The traditional founder of Yoga Darshana or the ‘Yoga system of philosophy’ – which the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali represents – is usually said to be Hiranyagarbha. It is nowhere in classical Yoga literature said to be Patanjali.  The Mahabharata (Shanti Parva 349.65), the great ancient text in which the Bhagavad Gita of Sri Krishna occurs and which is sometimes called the ‘fifth Veda’, states: “Kapila, the teacher of Samkhya, is said to be the supreme Rishi. Hiranyagarbha is the original knower of Yoga. There is no one else more ancient.”

Elsewhere in the Mahabharata (Shanti Parva 342.95-96), Krishna states, identifying himself with Hiranyagarbha: “As my form, carrying the knowledge, eternal and dwelling in the Sun, the teachers of Samkhya, who have discerned what is important, call me Kapila. As the brilliant Hiranyagarbha, who is lauded in the verses of the Vedas, ever worshipped by Yoga, so I am also remembered in the world.” Note that Krishna identifies yogic Hiranyagarbha with the deity of the same name in the Vedas.

Other yogic texts like the Brihadyogi Yajnavalkya Smriti XII.5 similarly portray Hiranyagarbha as the original teacher of Yoga, just as they do Kapila as the original teacher of the Samkhya system. So do commentaries on the Yoga Sutras. For example, Vijnana Bhikshu, the great Samkhya teacher in his Yogavartika commentary on the first sutra of the Yoga Sutras, also explains Hiranyagarbha as the Adiguru or primal guru of Yoga, quoting the Yogi Yajnavalkya.[i] While the depth, clarity and brevity of Patanjali’s compilation is noteworthy, it is the mark of a later summation, not a new beginning.

The vast literature of the Vedas, Mahabharata and Puranas speak of numerous great yogis but does not mention Patanjali, who was of a later period.[ii]  Even the Yoga literature that is later in time than Patanjali, like that of Kashmir Shaivism, Siddha Yoga or Hatha Yoga, does not make Patanjali central to its teachings, though they my mention him, but rather emphasize the deity Shiva as Adinath or their original guru.

The earlier Yoga literature before Patanjali can perhaps be better called the Hiranyagarbha Yoga Darshana as it is said to begin with Hiranyagarbha. In fact, most of the Yoga taught in Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, Mahabharata and Puranas – which is the main ancient literature of Yoga – appears to be part of this Hiranyagarbha tradition. Such ancient Pre-Patanjali texts speak of a Yoga Shastra or the ‘authoritative teachings on Yoga’ and of a Yoga Darshana or ‘Yoga philosophy’, but by that they mean the older tradition traced to Hiranyagarbha.

Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras is only referred to as a compiler, not as an inventor of the Yoga teachings. He himself states, “Thus is the teaching of Yoga” (Yoga Sutras I.1). This is quite unlike Krishna, the avatar of Yoga, who states, “I taught the original Yoga to Vivasvan” (Bhagavad Gita IV.1).

Patanjali is sometimes regarded as a devotee of Vishnu/Narayana, whose main human avatar is Krishna. This suggests that Patanjali himself was a devotee of Krishna. Traditional Sanskrit chants to Patanjali laud him as an incarnation of Lord Sesha, the serpent on which Lord Vishnu/Narayana resides. This Sesha attribution links Patanjali and his darshana to Krishna/Vishnu. Yet others view Patanjali as a Shaivite Yoga, for his emphasis on Ishvara and Om, which are more commonly associated with Shiva than any other deity formulation.

However, it is the Bhagavad Gita is the primary text lauded as a Yoga Shastra or ‘definitive Yoga teaching’ in the ancient literature. This connection can be carried to the Mahabharata as a whole, in which the Gita occurs. Bhishma in the Mahabharata (Shanti Parva 300.57) also speaks of a Yoga teaching “established in many Yoga Shastras.” The Anu Gita section of the Mahabharata (Ashvamedha Parva 19.15) has an interesting section that begins, “Thus I will declare, the supreme and unequalled Yoga Shastra.”

