Yoga-Yājñavalkya

By Swami Harshananda

Yoga-Yājñavalkya or Yogi-Yājñavalky a is a small work on Yoga attributed to the great sage Yājñavalkya. It has 506 verses spread over 12 chapters. In an assembly of sages, Gārgī^[1] and Maiteryī^[2] were also present. Gārgi prostrated herself before Yājñavalkya and requested him to teach the essence of yoga. The sage agreed and expounded its eight limbs as:

Yama - ten disciplines like ahiṅsā or non-violence
Niyama - ten disciplines like tapas or austerity
Āsana - bodily postures of eight kinds
Prāṇāyāma - control of breath with appropriate mantras
Pratyāhāra - withdrawal of senses
Dhāraṇā - fixing the mind on the object of concentration and is of five kinds
Dhyāna - meditation
Samādhi - super conscious experience

Other important points stressed in this work are:

Performance of actions enjoined by Vedic injunctions
Posture for controlling the prāṇic energy
Rousing of the Kuṇḍalinī power
Appearance of some psychic experiences indicating the progress in the path of yoga

References[edit]

↑ Gārgī is considered the best among the experts in the knowledge of Brahman.
↑ Maiteryī is Yajñavalkya’s first wife, considered as the best among married women.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

[1] Gārgī is considered the best among the experts in the knowledge of Brahman.

[2] Maiteryī is Yajñavalkya’s first wife, considered as the best among married women.

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