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Yoga, more appropriately ‘yog’, is one the old disciplines of the Indian Philosophy. Its first mention was traced in the pages of Rig Veda, one of the four ancient sacred texts written in Sanskrit. Yog is the science of how to draw closer to consciousness and ultimate truth (or sattya) .
The Indian sage Patanjali was the founder of the Yog philosophy, a great aid for people who want to realize the existence of the spirit as an independent principle, free from all the limitations of the body, the senses and the mind. The Yog-sutra is the first work of this school and it is divided into four parts or padas. The four parts are as follows: |
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Samadhipada: treats of the nature, aim and forms of yog, the modification of citta (or internal organs) and the different methods of attaining yog. |
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Sadhanapada: deals with kriyayog as a means of attaining samadhi , the mental states causing afflictions, fruits of action and their painful nature, and the fourfold theme of suffering.
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Vibhutipada: gives an account of the inward aspects of yog and the power achieved from its practice. |
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Kaivalyapada: it describes the forms and nature of liberation, reality, other world and so on. |
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The Yog system is closely allied to the Sankhya System, it is the application of the Sankhya theory in the practical life. The value of yog as an important method of realizing the spiritual truths of the Indian Philosophy has been recognized almost by all the Indian sytems. The mass concept regarding yog revolves around performing asanas and pranayamas to solve problems when in reality it is quite not the same. Asanas and Pranayamas are the third and fourth ‘angas’ of the Ashtanga Yog which works as a stepping stone in attaining unshakable concentration, for the body to support and help the mind to concentrate, it needs to be free from any diseases and physical boundaries which can be achieved with their aid. The modern yog tries to understand the body from its physiological as well as anatomical perspective and tries to explain behavior and psychological characteristics using the context of genetics and socio-cultural development of a being.
Every covert and overt behavior of a being is related to their genetic predisposition one way or other. While western psychology tries to explain the connection between mind and body from a western cultural view, the Indian philosophy has various schools describing this connection from their own perspectives giving a vast ranging information to study. Indian Yog is one of such schools. The ancient language of literature in India being Sanskrit, different theories of the schools has been misinterpreted and the rest has been described in a very cryptic and metaphoric manner making it difficult to comprehend. The modern yog tries to explain the schools for our better understanding. Thus, informing us about the significance of yog in our daily lives.
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