Several Upanishads like the Katha, Kena and Svestasvatara are said to be Yoga Shastras, besides numerous Yoga Upanishads that also do not emphasize Patanjali and have Yoga taught by a variety of teachers, including famous Vedic figures like Yajnavalkya and Shandilya. The Puranas, which are large encyclopedic works of traditional knowledge going back to medieval and ancient periods, contain many sections on Yoga but do not give importance to Patanjali. When such texts teach Yoga, they often do so with quotes from the older Vedas, as we mentioned with the Svetasvatara Upanishad in the previous chapter.

This means that the Patanjali Yoga Darshana is a later subset of the earlier Hiranyagarbha Yoga Darshana. It is not a new or original teaching meant to stand on its own. Such Sutra literature like the Yoga Sutras or Brahma Sutras were regarded as short axioms that required interpretation in the light of the existing more detailed traditions, mainly through authoritative commentaries. The topics addressed in the Yoga Sutras from yamas and niyamas to dhyana and samadhi are already taught extensively in the older literature. In the Mahabharata (Shanti Parva 316.7), the sage Yajnavalkya speaks of an “eightfold Yoga taught in the Vedas.” The Shandilya Upanishad (1) refers to an eightfold or ashtanga Yoga but does not mention Patanjali.

While no Hiranyagarbha Yoga Sutras text has survived, quite a few of teachings of the Hiranyagarbha have remained. In fact, the literature on the Hiranyagarbha Yoga tradition may be as large as that of the Patanjali Yoga tradition, which itself represents a branch of it. This means that we cannot speak of a Patanjali Yoga tradition or of a Patanjali Yoga literature as apart from an older set of Yoga teachings rooted in the Hiranyagarbha tradition.

The Patanjali Yoga teaching occurs in the context of a broader Yoga Darshana that includes other streams. This Yoga Darshana existed long before Patanjali and was taught in many ways. It is the Yoga Darshana originally attributed to Hiranyagarbha and related Vedic teachers.

Yet even this Yoga Darshana that is connected to the Samkhya system, and could also be called the ‘Samkhya-Yoga darshana’, is not the only line of Yoga. The Mahabharata and other ancient texts speak of the Vaishnava Yoga that relates to Krishna and the Shaivite or Pashupata Yoga that goes back to Shiva himself. Indeed the main Yoga traditions in India are largely Shaivite and only use the Yoga Sutras in a peripheral manner. This includes the traditions of Hatha Yoga and Siddha Yoga, which are more rooted in the Shaivite Yoga than in the Yoga Sutras. While we should certainly honor this Samkhya-Yoga tradition, we should remember the greater diversity of yogic paths.

[box_dark]Parallel With the Samkhya Tradition[/box_dark]

A similar situation, in which the main Sutra text of a Vedic philosophy is later in time than its original teachings, also occurs relative to Samkhya. The main sutra text on Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya Karika of Ishvara Krishna. Ishvara Krishna (who is not the Krishna of the Gita) is a figure of the early centuries AD who debated with Buddhist teachers near the time of Vasubandhu, the main teacher of Yogachara Buddhism. Ishvara Krishna is a much later teacher than the original founder of the Samkhya system, the sage Kapila, who is regarded as legendary even at the time of the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. Ishvara Krishna is more recent than Patanjali, though Patanjali Yoga rests upon the Samkhya philosophy.

There are many Samkhya teachings in the Vedic and Puranic literature older than the Samkhya Karika. The Samkhya Karika has its prominence as a late and clear compilation of an older tradition, not the original presentation. This means that there is no need to regard the main text on a Vedic darshana as the original teaching, or its compiler as the founder of the tradition.

[box_dark]Hiranyagarbha and Vedic Mantra Yoga[/box_dark]

Who then was Hiranyagarbha, a human figure or a deity? The name Hiranyagarbha, which means “the gold embryo”, first occurs prominently as a Vedic deity, generally a form of the Sun God, which has many names involving Hiranya or gold.[iii] There is a special Sukta or hymn to Hiranyagarbha in the Rig Veda X.121, which is commonly chanted by Hindus today in their daily rituals, in which Hiranyagarbha refers to the Supreme Being or Ishvara.

