hindu teacher to advocate and disseminate elements of yoga to a Western audience, toured Europe and the United States in the 1890s.<ref name="ReferenceA">Shaw, Eric. "35 Moments", ''[[Yoga Journal]]'', 2010.</ref> His reception built on the interest of intellectuals who included the [[Transcendental Club|New England Transcendentalists]]; among them were [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] (1803–1882), who drew on [[German Romanticism]] and philosophers and scholars such as [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] (1770–1831), the brothers [[August Wilhelm Schlegel]] (1767–1845) and [[Friedrich Schlegel]] (1772–1829), [[Max Müller|Max Mueller]] (1823–1900), and [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] (1788–1860).{{sfn|Goldberg|2010|pp=21ff}}<ref>Von Glasenapp, Hellmuth. ''Die Philosophie der Inder''. Stuttgart, 1974: A. Kroener Verlag, pp. 166f.</ref>

[[Theosophists]], including [[Helena Blavatsky]], also influenced the Western public's view of yoga.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.utne.com/2007-03-01/Mind-Body/Fear-of-Yoga.aspx?page=2#axzz2bnQLbp2o |title=Fear of Yoga |publisher=Utne.com |access-date=28 August 2013}}</ref> Esoteric views at the end of the 19th century encouraged the reception of Vedanta and yoga, with their correspondence between the spiritual and the physical.{{sfn|De Michelis|2004|pp=19ff}} The reception of yoga and Vedanta entwined with the (primarily [[Neoplatonism|neoplatonic]]) currents of religious and philosophical reform and [[Spiritual transformation|transformation]] during the 19th and early 20th centuries. [[Mircea Eliade]] brought a new element to yoga, emphasizing tantric yoga in his ''Yoga: Immortality and Freedom''.{{sfn|Eliade|1958}} With the introduction of tantra traditions and philosophy, the conception of the "transcendent" attained by yogic practice shifted from the mind to the body.<ref>Flood, Gavin D., Body and Cosmology in Kashmir Saivism, San Francisco, 1993: Mellen Research University Press, pp.229ff.</ref>

===={{anchor|Yoga as a physical practice}}Yoga as exercise====

{{main|Yoga as exercise}}

[[File:Yoga in Bryant Park (01194).jpg|thumb|Large public [[yoga as exercise]] class in a New York City park]]

The postural yoga of the Western world is a physical activity consisting of asanas, often connected by [[Vinyāsa|smooth transitions]], sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises and usually ending with a period of relaxation or meditation. It is often known simply as "yoga",<ref name="De Michelis 2007">{{cite journal |last=De Michelis |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth De Michelis |title=A Preliminary Survey of Modern Yoga Studies |journal=Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity |volume=3 |issue=1 |year=2007 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.1163/157342107X207182 |url=https://wzukusers.storage.googleapis.com/user-31520575/documents/5a57bf9c24c23ZrCu301/Survey_of_Modern_Yoga_De_Michelis_2007.pdf}}</ref> despite older Hindu traditions (some dating to the ''Yoga Sutras'') in which asanas played little or no part; asanas were not central to any tradition.<ref name="Jain 2016">{{cite conference |last=Jain |first=Andrea |author-link=Andrea Jain |chapter=The Early History of Modern Yoga |title=Modern Yoga |journal=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |chapter-url=http://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-163 |series=Oxford Research Encyclopedias |access-date=23 February 2019 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.163 |date=July 2016|isbn=978-0-19-934037-8 }}</ref>

Yoga as exercise is part of a modern yoga renaissance,<ref name="Mishra 2016">{{cite news |last=Mishra |first=Debashree |title=Once Upon A Time: From 1918, this Yoga institute has been teaching generations, creating history |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/once-upon-a-time-from-1918-this-yoga-institute-has-been-teaching-generations-creating-history/|newspaper=[[Indian Express]] |date=3 July 2016 |location=Mumbai}}</ref> a 20th-century blend of Western gymnastics and haṭha yoga pioneered by [[Shri Yogendra]] and [[Swami Kuvalayananda]].{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=32, 50}} Before 1900, hatha yoga had few standing poses; the [[Sun Salutation]] was pioneered by Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi, the Rajah of Aundh, during the 1920s.<ref name="ET 2018">{{cite news |last1=Doctor |first1=Vikram |title=Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi: The man who promoted Surya Namaskar |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bhawanrao-shrinivasrao-pant-pratinidhi-the-man-who-promoted-surya-namaskar/articleshow/64607546.cms |work=The Economic Times (India) |date=15 June 2018}}</ref> Many standing poses used in gymnastics were incorporated into yoga by [[Krishnamacharya]] in Mysore between the 1930s and the 1950s.{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=199–203}} Several of his students founded schools of yoga. [[Pattabhi Jois]] created [[ashtanga vinyasa yoga]],{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=175–210}} which led to [[Power Yoga]];<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kest |first1=Bryan |title=The History of Power Yoga |url=https://poweryoga.com/blog/power-yoga-history/ |publisher=Power Yoga |access-date=1 January 2019<!--Primary source presumed correct about itself-->|date=4 September 2017 }}</ref> [[B. K. S. Iyengar]] created [[Iyengar Yoga]] and systematised asanas in his 1966 book, ''[[Light on Yoga]]'';{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|pp=39, 47}} [[Indra Devi]] taught yoga to Hollywood actors; and Krishnamacharya's son, [[T. K. V. Desikachar]], founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandalam in [[Chennai]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/281 |title=The New Yoga |last=Cushman |first=Ann |date=January–February 2000 |work=[[Yoga Journal]] |page=68 |access-date=5 February 2011}}</ref>{{sfn|Mehta|Mehta|Mehta|1990|p=9}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Desikachar |first=T. K. V. |author-link=T. K. V. Desikachar |year=2005 |title=Health, healing and beyond: Yoga and the living tradition of Krishnamacharya |page=cover jacket text |publisher=Aperture, USA |isbn=978-0-89381-731-2}}</ref> Other schools founded during the 20th century include [[Bikram Choudhury]]'s [[Bikram Yoga]] and [[Swami Sivananda]] of [[Rishikesh]]'s [[Sivananda yoga]]. Yoga as exercise has spread around the world.<ref name="YJ on styles">{{cite web |title=What's Your Style? Explore the Types of Yoga |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/which-yoga-is-right-for-you-2 |work=Yoga Journal |date=13 November 2012}}</ref><ref name="Beirne 2014">{{cite news |last=Beirne |first=Geraldine |title=Yoga: a beginner's guide to the different styles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/10/yoga-beginners-guide-different-styles |access-date=1 February 2019 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 January 2014}}</ref>

