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| Home > Origin of Hatha Yoga > Yoga in Upanishads
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| | Yoga in Upanishads
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The basic philosophy of Yoga has been described in the Vedic texts that establish the correlation between the two. But a more rich context is available in "The Upanishads."
The word Upanishad translates as `secret teaching` or `esoteric doctrine`, that is intended to expound the spiritual philosophy of the Vedas. The earliest Upanisads were "attached to one of the first three Vedas namely the Rig, Sama and Yajur Veda.
Associated upanishads to Rig veda are Atareya and Kausitaki Upanishad.
Sama veda is associated with Chandogya and Kena upanishada.
Yajur veda (black) is related with Taittiriya, mahanarayana, katha, Svetasvatara and Maitri Upanishad.
Yajur Veda (white) is said to inspire Brhadaranyaka and is a Upanishad.
 These are regarded as the major or principal Upanisads, to which list may be added the Prasna, Mundaka and Mandtikya Upanishad, whose authority was firmly established by their having had full commentaries written upon them by the medieval exponent of Advaita Vedanta, Sarikaracharya. It is from this set of fourteen major Upanisads that quotations are most often taken and to which reference is most often made in later Indian philosophical treatises. And thus this set may be justifiably described as the foundation of Indian soteriological thought.
In addition to the `major` Upanisads, there are numerous `minor` ones. In fact, although the total number of Upanisads is traditionally set at 108 (an auspicious number, signifying completeness), there are known to be over 200.The term `minor Upanisad` should not be thought to imply inferiority. Atharva-Veda, due to its having been compiled later than the other three Vedas, avoided strict guardianship by certain Shaakhaas (`Branches`, i.e. schools) of Vedic interpreters, and was thus more susceptible to interpolation. Although the number of Upanisads associated with the Atharva-Veda varies according to the source, atleast thirty-nine have been identified. It is divided into the following five categories:
(1) `Pure Vedanta`
(2) `Yoga`
(3) Sanyasa
(4) `Siva`
(5) `Vishnu-Upanisads`
These classifications are based on the primary content or philosophical persuasion and are therefore valid and helpful up to a point. But they should not be regarded too rigidly. It is potentially misleading, for example, to specify `Yoga` as a distinct category of Upanishad, for in truth the central theme of all Upanisads is yoga. That is, if we understand yoga to mean the union and identity of atman and Brahma and the path to attaining the realisation of this fact.
Nevertheless, `Yoga-Upanishad` is a convenient and abbreviated way of referring to those minor Upanisads which deal with the energy channels (nadis) and centres (chakras) of the human subtle body, repetition (Japa) of and meditation upon the sacred syllable om, and such practices as asana (posture) and pranayama (control of `vital force`). These texts thus represent some of the earliest treatments, which are most directly associated with hatha-yoga. These subjects having been only obliquely or fragmentarily touched upon in the major Upanisads eleven yoga-Upanisads are mentioned namely: The Brahmavidyu, Ksurika, Culika, Nadabindu, Brahmabindu, Amrtabindu, Dhyanabindu, Tejobindu, Yogasikha, Yogatattva, and Hamsa Upanisad.
All these Upanishads are based on Yoga Sutra.
As is the case with the Upanisads generally as well as with other material on yoga, the Yoga-Upanisads are of limited value with regard to giving detailed instruction in yoga techniques. They provide a basic framework, which would then be fleshed out by the teachings of a guru. This also applies to the later treatises of hatha-yoga. All these works remain incomplete when separated from personal guidance.
Although each of the major Upanisads has much to offer for our understanding of yoga, I shall restrict the discussion here to three in particular, each of which has traditionally been associated with the Krisna- (`Black`) Yajur-Veda. The First is the Katha-Upanishad, sometimes referred to as the Kathaka-Upanishad. Katha is the name of an ancient branch or school of yoga. Kuthaka simply means of or belonging to the Katha`. While in the Vedic Samhitas, yoga tends to be spoken of only in highly elaborate analogical terms.