The Mahabharata speaks of Hiranyagarbha as he who is lauded in the Vedic verses and taught in the Yoga Shastra (Shanti Parva 339.69). As a form of the Sun God, Hiranyagarbha can be related to other Sun Gods (Adityas) like Savitri, to whom the famous Gayatri mantra used in many Yoga traditions is addressed, and is important in many early Yoga teachings including Vedic mantras and the Svestasvatara Upanishad. Therefore, the Hiranyagarbha Yoga tradition appears to be a Vedic tradition strongly rooted in the use of Vedic mantras. We could accurately call it the Hiranyagarbha Vedic Yoga tradition. It would place the origins of Yoga in the mantras or Mantra Yoga of the Vedas. As mantra is central to all Yoga traditions, this may not be surprising. Indeed if we b begin Yoga with mantra and sacred sound, rather than the current fixation on asana, we can easily understand the Vedic basis of Yoga.

Krishna states in the Bhagavad Gita (IV.1-3) that he taught the original Yoga to Visvasvan, another name of the Sun God, again suggesting Hiranyagarbha. Vivasvan was said to have taught this Yoga to Manu, the original man or first king, making it into the prime Yoga path for all humanity. Here, however, Krishna gains prominence over Vivasvan/Hiranyagarbha as the original teacher of Yoga.

The Mahabharata (Shanti Parva 340.50) additionally identifies Hiranyagarbha, as other texts do, with Brahma or Prajapati, the creator among the Hindu trinity, who among other things represents the Vedas and is the source of all higher knowledge. Most of the Vedic sciences are said to have been first taught by Lord Brahma, who represents the cosmic mind. The Mahabharata also identifies Hiranyagarbha with the Buddhi or Mahat, the higher or cosmic mind (Mahabharata 302.18).

Hiranyagarbha appears more as a deity than a human figure, though it is possible that a teacher of that name once existed. The chief disciple of Hiranyagarbha in the ancient texts is said to be the Rishi Vasishta, the foremost of the Vedic seers (seer of the seventh book of the Rig Veda), who passed on the Yoga teachings to Narada (Mahabharata Shanti Parva 308.45).  Vasishta teaches the Yoga Darshana in the Mahabharata (Shanti Parva 306.26): “The Yoga Darshana has so been declared by me according to the truth.” Vasishta also passes on his knowledge to his son, Parashara, in whose line was born Veda Vyasa, who compiled the Vedas and wrote the Mahabharata.

Vasishta is the prime early human teacher of other Vedic disciplines as well like Advaita Vedanta (the tradition of Jnana Yoga or the Yoga of Knowledge), and carrying on the Yoga teachings of the deities Shiva and Vishnu as well as that of Hiranyagarbha. There are several important Yoga texts in the Vasistha line including the Vasishta Samhita and Yoga Vasishta, the latter of which is often regarded as the greatest work on both Yoga and Vedanta. While these texts are much later than the Vedic Vasishta, they do show a continuity of tradition, as well as its diversity.

The original Yoga darshana tradition appears not as the Patanjali tradition but the Hiranyagarbha tradition. It teachings are found not only in the Yoga Sutras but in the Mahabharata, including the Bhagavad Gita, Moksha Dharma Parva and Anu Gita, which each contain extensive teachings on Yoga. These in turn connect to the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Tantras, which address Yoga in many forms like mantra, ritual (Karma Yoga), knowledge (Jnana Yoga), devotion (Bhakti Yoga), and so on.  The Hiranyagarbha Yoga tradition appears to be the main Vedic Yoga tradition. The Patanjali Yoga tradition arises as an offshoot of it or a later expression of it.

Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta – the three main Vedic philosophical systems – are presented as interrelated aspects of the same tradition in the Mahabharata. Ayurveda and Vedic astrology are set forth important aspects of its outer application. If we want to go back to the traditional roots of Yoga and restore the original teachings of Yoga, we should examine the Hiranyagarbha Yoga Darshana. In addition, we should look to its Vedic connections and associations with all Yoga paths and branches. This will take us back to the original Vedic Yoga that encompasses all the Vedic deities

[box_light]Misinterpretations of the Yoga Sutras[/box_light]

Much of modern Yoga rests upon a misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the Yoga Sutras. The first problem is that many people try to look at the Yoga Sutras as an original text that stands in itself, when it is a later compilation that requires knowledge of its background in order to make sense of it. This causes people to separate Yoga from the earlier traditions that form the context of Patanjali’s teachings, which is why the Hiranyagarbha tradition is so little known in the world of Yoga today.

