Tracing The Yogic Trajectory
A brief history of Yoga...
Classical Yoga –
Yoga was originated around 10,000 B.C. or earlier. The first documented text on yoga appears in Rig Veda where its use and definition of it is present in the form of verses. Traces of yoga and its forms are found in Upanishads, Mahabharata, and the holy Bhagvat Gita. Archaeological remains of Yoga can be traced back to the Aryan civilisation of the Indus Valley dating back to 3000 B.C.
Yoga in its written form was first documented in 500 B.C. by sage Patanjali in a collection ‘Yoga Sutras’. It is a collection of 196 aphorisms (sutras) which briefs about the theory, practice, values, and importance of classical, Raja Yoga.
The Modern Yoga – Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga is considered as the most popular yoga and it was founded by Matsyendranath in around 500 A.D. He was also the guru of Gorakhnath, who further popularised the Hatha Yoga.
Gorakhnath is considered as the most influential Nath of all time. In around 1000 A.D. he wrote books on Laya Yoga and the uprising of Kundalini Shakti.
Books On Hath Yoga - Shiva Samhita, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, And Gherand Samitha
These 3 books are classical texts on Yoga. They don’t just serve as a manual to Hath Yoga but also are sacred texts on Indian gods. They also have information on asanas, pranayama, chakras, kundalini, bandhas, kriyas, naḍis and mudras.
While Shiva Samhita was written by an unknown author in 1200 A.D., Hath Yoga Pradipika came in around 1200 A.D. and was written by Swami Swatmaran. Gheranda Samhita was written by Sage Gheranda and it describes the seven limbs of the Yoga. These limbs include Tattwa dharanas which is concentration on the elements.
Popularisation Of Yoga in the West
It is believed that Swami Vivekananda was the first person who introduced Yoga to the global level. He before leaving India wrote, “In America is the place, the people, the opportunity for everything new”. His famous ‘Chicago Speech’ in 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. "Sisters and brothers of America," got a standing ovation from the crowd.
Paramahansa Yogananda is credited for writing the first modern textbook on Yoga in the 1920s. He was the first Indian to move to the West to teach Yoga in the West and is often recognised as Father of Yoga in America. He started Self-Realization Fellowship in1920 and founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India in 1917. His popular teachings revolved around the science of Kriya Yoga meditation and the art of balanced health and well-being in body, mind, and soul.
Indira Devi (Eugenie V. Peterson), a Russian disciple of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya opened the first Yoga studio in Hollywood in the 1950s. She also wrote 3 books on Yoga which went so popular that the women across the USA started practising Yoga in their bedrooms.
Swami Vishnu-Devananda arrival in San Francisco in 1958 saw the foundation of the largest networks of Yoga. A disciple of Swami Sivananda Saraswati, he got his sponsorship from the German artist Peter Max. His book, ‘Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga’ became one of the compelling guides for many Yoga practitioners. Headquartered in Montreal, he founded the ‘Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers’ which is one of the largest networks of Yoga schools in the world.
Another disciple of Swami Sivananda, Swami Satchidananda started the Woodstock Festival in 1969 which attracted more than 4,00,000 people. He also founded the Internal Yoga Institute at Virginia and currently has more than 40 branches worldwide.
Since 2014, when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 21st June as the Yoga day, people are beginning to notice that it is the most effective way of staying fit. Also, its cost-effectiveness is popularising it in tier II and tier III cities. It has already the 7-Billion mark in terms of revenues and it is only going to grow huge day by day.