[[File:The Yoga Guru, Baba Ramdev and the Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu at a yoga camp ahead of the International Day of Yoga - 2016 (1).jpg|thumb|alt=A guru leads a large group in outdoor meditation|[[International Day of Yoga]] in New Delhi, 2016]]

The number of asanas used in yoga has increased from 84 in 1830 (as illustrated in ''[[Joga Pradipika]]'') to about 200 in ''Light on Yoga'' and over 900 performed by [[Dharma Mittra]] by 1984. The goal of haṭha yoga (spiritual liberation through energy) was largely replaced by the goals of fitness and relaxation, and many of its more esoteric components were reduced or removed.{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=29, 170}} In modern usage, the term "hatha yoga"<!--as opposed to ''haṭha''--> denotes gentle exercise, often for [[Yoga for women|women]].{{sfn|Singleton|2010|p=152}}

Yoga as exercise has developed into a worldwide, multi-billion-dollar business involving classes, teacher certification, clothing, books, videos, equipment, and holidays.<ref name="Delaney 2017">{{cite news |last1=Delaney |first1=Brigid |title=The yoga industry is booming – but does it make you a better person? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/17/yoga-better-person-lifestyle-exercise |work=The Guardian |date=17 September 2017}}</ref> The ancient, cross-legged [[lotus position]] and [[Siddhasana]] are widely recognised symbols of yoga.{{sfn|Singleton|2010|p=32}} The [[United Nations General Assembly]] established 21 June as the [[International Day of Yoga]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unic.org.in/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709170015/http://www.unic.org.in/display.php?E=13712&K=Yoga|url-status=dead|title=United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan|archive-date=9 July 2016|website=www.unic.org.in}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rajghatta |first=Chidanand |work=The Times of India |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Narendra-Modi-calls-for-International-Yoga-Day/articleshow/43665102.cms |title=Narendra Modi calls for International Yoga Day |date=28 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/UN-declares-June-21-as-International-Day-of-Yoga/articleshow/45480636.cms|title=UN declares June 21 as 'International Day of Yoga' &#124; India News – Times of India|website=The Times of India|date=11 December 2014 }}</ref> and it has been celebrated annually around the world since 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom24x7.com/2015/06/21/massive-turnout-on-international-day-of-yoga-in-india/|title=Massive turnout on International Day of Yoga in India|first=Newsroom24x7|last=Network|date=21 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=PM Modi Leads Yoga Session, India Sets Guinness Records: 10 Developments|url=http://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/sushma-swaraj-addresses-the-united-nations-in-new-york-on-international-yogaday-highlights-773899 |access-date=21 June 2015 |agency=NDTV}}</ref> On 1 December 2016, yoga was listed by [[UNESCO]] as an [[intangible cultural heritage]].<ref>{{Cite news | title=Yoga joins Unesco world heritage list | work=The Guardian | date=2016-12-01 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/01/yoga-joins-unesco-intangible-world-heritage-list}}</ref>

The effect of yoga as exercise on physical and mental health has been a subject of study, with evidence that regular practice is beneficial for low back pain and stress.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ross |first1=Alyson |last2=Thomas |first2=Sue |title=The Health Benefits of Yoga and Exercise: A Review of Comparison Studies |journal=The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine |volume=16 |issue=1 |year=2010 |pages=3–12 |doi=10.1089/acm.2009.0044 |pmid=20105062 |s2cid=14130906 }}</ref><ref name=hayes>{{cite journal |author1=Hayes, M. |author2=Chase, S. |title=Prescribing Yoga |journal=Primary Care |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=31–47 |date=March 2010 |pmid=20188996 |doi=10.1016/j.pop.2009.09.009}}</ref> In 2017, a [[Cochrane (organisation)|Cochrane]] review found that yoga as exercise interventions designed for chronic [[low back pain]] increased function at the six month mark, and modestly decreased pain after 3–4 months. The decrease in pain was found to be similar to other exercise programs designed for low-back pain, but the decrease is not large enough to be deemed clinically significant.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wieland |first1=L. Susan |last2=Skoetz |first2=Nicole |last3=Pilkington |first3=Karen |last4=Vempati |first4=Ramaprabhu |last5=D'Adamo |first5=Christopher R. |last6=Berman |first6=Brian M. |date=2017-01-12 |title=Yoga treatment for chronic non-specific low back pain |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=1 |issue=1 |at=CD010671 |doi=10.1002/14651858.cd010671.pub2 |pmc=5294833 |pmid=28076926}}</ref>