The second problem is that the Yoga Sutras, consisting of short enigmatic aphorisms, can be easily slanted in different directions according to the inclinations of the interpreter, particularly if they do not give credence to the classical commentaries and connections to earlier teachings. This causes people to invent or imagine meanings in the Sutras that may actually not be there in the original.

Third, the Yoga Sutra tradition has been made into something sectarian, for example, opposing Yoga and Samkhya as competing Vedic philosophical systems to Vedanta. This causes people to separate Yoga from related Vedic spiritual traditions that also employ Yoga practices.[iv] This complication is not something of the modern age only, but occurs in debates between Indian philosophical systems going back to the Middle Ages, a time in which precise logical analysis was often emphasized over broader synthesis.

The original Hiranyagarbha Yoga teachings, such as we find it in the Mahabharata, however, is presented there as in harmony with Samkhya and Vedanta. The synthesis of these three systems is in fact as old as Krishna, if not older.

Such an older integral Yoga is the same general type of Yoga-Vedanta taught by many of the great modern Yoga gurus of India like Vivekananda, Yogananda, Aurobindo, Shivananda and his many disciples, as well as many others – the very teachers who first brought Yoga to the West in the last century. They teach the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads together as part of the same broader tradition. The differences between Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta are regarded by them as minor variations within the same greater tradition.

So, how can we best approach the Yoga Sutras in order to understand their real intent? It is arguably best to do so in the context of the older and broader Yoga Darshana. There is one greater Yoga Darshana that exists like a thread through all the texts and traditions of Yoga. There is no Patanjali Yoga Darshana as an entity in itself apart from the older Hiranyagarbha Yoga Darshana, nor is the Hiranyagarbha tradition rigidly delineated from other Yoga teachings.[v]***

If we want to understand the meaning of the technical terms in the Yoga Sutras, we should do so with recourse to the older literature, not by inventing our own meanings, or by trying to make these terms unique to the Yoga Sutras. Whether it is the yamas and niyamas (particularly tapas, svadhyaya and Ishvara pranidhana), the different types of samadhi, or the different aspects of Yoga practice – such terms often alluded to briefly in the Sutras can be found explained clearly and in detail in the older and broader literature.

In addition, we should look at the Yoga Sutras in light of Vedanta, not only the Bhagavad Gita but also the Upanishads, which the Yoga Sutras as a Vedic philosophy accept as authoritative While Patanjali emphasizes the Purusha rather than Brahman (the Absolute), we must remember that the Hiranyagarbha tradition gives Brahman its place and that Brahman and Purusha are often synonyms.  We can also look to Vedanta for a greater description of Ishvara or God, which Patanjali only alludes to, but which Vedantic texts examine in great detail. This includes both the traditions non-dualistic (Advaita) and dualistic (Dvaita) traditions of Vedanta, which have their important Yoga teachings.

We should discriminate between the greater tradition of Yoga, which includes all branches and types of Yoga, and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, placing the latter in the context of the former. We should look at Yoga not only through the Yoga Sutras but use the Sutras to lead us into the greater tradition of Yoga. This includes the ancient Yoga literature before Patanjali and the later Yoga literature after him, the various lines of Vaishnava, Shaivite, Shakta and Vedantic Yogas, regardless of their philosophical differences.

Besides looking at Patanjali in a new light, we should work to restore the teachings of the Hiranyagarbha Yoga Darshana. These can be compiled from the Mahabharata, Upanishads, and other ancient Vedic teachings. Through the Hiranyagarbha tradition, we can gradually reclaim the older Vedic Yoga that was regarded as its basis. In this way, we can restore the spiritual heritage of the Himalayan rishis and yogis in all of its grandeur. This is an important task for the next generation of Yoga aspirants, if they want to go back to the origins of Yoga, particularly as a spiritual practice.

(12553)

This has led some people to think that the active asana approaches and movements, such as practiced by many modern Yoga groups, were not part of the older Yoga traditions or were not known in India. It has also gotten some to hold that active or strong exercise methods, like calisthenics type movements, only entered India recently through Europe and were previously unknown, with Yoga asanas being the main form of exercise taught in India. This plays into cultural stereotypes that Indians are physically weak and the Europeans physically strong – a view that arguably borders on racism.

