===Origin Of Yoga : The VED ===

===Origin Of Yoga : The VED ===

In Sanatan Dharma Ved is regarded as the source of all wisdom, interpreted in a broad sense. They contain the seed of the doctrine or the philosophical thought which blossomed into the teaching of the Upanishads and Vedanta; they also contain the seed of the later practices and procedures for self- realisation and actualisation and the disciplines of Yoga with its numerous branches. This view of the content of the Ved mantras is not merely our opinion; it is stated in several mantras of the Ved.

For instance Shukla Yajur Ved 36.1 states:

rcham vacham prapadye mano yajuh prapadye
sama pranam prapadye chakshuh shrotram prapadye |

...... Shukla Yajur Ved 36.1

" The Rig Ved mantras propound all the speech or all the ideas and thoughts leading to all-sided perfection; the Yajur Ved develops the mind which is the source of all actions; the Sam Ved makes us fully develop our life energies or prana for completely developing our potential. The Atharva Ved gives the methods of perfection of our body and senses like eyes (chakshu) or hearing. "


Sri Aurobindo adds, “as the doctrine of the Rig Ved is the seed of the teaching of the Vedanta, so is its inner practice and discipline is a seed of the later practice and discipline of Yoga''.


Yoga, as a body knowledge and technique aimed at refining and expanding consciousness, attained prominence during the Vedic period, even before the term acquired its customary meaning. Although these practices were initially devoid of specific philosophical and technical frameworks, they formed the basis of later philosophical structures within Hinduism.

Vedic literature indicates that many rishis were conversant with certain methods that, when followed diligently, were known to transform consciousness to higher levels. Some of the methods were known as: dhih, insight; diksha, initiation; tapas, austerity; and yajna, sacrifice.

Yajna engaged Vedic society and played a crucial role in developing metaphysical concepts. People, metaphorically speaking, questioned ,searched, and scanned their sacrificial altars for answers to the great questions of life and the universe. As answers came, the ordinary sacrificial act was transformed into a mystical act of cosmic significance.

The Gita echoes this idea:

‘Know that action has the Veda as its origin; the Ved has the Immutable (Brahman) as its source. Hence, the all-pervading and eternal Ved is based on sacrifice’ (3.15).

The Creator created the universe through a yajna and offered himself in it; thus, the daily yajna became a replication of this supreme act. Yajna, besides its sacred significance, demanded physical and mental diligence in order to build altars, light fires, recite right mantras, and pour oblations. These disciplines became sacrificial rules aimed at integrating, or yoking, the self of the sacrificer with the cosmic Self. The disciplines became the basis of later yogic disciplines. Moreover, the various yajnas were performed in accordance with Ritam, the universal cosmic order; tapas; and Upasanas, meditations. In fact, every yajna had this counterpart of mental activity, otherwise it would not be considered yajna at all.


Concept of Pranayama :

Krishna Yajur Ved Taittiriya Samhita gives ample clues to the control of prana called later as the science of Pranayama. For instance consider the mantra in Taittiriya Samhita 1.7.9 :

ayur yajnena kalpatam prano yajnena kalpatam
apano yajnena kalpat am vyano yajnena kalpatam | .....

.......Krishna Yajur Ved, Taittiriya Samhita 1.7.9

" May life accord with the yajna, may Prana accord with the yajna, may Apana accord with the yajna , may Vyana accord with the yajna, may eye accord with the yajna, may ear accord with the yajna, may mind accord with the yajna, may the body accord with the yajna, may the yajna accord with the yajna. "



Tapas :

The secret of the Vedic rishis’ towering personalities was their power of tapas. In all Hindu literature, there is great emphasis on tapas or askesis, often mistranslated as austerities. The ordinary meaning of ‘tapas’ is ‘heat’, but tapas is a course in self-discipline through the observance of brahmacharya and obligatory indriya nigraha, subjugation of the senses. The word is technically understood as:

" Manasascha indriyanam chaikagram paramam tapah; "

" one-pointedness of the mind and the senses is supreme tapas. "

It is the concentrated effort leading to creativity. The earliest reference is in Atharva Ved :

"Agni, we practice tapas, we Kindle the fire of the spirit; So may we, listening to the sacred lore, Be long-lived and bright in intellect."

...... Atharva Ved 7.61.1


Every Vedic activity was generally pursued after diksha, making one competent to enter into the subtleties of spiritual life. It is through rigorous tapas, aided by upasana with Saguna Brahman as the object of meditation, the chanting of sacred and mystic mantras, and the performance of specific rituals, that the sacrificer transcends the body-mind complex and attains a state of oneness with the cosmic Deity.

This introspection into the true nature of Reality, manifested through the microcosm as well as the macrocosm, is denoted by the word dhih. The outer expression of this profound insight later issues forth in the form of rediscovering more mantras and hymns.

This proto-yoga of the rishis contained many of the elements that characterize later yoga systems.


"Om Shanti Shanti Shanti"