HISTORY OF POSTURAL YOGA

DRISTI - HISTORY OF ASANA

THE HISTORY OF POSTURAL YOGA Synthesis of Tantra & Asceticism

BY JAMES RUSSELL

24 NAMASKAR -

ON THE HISTORY OF ASANA..........28 THE VEDAS FORMED OUR ASANA...30

Modern Yoga is a hybrid of practices in which the physical techniques of Hatha Yoga converge with the experiential philosophy of Patanjali’s Eight limbed path.

Yoga classes are often characterised by physical postures, referred to collectively by the Sanskrit term asana.

“Asana derives from the verbal root ‘as’, meaning ‘to be present; to exist; to inhabit, dwell in; to make one’s abode in….;to sit quietly, abide, remain…to continue in any situation.” - (Mikel Burley)

There has recently been much speculation as to origin of these postures. Some academics Originally Hatha Yoga was a synthesis of Tantra and Asceticism, that consolidated a broad spectrum of physical and energetic practices to contain subtle energy and the ascension of Kundalini Shakti. Within this approach, asana was expanded out from a seated position to encompass “any bodily posture that may be maintained for a prolonged period.” (Burley.)

A variety of Hatha techniques were codified in texts from around the 11th century onwards, that were largely plagiarised from earlier (as yet unpublished) Tantric scriptures dating from the 6th century

Prior to everything, asana is spoken of as the first part of hatha yoga. Having done asana one gets steadiness of body and mind. - Hatha Pradipika 1.17

contend large portions of contemporary yoga are modern innovations, appropriated from gymnastics and Victorian bodybuilding in the late 19th and early 20th century. Meanwhile, others are adamant the postures belong to a much older tradition. For many yoga practitioners, asana is regarded as a timeless expression of innate human physicality, beyond the confines of tradition and localised culture.

Because yoga is in essence an oral tradition, and literacy in India was uncommon for centuries, it is difficult to chart the development of yoga’s vast history purely through textural analysis. Also, a great many texts have been lost or remain untranslated. The texts we have offer, at best, a bread-crumb trail. However, if we follow the trail carefully, we can gain some fascinating insights into the evolution of the practice.

Early yoga texts such as the Bhagavad Gita (200BCE) and Yoga Sutra (350 CE), typically frame asana within the context of establishing a simple seated position to meditate. It is within the later tradition of Hatha Yoga, which flourished between the 12th and 18th centuries, that asana takes on a more significant role and we find a variety of postures. Whilst there is no doubt many of the yoga postures in usage today can be traced back to this later Hatha path, it remains unclear whether an earlier asana tradition existed and we find a difficult gap of around 1,000 years between the Yoga Sutra’s one seated asana and the variety of asana found in early Hatha texts. onwards. Early Tantric texts typically denote an asana as a throne upon which a Deity is installed. Postures are also referred to as Karana suggesting movement and Pitha indicating a seat.

Although mediaeval Hatha texts allude to vast numbers of postures and 84 classic asana, most describe a handful asana and Mudra (energetic seals) considered particularly important:

“There are as many postures as there are species of beings. Only Maheshvara (Lord Shiva) knows all their varieties. Of the 8400,000 (asana) one for each 100,000 has been mentioned. Thus Shiva created eightyfour seats (pitha) for Yogins.” - (Goraksha Paddhati 1.8 - 1.9)

Perhaps the most famous Hatha text is the Hatha Pradipika (Svatmarama 1450), in which for the first time, asana is identified as a key component of the Hatha system. This text was largely borrowed from earlier Tantric sources.

PATANJALI’S ASHTANGA YOGA: THE EIGHT LIMBED PATH

Many modern practitioners take their philosophical guidance from the much earlier tradition of Patanjali and his seminal text: ‘The Yoga Sutra’ (250 - 350 CE.) Sutra means thread and is a terse literary convention consisting of short aphorisms compact with meaning, which are often undecipherable without the aid of an additional commentary. The Yoga Sutra outlines two methods for the practitioner to reach Samadhi - clear perception: Kriya yoga - the

Within the Ashtanga method - asana constitutes the third limb of yoga. Patanjali doesn’t describe or list a variety of postures such as those we practice today and includes just one posture - a steady, comfortable seat.

So in the course of the sutra’s 196 verses, only three are given over to asana method - less than two percent of the entire text. However, Patanjali’s axioms are profound and incredibly useful: encouraging the yogi to relax in the asana whilst finding poise and comfort. This approach is compatible with Hatha Yoga and the two systems have enjoyed a complementary relationship for at least five centuries.

Although Patanjali devotes a relatively small number of verses to asana, it doesn’t necessarily mean he felt asana was unimportant and it may be he was restricted by the distilled format of the sutra convention. Similarly, in the fourth limb of yoga, although Patanjali surmises the fundamental principals of Pranayama, he does so without offering details of specific practices.

It is only though the aid of a good commentary (and/or teacher) that we can begin to unpack the sutra and weave the thread of Patajanli’s discourse into a more comprehensive, practice-orientated method. Patanjali’s philosophy as understood and articulated by Vyasa.” - (Edwin Bryant)

An intriguing possibility is the Bhasya and Yoga Sutra were in fact works by the same author. The word Vyasa can be translated as compiler. Scholars Michel Angot and Ande Maass have hypothesised:

1) There never was a Vyasa, only Patanjali, i.e. both the sutra and commentary were composed by the same author. 2) The sutras and Vyasa originally formed a single cohesive text entitled ‘Patanjali Yoga Shastra’. 3) The sutra and Vyasa commentary were originally intended to be studied together.

Irrespective of Vyasa’s identity, the Bhasya commentary is a crisp and knowledgeable companion to the sutra that sheds light on even the most enigmatic verses.

In Sutra 2.46, in which Patanjali introduces the third limb of yoga - asana, Vyasa furnishes us with considerably more information than Patanjali’s one, seated asana, and lists a total of 12 postures, qualifying that “when they can be held comfortably, they are called yogic Asanas.’ Although the postures listed by Vyasa are predominantly seated, such an assortment of asana isn’t usually found in textural sources until several centuries later.

Asana is a steady and comfortable seated posture, Perfection is accomplished through relaxation and contemplation upon the infinite. Thereafter the yogi is undisturbed by duality. - Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.46 - 2.48

VYASA & THE YOGA BHASHYA

Arguably the most important commentary on the yoga sutra is a text called the YogaBhashya ( “Discussion on Yoga” ) composed by Vyasa in the fifth century CE. Vyasa penetrated the little-known sutra text and filtered it through the lens of Samkhya philosophy. Much of our understanding of the sutra comes from Vyasa and many modern commentaries are, in effect, commentaries of Vyasa’s, Samkhya-nuanced commentary.

“It is Vyasa who determined what Patanjali’s abstruse sutras meant, and all subsequent commentators elaborated on Vyasa…It cannot be overstated that Yoga philosophy is “Vyasa : : They (the asanas) are as follows: - Padmasana, Virasana, Bhadrasana, Svastikasana, Dandasana, Sopasraya, Paryanka, Krauncha nisadana, Hastinisadana, Ustra-nisadana, and Samasamsthana. When these postures can be held comfortably, they are called (Yogic) Asanas.” (Yoga Bhashya 1.46)

Some of these names may be familiar to modern yoga practitioners and are still in popular use today. However, the naming of asana in the fifth century was somewhat different from today so there may be some variance in their application. Although Vyasa lists the postures, he provides no description or guidelines: so to ascertain their method it is necessary to refer to later Hatha Yoga texts and also artefacts such as paintings and sculptures.