To adequately approach this issue, we must first examine the greater exercise traditions of India, including Vedic martial arts, and not limit ourselves to yogic texts. We must also understand how Yoga asana and exercise in general relate, their similarities and differences, and their respective places in Indian culture.

Yoga was never primarily an exercise tradition and we cannot look to yogic texts for understanding the exercise traditions of India. Dhanur Veda or the Vedic martial arts is the main basis and oldest form of exercise tradition of India and one that has continued to develop over time.

Yoga and Dhanur Veda overlap to some degree, but more active forms of exercise connect primarily with Dhanur Veda and only secondarily with Yoga.

[box_light]Asana and Exercise Traditions: Related but Different[/box_light]

There has been a tendency to look at asana or yoga postures as the main exercise system practiced historically in India, with any more active exercise approach like calisthenics and weight lifting, being perhaps a recent borrowing from the West, or even something not particularly Indian, with Indians being more mental than physical types. This plays into stereotypes of India as not having strong martial or military traditions, some arising from the recent emphasis on Gandhi ahimsa in the country. Several scholars of modern Yoga have proposed something of this kind. A deeper examination, however, finds this view to be inaccurate or incomplete.

First of all, Yoga asana, as part of classical Yoga traditions like the Yoga Sutras, was never meant as a merely an exercise or fitness system.

Asana in Sanskrit means a chair or a seat, and in terms of bodily positions implies a seated pose, and by extension any pose assumed or held for an extended period of time.Asana in classical Yoga was not meant as simply a type of physical exercise, which is called vyayama in Sanskrit, but as part of Yoga practice, called Sadhana, a spiritual discipline resting upon the ability to sit or be still for long periods of time for the practice of meditation. Traditional Yoga asana was not meant as a workout or fitness drill. However, we must recognize that other exercise traditions did exist in India, besides Yoga asanas, which were more active in nature, and sometimes did use asanas and vinyasas along with other stronger exercise practices.

Yoga asana could be used as part of other Indian exercise approaches, sometimes serving a role like preliminary warm ups or stretches. In these cases, case such asana practice was not regarded as Yoga, which means a spiritual path in Sanskrit, but as a means of bodily health and strength. In other words, asana as exercise did exist in ancient India but as a different orientation from asana as classical Yoga, which was a tool to still the body for meditation, not meant as a physical workout.The use of asana in exercise approaches should be discriminated from its role in meditation approaches, though some natural overlap exists.

India as a vast subcontinent and great ancient civilization has its own ancient and diverse traditions of exercise, martial arts, gymnastics and dance that cover the full range of exercise practices, including every sort of callisthenics. India did not require the Europeans in order to bring the idea of physical fitness or exercise into the region. The same situation existed in China and the rest of Asia that also had slower or more internalizing forms of exercise like Yoga or Tai Chi, which did not mean that they did not also have stronger exercise approaches as well. India has its own long traditions of martial arts.

[box_light]Martial Arts and Indian Exercise Traditions[/box_light]

India has a great heritage of its Kshatriya, its martial, military, aristocratic or princely class, just as most of the world had until recent times. It is among these traditional martial arts that we can find the most diverse and extensive traditions of exercise. Even the Vedas speak of the unity of Brahmin and Kshatriya or spiritual and warrior traditions and the need to honor both.[ Hindu warrior traditions continued through history and developed along with changes of warfare through the centuries.

The Vedas have a special tradition of martial arts called Dhanur Veda, which is one of the four Upavedas or secondary Vedas.  Such Vedic martial arts like Kalari remain popular in South India to the present day, though many others have probably been lost in the course of time. Dhanur literally means a bow, so archery was one of these martial arts. Yet India has had a long tradition of sword fighting as another martial art.

The most famous ancient guru of the martial arts or Dhanur Veda, who is found in the Ramayana as well teaching the martial arts to Rama and Lakshman, is the rishi Vishvamitra, a famous Rajarshi or royal sage, combining both Kshatriya and Brahmin lines. Vishvamitra is the seer of the third of the ten books of the Rigveda and of the famous Gayatri mantra, the most widely used Vedic mantras for all the Hindus.

