Difference between revisions of "Yoga-Yājñavalkya"
From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
m (Deval Sancheti moved page Talk:Yoga-Yājñavalkya or Yogi-Y āj ña valky a to Yoga-Yājñavalkya) |
|
(No difference)
|
Latest revision as of 10:17, 27 December 2016
By Swami Harshananda
Sometimes transliterated as: Yoga-Yajnavalkya, Yoga-YAjJavalkya, Yoga-Yaajyavalkya
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
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore