Yoga Philosophy

Yuj means “control” and Yoga also mean to “add”. This philosophy is very close to Samkhya and can be easily distinguished as Yoga= Samkhya + Divinity. Thus, yoga school accepts the samkhya psychology and metaphysics, but is more theistic than the samkhya, because it also includes the divine entity to the samkhya’s elements of reality.

Patanjali is widely regarded as the compiler of the formal yoga philosophy. The yoga phislosophy of Patanjali is also known as Raja Yoga. Raja Yoga is a system for control of the mind. The other branches include Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga,Bhakti Yoga, and Hatha Yoga.

As per Patanjali Yoga is defined as following shloka:

The above shloka means that Yoga is the inhibition of the modifications of the mind. Swami Vivekananda translated the sutra as “Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff from taking various forms”. Hindu philosophy distinguishes seven major branches of Yoga:

• Rāja Yoga(Classical Yoga), a system of yoga codified by Patañjali and classified as one of the six āstika (“orthodox”) schools of Hindu philosophy.
• Jnana yoga, (buddhi-yoga) centred on the faculty of discernment and ‘virtually identical with the spiritual path of Vedānta’.
• Karma-yoga, in which the world of everyday work becomes the tool by which self is transcended.
• Bhakti-Yogathe path of devoted service to God.
• Tantra-yogafocused on the techniques and psycho-physical teachings contained within a body of texts called tantras.
• Mantra-yoga, one of the most ancient forms of yoga in which the psycho-acoustical properties of the spoken word are used to concentrate the mind.
• Hatha yoga, a system of physical purification designed to reintegrate and re-balance the mind and body in preparation for Raja-yoga (first described by Yogi Swatmarama).

Ashtanga Yoga

The Yogasutras of Patanjali later became the basis of Ashtanga Yoga. This eight-limbed concept derived from Patanajali’s Yogasutra is a core characteristic of practically every Raja yoga variation that is practiced today. These eight limbs are as follows:

• Five Yama:Yama refers to the five “abstentions”. These abstentions are
  • Ahimsa (non-violence)
  • Satya (Truth, non-lying)
  • Asteya (non-covetousness)
  • Brahmacharya (non-sensuality, celibacy)
  • Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
• Five Niyama:The Niyama refers to five “observances”. These are
  • Shaucha(purity)
  • Santosha(contentment)
  • Tapas (austerity)
  • Svadhyaya (study of the Vedic scriptures to know about God and the soul), and
  • Ishvara-Pranidhana (surrender to God).
• Asana: Asana means to be seated. Patanjali’s Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation.
• Pranayama (“Suspending Breath”): Prāna, breath, “āyāma”, to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force.
• Pratyahara (“Abstraction”): Withdrawal of the mind or senses from an object or event.
• Dharana (“Concentration”): Fixing the attention on a single object.
• Dhyana (“Meditation”): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.
• Samadhi (“Liberation”): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.

Hathayoga Versus Rajayoga

The Yogasutras of Patanjali which mainly postulate the Raj Yoga, date back to Mauryan Period while Hathayoga was introduced by Yogi Swatmarama. The major difference between Raj Yoga and Hathayoga is that while Raja Yoga aims at controlling all thought-waves or mental modifications, a Hatha Yogi starts his Sadhana, or spiritual practice, with Asanas (postures) and Pranayama. So Raj Yoga starts from Mind and Hathyoga starts from Body.