Hindu history and stories like the Puranas laud many ancient warriors and kings, along with their great victories, a number as chakravartins, meaning world-conquerors or universal rulers. The Vedas themselves contains many verses in praise of ancient kings and their martial exploits, like Trasadasyu, with some Vedic hymns composed by royal sages like Sudas or Mandhata. Great warriors like Arjuna or Rama had special weapons or astras created through the use of mantra and meditation, and harnessing the forces of nature. This martial aspect was always there with the different Hindu, Buddhist and Jain dynasties in the region.

Martial arts are well known in Buddhist monastic traditions of China and Japan. These are attributed an Indian origin to Bodhidharma, who came from the famous city of Kanchipuram, not far from modern Chennai. Bodhidharma was said to have brought both Zen and Martial arts to China.

Hindu monastic and sadhu traditions are well known for their martial lines, like the famous Naga sadhus who wield tridents or Trishulas to the present day, leading the marches of monks for the great Kumbha Mela gatherings. A Hindu monastic order today is called an akhada, which also means a gymnasium (much like the Greek Academy). The monastic orders have asanas, exercises and martial arts, in part to keep the monks active and physically fit.

Many Hindu monastic orders over the past thousand years were formed to help protect Hindu society from the attacks of Islamic armies and had such martial sides.

The Indian warrior class also used mantras and called upon deities for success in battle, like the famous battle cry “Jai Sri Ram”, that is still the war cry of the Indian army of the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The Goddess Durga was said to have given the royal sword to the kings, including such figures as Sivaji of Maharashtra.The colonial British army owed its prowess to its  Gurkha soldiers from Nepal. Gurkhas mainly worship the Goddesses Kali and Durga, Hindu martial Goddesses, and claim connection to Gorakhnath, the main Nath Yogi behind Siddha Yoga and Hatha Yoga traditions. Their war cry is “Jai Ma Kali, Here Come the Gurukhas.” Hatha Yoga itself arose as part of a martial and monastic approach to Yoga. Hatha itself means force in Sanskrit.

[box_light]Weight Lifting, Weapon Lifting and Physical Development[/box_light]

Indian martial arts training involved the use of heavy weapons including swords and the mace (gada). Bhima, one of the five Pandavas and companions of Lord Krishna, was famous for his use of the mace and defeated Duryodhana in a mace fight. Hanuman also was famous for his mace. Such heavy weapon training served like weight lifting to build the muscles.

Even the use of the bow, particularly the long bow that we find in India depictions like that of the Ramayana, requires a lot of muscular strength in order to use. Rama’s story was that only he could string the bow of Lord Shiva as it was so difficult that no other warrior could do so.

All the other princes tried and failed. Rama gained Sita as a wife as his reward for stringing the bow. Rama was well known for his expertise at archery.

India has extensive traditions of wrestling. In fact Lord Krishna was regarded as a great wrestler and was thought to have defeated his enemy Kamsa in a wrestling match. Such wrestling traditions employed different exercise approaches than Yoga and much like wrestling from throughout the world.

India has a long tradition of depiction of athletes, warrior and muscle men, as does most of the cultures of the world. The great avatar and emperor Lord Rama is the forest of these, portrayed with his long bow and a strong physique. Hanuman, his monkey companion, is a kind of Indian superman, noted for his muscular strength and miraculous powers. Bhima, the strongest warrior in the Mahabharata, is another. Another is Parashurama, who precedes Rama as an avatar of Lord Vishnu, who wielded an axe to conquer the deviant Kshatriyas or adharmic and unrighteous kings.

Modern Hindu Yogis were not all emaciated ascetics and many developed great physical strength. Even the forms of Hindu deities like Shiva are not portrayed weak in form or stature, but as physically strong. In addition, the typical Himalayan Hindu Sadhu lives in a cold mountain climate, with little food and clothing, developing an ability to adjust to the elements, relying on physical strength and endurance.

[box_light]Gymnastics of India and the Gypsies[/box_light]

India has had a long tradition of gymnastics as well. This is best revealed by the circuses in India, which remain popular today, and have a great antiquity.

The gypsies, who originated in India, brought these gymnastic traditions to the Europe, along with their circuses.