The Katha-Upanisad revolves around a dialogue between a spiritual aspirant called Nachiketa and Yama, the guardian of the after-death world. Of three wishes that Nachiketa has been granted, his third wish is to know the secret of what happens to a person after physical death. Yama is initially very reluctant to reveal the answer, and offers his questioner any number of material benefits instead; but Nachiketa, remaining resolute in his rejection of material pleasures in favour of Self-knowledge, eventually persuades Yama to speak forth. A person`s true self (atma), says Yama, is analogous to a man riding in a chariot, the chariot representing the human body, the chariot-driver being the higher intellect (Buddhi), the reins being the cognitive principle (Manas), the horses being the senses, and what they range over standing for the objects of sense.
The conditional self of one who is unable to discriminate between the true source of his identity and the vehicle in which he rides (i.e. the mind, senses, body, etc.) will fail to reach the goal and will continue to wander through cycles of birth and death. On the contrary, one who does possess those powers of discernment transcends such wandering.
Yama defines yoga as `the steady holding of the senses i.e. Fixing the mind`s attention upon a single point without its being pulled in multifarious directions by unruly `steeds`. This sets the ground for the realisation of oneself as Brahman.
The notion of purifying the relationship between mind and senses is echoed in the title of the second major Upanishad to be considered here, namely the Svetasvatara Upanishad. Shveta means `white` or `pure` and ashwa means `horse`. Hence, svetasvatara refers to one `whose senses are purified senses are purified and under control.` Included in the second chapter of the Upanishad, for example, are basic instructions on the correct bodily posture for pranayama and meditation:
Holding the body straight with head, neck and chest in line, With senses and mind withdrawn into the heart, Let a wise man on Brahman`s raft cross over All the rivers of this life so fraught with peril.
"Restraining here his breath, his movements well controlled,
Let a wise man breathe in through the nostrils, his breath reduced;
Free from distraction; let him hold his mind in check
Like a chariot harnessed to vicious steeds. "
The ideal environmental conditions in which to practise are also described appropriately:
"Let the place be pure, and free also from boulders and sand,
Free from fire, smoke, and pools of water,
Here where nothing distracts the mind or offends the eye,
In a hollow protected from the wind a man should compose himself."
Similar advice is given in the Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika, which states that hatha-yogis should live alone in a small hermitage (Mathika).
Just as in the later hatha treatises, the author of the Svetasvalnra-Upanishad draws attention to the bodily transformation, which results from intense yoga practice:
"He knows nothing further of sickness, old age, or suffering,
Who gains a body out of the fire of yoga.
Activity, health, freedom from desire,
A fair countenance, beauty of voice,
A pleasant odour, fewness of secretions,
Therein at first the yoga displays its power. "
Again the passage is close to one found in the Hath Yoga Pradipika, wherein the signs of success in hatha-yoga are said to include: `Beauty, slimness of physique, eloquent speech, radiant complexion, clear eyes (or vision), freedom from illness, and control over vital fluid. These are, of course, only the external indications of yogic attainment, the ultimate goal being the internal realisation of the Self, referred to in the Svetasvatara - Upanishad as purusa.
Before discussing the next Upanisad, the Maitri, we need briefly to mention the Aitunga- or `eight-limbed` system of yoga practice outlined in the highly authoritative Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali.
The eight branches comprises of:
(1) Yama (restraint),
(2) Niyama (observances),
(3) Asana (posture),
(4) Pranayama (prana-retention),
(5) Pratyahara (sense-withdrawal),
(6) Dharana (concentration),
(7) Dhyana (meditation) and
(8) Samadhi (identification).
Although, in texts other than the Yoga-Sutra, certain of these limbs` may be strongly emphasised and others barely referred to, the eightfold schematic is basic to most schools or traditions of yoga. The hatha manuals gives substantial attention to the third, fourth and eighth limbs, with less being said about the others. This doesn`t indicate that hatha lacks the comprehensiveness or holistic nature of other approaches to spiritual development.
