Definition Of Yoga In Upanishads

The katha upanishad 2 3 11 declares yoga as the state of mental stability made possible by the restraint of the senses.

Definition of yoga in upanishads. Jnana yoga is the path of attaining knowledge of the true nature of reality through the practice of meditation self inquiry and contemplation. The yogatattva upanishad also called as yogatattvopanishad is one of the important upanishads of hinduism. It is as an upanishad a part of the corpus of vedanta literature collection that present the. Patanjali s yoga sutras are one of them.

A sanskrit text it is one of eleven yoga upanishads attached to the atharvaveda and one of twenty yoga upanishads in the four vedas. Meditations on the upanishads. Upanishad is a sanskrit word that translates in english to mean sitting at the feet of or sitting down near. It is listed at number 41 in the serial order of the muktika enumerated by rama to hanuman in the modern era anthology of 108 upanishads.

Among the earliest upanishads references to yoga are found in the katha svetasvatara and maitri upanishads. It maintains that samskaras and vasanas on the one hand and prana on the other constitute the causes for the existence of chitta. Though grouped among the minor the yoga kundalini upanishad is a very important work on kundalini yoga. The need to meditate kena upanishad the self is hidden in the heart mundaka upanishad sahasrara and the heart taittiriya upanishad this self is brahman chandogya upanishad who is the self aitareya upanishad the importance of self revelation chandogya.

They contain information regarding the philosophical principles and concepts of hinduism including karma right action brahman ultimate reality the atman true self or soul moksha liberation from the cycle of reincarnation and vedic doctrines that explain self realization through yoga and meditation practices. The term yoga in the western world often denotes a modern form of hatha yoga and yoga as exercise consisting largely of the postures or asanas. Let s move beyond patanjali and even god to explore the earlier meaning of yoke. Jnana yoga can be defined as the awareness of absolute consciousness and draws on the teachings of the upanishads.

Yoga is one of the six āstika orthodox schools of hindu philosophical traditions there is a broad variety of yoga schools practices and goals in hinduism buddhism and jainism. The upanishads are another. The definition of yoga as union is also associated with patanjali and more precisely the union between you and the divine called purusha. It begins with an analysis of the nature of chitta.

There are more than 200 known upanishads one of which the muktikā upanishad predates 1656 ce and contains a list of 108 canonical upanishads including itself as the last. A collection of philosophical texts the upanishads were written in india sometime between 800 and 500 bc. June 6th 2017 alison baenen there are a handful of ancient texts that modern day yogis turn to for foundational wisdom. In them we can discern a gradual unfolding of the techniques and practices of yoga.