There were whole castes or communities who kept up such traditions of physical prowess and dexterity and are still found in India today.There were entire classes of such circuses and entertainers in ancient texts called  Sutas and Magadhas, mentioned as early as the Manu Smriti, the main ancient Hindu law code.

[box_light]Indian Dance[/box_light]

India has many traditions of classical dance like Kathak, Bharat Natyam, Odissi, and Kathakali. Each region of India has its own type of dance. These require strength and include gymnastic movements of various types. Asanas are used by Indian dancers to gain great flexibility, which is an old tradition.

Shiva who is the Lord of Dance is also the Lord of Yoga and the Lord of Asana in Hindu thought. The 108 dance poses of Lord Shiva include many movements and vinyasas. The cross over between classical Indian dance and Yoga is quite extensive historically and extends to the present day in which dancers practice various asanas to help gain greater flexibility.

[box_light]Older Vedic Origins        [/box_light]  

We find ancient Indus or Harappan seals with figures in various Yoga postures, sitting and stretching. The Vedas themselves reflect traditions of martial art and dance. Many Vedic deities have warrior characteristics and are portrayed as possessing great strength and energy including Indra, Agni and Soma. Indra and Rudra among the Vedic deities are also referred to as dancers. Rudra, who is later connected with Lord Shiva, is also a famous archer in Vedic texts, bringing in the Dhanur Veda connection.

The Mahabharata, India’s great epic, abounds with stories of great warriors and their magical powers, combining martial arts like archery with yogic tools like mantra and meditation, like the case of Arjuna, Krishna’s companion. The same is true of the Ramayana, the most famous epic of South Asia.

Rama performs a series of mantras to the Sun God to enable him to defeat Ravana in battle. Hanuman was well known for his yogic and martial prowess. We can therefore speak of a long history of ‘martial Yoga traditions’, which have included a variety of active exercise traditions as well.

[box_light]Conclusion[/box_light]

Callisthenic traditions tend to be alike worldwide because they are working with the same human body and its normal range of movements. Similarities in such approaches between India and the West does not prove that India had no exercise traditions before the modern period. It is part of the prejudice that portrays Indians as physically weak and the Europeans as physically strong.

This is not to say that there was no borrowing of exercise methods between different cultures, but that similar practices had existed in India, just as in other Asian countries like China. Modern Yoga in the West does include influences from western movement, exercise, massage and body work practices.

But this does not mean that there was no similar exercise approaches in India going back for many centuries, or that anything of this type that one may see in recent India must have recent western origins and cannot be India based.

Asanas have been used as part of exercise traditions in India, just as they have by part of meditation or Yoga Sadhana traditions. This is a different application of asana, however. We must discriminate between these two different usages, rather than think that one excludes the other. It would be good if there were more research on the exercise, martial arts, gymnastic and dance traditions of India and the place of asana within these. No doubt much is yet hidden, particularly how asana can be applied with more active forms of exercise approaches.

This means that the active type of Yoga commonly practiced in the West today does have antecedents in India, but that it was not necessarily called Yoga, a term used more specifically for meditation practices.

It was part of Indian martial arts, dance, exercise and gymnastic traditions, which had their own spheres of application that included areas of fitness not ordinarily covered by Yoga. These exercise approaches did extend to India’s Yogi, monastic and sadhu traditions and communities, however, and could be connected to deeper meditation practices. They were also part of India’s Kshatriya or warrior class traditions that included using various weapons.

Asana has an important place in exercise traditions as well as in spiritual traditions like classical Yoga, and there is a good deal of overlap between the two.

Yet we should discriminate between these two levels of its usage. Classical Yoga was not a fitness system, but asana was also used as part of other Indian fitness systems, particularly martial arts, even when the rest of Yoga was not brought in along with.

Hatha Yoga crosses over both these practices, having a connection to martial arts as well, but primarily uses asana mainly to prepare the body for meditation.

(25180)

Amongst the sacred points of pilgrimages of Hinduism one of the most popular regions centre around the fabled birthplace and playground of Sri Krishna known as the Braj Matsya region. This area centred around the south of Delhi is annually visiting today as in the past by thousands of the faithful often humbly treading the paths between Mathura, Vrindavan and Gokul.