Nor are other components overlooked, only that asana and pranayama are with considerable justification held to constitute the basis of yoga discipline. Other limbs grow and flourish bsed on these fundamentals, in the absence of which all effort is misplaced. The importance of the Maitri-Upanisad with regard to Ashtanga-yoga is that it is probably the earliest extensive source of a very similar methodological system. The Maitri- is also sometimes known as the Maitrayamya-Upanisad, Maitri being the name of a sage, and Maitrayanlya (`of Maitri`) being the school which followed his teachings. It is in Maitri-Upanisad that a shat-anga (six-limbed) yoga system is expounded. The six components are:
(1) Pranayama,
(2) Pratyahara,
(3) Dhyana,
(4) Dharana
(5) Tarka
(6) Samadhi.
The first major difference between this schema and that of classical ashtanga-yoga is the absence from the former of Yama, Niyama and asana. Yama translates as `restraint`, `observance` or `rule of social conduct`.
Niyama signifies lesser restraint` or `observance `without external restraint` (i.e. self-discipline).
These two limbs combining to form the ethical catechism of yoga. Little detailed instruction pertaining to moral conduct is given in any of the Upanisads. Althogh a concern for moral values was not amongst the least consideration of Upanishad authors. In fact, the notion of moral discipline as a prerequisite and counterpart to spiritual development was such common knowledge as to be implicitly assumed.
Similarly, the fact that asana is not mentioned in the Maitri-Upanisad probably means that the importance of a correct sitting postures has been taken for granted, not that it has been considered irrelevant. Other ways in which the Maitri system appears to be at variance to that of the Yoga-Sutra are that:
The order of dharana (`holding` or `fixing` the mind upon a single object)` And dhyana (sustained meditation upon that object) is reversed.
The additional limb of tarka has been added before samadhi As the meanings of Dharana and Dhyana are very close, their reversed order does not cause any serious interpretative problems.
Since Yoga-Sutra presents vitarka, which means virtually the same thing as tarka i.e. (roughly) `reflection`, `contemplative inquiry`, `logic and reasoning` or `comprehensive perception` as the initial level of samadhi, the fact that it rep- resents a distinct limb in the Maitri-Upanisad does not constitute a major discrepancy.
Thus it is reasonable to acknowledge the existence of a mature yoga system perhaps conveyed along a number of guru-disciple lineages dating back at least as far as the Upanisads of the Krisna-Yajur-Veda. It is very likely that these Upanisads pre-date the development of Buddhism (ca. 500 B.C.E.). still the precise date of origin is extremely hard to say.
Another interesting point about the Maitri-Upanisad especially for the present study is the fact that, of all the major Upanisads, it is the one which contains the most explicit description of a methodology akin to that presented in later hatha manuals. Noting the intimate connection between the flow of prana and the instability of mind, it emphasises pranayama as the foremost means of bringing the mind to a point of stillness. It even mentions the technique of turning the tongue back and inserting it behind the soft palate to prevent the downward flow of bindu, the subtle vital nectar released from the soma-chakra. Attention is paid to the notion of channelling prana up along susumna-nadi, which is said to penetrate through to the soft palate.
The above mentioned Upanishad also insists on focussing upon the potent syllable OM, thereby enabling the mind to be `conveyed` towards the goal of Brahma. By immersing oneself in the inner sound referred as shabda - Brahma one eventually reaches the soundless condition of the `other` or `beyond` (Para), which is the pure Brahma. This appears to be precisely the method referred to as nada-anusandhana (contemplation of the inner sound) in the Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika.
Alternative interpretations are possible. Careful examination of the available textual and archaeological evidence is leading an increasing number of scholars and yogis alike to recognise the profound psychic and psycho-cosmological insights underlying and infusing the ancient Vedic hymns. This has also forced them to revaluate the received version of the history of human civilization. These alternative interpretations point to spiritual discipline and life-path of yoga, as to yoga`s having already achieved a mature state of development by the time of the most ancient texts known to exist.
Although, the longevity of an idea or a practice does not necessarily testify to its value, but it is important nevertheless for the rich and ancient heritage of yoga to be appreciated. Also, yoga`s status as the practical foundation of Indian religious wisdom has to be acknowledged.
It has been further suggested in this chapter that certain aspects of yoga most strongly associated with the hatha tradition are evident in the very earliest scriptures-disguised beneath mythic symbolism in the Vedas. But its described more explicitly in the Upanisads and that such" references support the designation of hatha-yoga as an integral strand of Vedic Indian spiritual philosophy.
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