However in 1757 the sacred soil of Gokul was streaming with blood. The invasion of the Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Abdali sent hordes of his soldiers pouring into the holy places. After a desperate resistance by the Hindu Jats under their prince Jawahar Singh and the death of 10,000 of his solders the city of Mathura was sacked and brutalised.

Amidst the wholesale destruction of temples and holy places thousands of women flung themselves into the Yamuna River to escape rape and slavery. Vrindavan faced a similar horror. He had detached Jahan Khan and Najib with 20,000 men, telling them,

[box_light]“Move into the boundaries of the accursed Jat, and in every town and district held by him slay and plunder. The city of Mathura is a holy place of the Hindus ;… let it be put entirely to the edge of the sword. Up to Agra leave not a single place standing”[/box_light]

Vrindavan, seven miles north of Mathura, could not escape, as its wealth was indicated by its many temples. Here another general massacre was practiced upon the inoffensive monks of the most pacific order of Vishnu’s worshippers, (c. 6 March.) As the same Muhammadan diarist records after a visit to Vrindavan,

[box_light]“Wherever you gazed you beheld heaps of slain ; you could only pick your way with difficulty, owing to the quantity of bodies lying about and the amount of blood spilt. At one place that we reached we saw about 200 dead children lying in a heap. Not one of the dead bodies had a head . . . The stench and effluvium in the air were such that it was painful to open your mouth or even to draw breath.”[/box_light]

The prime general of the Afghans, Sardar Khan ; launched an attack on Gokul. Here however stirred by the atrocities of the Afghans thousands of ash smeared warrior monks barred the way. The grim Naga sadhus armed with swords, matchlocks and cannons had called together their wandering bands to rise in defence of dharma.

In the mid seventeenth century the bands of sadhus and assorted holy men coalesced into larger groups often numbering more than 10,000 strong – they provided protection to the temples, the travel routes and even towns and rival armies. For many centuries the monks and disciples began to take up arms amidst the upheavals of northern India and during the fall of the Mughal Empire they emerged as a serious force to reckon with.

One of their notable leaders Rajendra Giri Gosain held such a reputation of bravery that his band of Nagas would contend with over ten times their numbers of enemies with utter abandon and fury. Later times saw some of the larger bands under Himmat Bahadur and Anupgir Gosain lead vast armies across the northern Indian plains

The famed Afghan cavalry launched itself against the Nagas to be met with a wild and reckless counter charge by the Nagas. The utter disregard for their own lives displayed by the Hindu holy men sent the initial Afghan attackers retreating in confusion and defeat. Reinforced some time later the Afghans returned to the attack and a bitter struggle ensued.

Both parties believed they fought for a higher power but the similarities ended there. The Afghans fought for loot, plunder and rape whilst the Naga Sadhus had already given up their worldly and material attachments and in a long tradition of warfare fought solely for dharma and faith. The Afghans fought with the reckless valour for which they were much wonted and the Nagas fought with a determination that spoke of their contempt of death.

The battle cry of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Ya Ali’ rose above the groans and shrieks of the wounded and dying. The battle raged as dusk fell and the protagonists continued their fight stepping on the bodies of the slain until the writer observes grappling in a deathly embrace whilst slipping on the mounds of gore and blood flowing on the hallowed grounds. Still the Nagas did not give ground.

Enraged the Abdali threw further troops into the battle. His as yet undefeated soldiers who had marched victoriously from the borders of India to Central Asia were met with renewed charges and attacks from the Naga Sanyasis. They fought so desperately that the Afghans began to lose hope of victory and as their losses rapidly mounted in the failing light their leader Sardar Jahan Khan called a retreat and the Afghans fell back in defeat and humiliation  leaving many thousands of their brethren dead and wounded on the battlefield. The holy town of Gokul was saved but at an appalling cost in lives.

The Naga Sadhus saved the shrines of their faith and the thousands of refugees behind them. They exemplified the age old tradition of valour mixed with dharma – the concept of rising in arms each time they were required. They went on to fight bitter decade’s long struggles with the British expansion in India to be so famously celebrated in the late nineteenth century novel Ananda Math. Their exploits became the inspiration for the freedom fighters of the 20^th Century and the living image of the warrior saints can be found in India today.

(35559)