Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

texts, ''Rāja yoga'' (; राजयोग) was both the goal of

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

and a method to attain it. The term also became a modern name for the practice of yoga in the 19th-century when Swami Vivekananda gave his interpretation of the

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras ( aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The ...

in his book '' Raja Yoga''.Swami Vivekananda, ''Raja Yoga'', Since then, Rāja yoga has variously been called aṣṭāṅga yoga, royal yoga, royal union, sahaja marg, and classical yoga.

Etymology and usage

Rāja (Sanskrit: राज) means "chief, best of its kind" or "king". Rāja yoga thus refers to "chief, best of yoga". The historical use of the term ''Rāja yoga'' is found in other contexts, quite different from its modern usage. In ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, it meant the highest state of yoga practice (one reaching ''samadhi''). The '' Hatha Yoga Pradipika'', for example, states that Hatha yoga is one of the ways to achieve Rāja yoga. Rāja yoga is discussed in the '' Yogatattva Upanishad''. It is then mentioned in a 16th-century commentary on a specific step in the '' Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali''. The medieval era Tantric work '' Dattātreyayogaśāstra'' explains in 334 shlokas the principles of four yogas:

Mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...

yoga, Hatha yoga, Laya yoga and Raja yoga.

Alain Daniélou Alain Daniélou (4 October 1907 – 27 January 1994) was a French historian, Indologist, intellectual, musicologist, translator, writer, and notable Western convert to and expert on the Shaivite sect of Hinduism. In 1991 he was awarded the ...

states that ''Rāja yoga'' was, in the historic literature of Hinduism, one of five known methods of yoga, with the other four being ''Hatha yoga'', ''Mantra yoga'', ''Laya yoga'' and ''Shiva yoga''.Alain Daniélou (1991), Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe, , Chapters 1-12 Daniélou translates it as "Royal way to reintegration of Self with Universal Self (

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

)". The term became a modern

retronym A retronym is a newer name for an existing thing that helps differentiate the original form/version from a more recent one. It is thus a word or phrase created to avoid confusion between older and newer types, whereas previously (before there were ...

in the 19th-century when Swami Vivekananda equated raja yoga with the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. This meaning is different from that in the ''Hatha Yoga Pradīpikā'', a text of the Natha sampradaya. The

Brahma Kumaris The Brahma Kumaris are a spiritual movement that originated in Hyderabad, Sindh, during the 1930s. Jason Birch (2013), Råjayoga: The Reincarnations of the King of All Yogas, ''International Journal of Hindu Studies'', Volume 17, Issue 3, pages 401–444 Modern interpretations and literature that discuss ''Raja yoga'' often credit Patañjali's ''Yogasūtras'' as their textual source, but many neither adopt the teachings nor the philosophical foundations of the Yoga school of Hinduism. This mixing of concepts has led to confusion in understanding historical and modern Indian literature on Yoga.

History

In Shaivism

The

Shaiva Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

Yoga text, ''Amanaska'', dated from the 12th century CE or earlier, is a dialogue between

Vamadeva In Hinduism, Vamadeva ( sa, वामदेव) is the preserving aspect of the God Shiva, one of six aspects of the universe he embodies, as well as the name of an ancient rishi. On a five-faced Shivalingam, Vamadeva appears on the right hand side. ...

and the deity

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. In the second chapter, the text mentions Raja yoga. It states that it is so named because it enables the yogin to reach the illustrious king within oneself, the supreme self. Raja yoga is declared as the goal where one experiences nothing but the bliss of the undisturbed, the natural state of calm, serenity, peace, communion within and contentment. The Raja yoga goal and state are synonymous with various terms, such as ''Amanaska'', ''Unmani'' and ''Sahaj''. The '' Hatha Yoga Pradipika'' (literally, ''A Little Light on Hatha Yoga'') asserts this as follows,

As a type of yoga

Some medieval Indian texts on Yoga list Rajayoga as one of many types of yoga. For example, the 17th-century Sarvanga yoga pradipikå, a Braj-bhashya commentary by Sundardas, teaches three tetrads of Yogas. The first group is

Bhakti yoga Bhakti yoga ( sa, भक्ति योग), also called Bhakti marga (, literally the path of '' Bhakti''), is a spiritual path or spiritual practice within Hinduism focused on loving devotion towards any personal deity.Karen Pechelis (2014) ...

, Mantra yoga, Laya yoga, and Carcha yoga; the second is Hatha yoga, Raja yoga, Laksha yoga, and Ashtanga yoga; the third is Samkhya yoga, Jñana yoga, Brahma yoga, and Advaita yoga. Of the twelve, Sundardas states that Rajayoga is the best yoga.Jason Birch (2013), Råjayoga: The Reincarnations of the King of All Yogas, ''International Journal of Hindu Studies'', Volume 17, Issue 3, pages 415-416

As the yoga system of Patanjali

One meaning of Raja yoga is as a modern retronym introduced by Swami Vivekananda, when he equated raja yoga with the

. After its circulation in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, many Indian scholars reviewed it, then published their ''Bhāṣya'' (notes and commentary) on it. Together, they form a canon called the ''Pātañjalayogaśāstra'' ("The Treatise on Yoga of Patañjali"). According to Axel Michaels, the ''Yoga Sutras'' are built upon fragments of texts and traditions from ancient India. According to Feuerstein, the ''Yoga Sutras'' are a condensation of two different traditions, namely "eight limb yoga" (ashtanga yoga) and action yoga ('' kriya yoga''). The ''kriya yoga'' part is contained in chapter 1, chapter 2 verse 1-27, chapter 3 except verse 54, and chapter 4. The "eight limb yoga" is described in chapter 2 verse 28-55, and chapter 3 verse 3 and 54. There are numerous parallels in the ancient Samkhya, Yoga and

Abhidharma The Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist ''sutras''. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the f ...

schools of thought, particularly from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century AD, notes Larson.Larson, pp. 43-45 Patanjali's Yoga Sutras may be a synthesis of these three traditions. From the Samkhya school of Hinduism, Yoga Sutras adopt the "reflective discernment" (''adhyavasaya'') of ''prakrti'' and ''purusa'' (dualism), its metaphysical rationalism, and its three epistemic methods to gaining reliable knowledge. From Abhidharma Buddhism's idea of ''nirodhasamadhi'', suggests Larson, Yoga Sutras adopt the pursuit of an altered state of awareness. However, unlike Buddhism, which believes that there is neither self nor soul, Yoga is physicalist and realist, like Samkhya, in believing that each individual has a self and soul. The third concept that Yoga Sutras synthesizes into its philosophy is the ancient ascetic traditions of isolation, meditation and introspection, as well as the yoga ideas from the 1st millennium BCE Indian texts such as

Katha Upanishad The ''Katha Upanishad'' (Sanskrit: कठोपनिषद् or कठ उपनिषद्) (') is one of the ''mukhya'' (primary) Upanishads, embedded in the last eight short sections of the ' school of the Krishna Yajurveda.Paul Deussen. ...

, Shvetashvatara Upanishad and

Maitri Upanishad The ''Maitrayaniya Upanishad'' ( sa, मैत्रायणीय उपनिषद्, ) is an ancient Sanskrit text that is embedded inside the Yajurveda.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 3 ...

Islamic period

In early 11th century, the Persian scholar

Al Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...

visited India, lived among Hindus for 16 years, and with their help translated several significant Sanskrit works into Arabic and Persian. One was Patanjali's Yogasutras.S Pines and T Gelblum (Translators from Arabic to English, 1966), Al-Bīrūni (Translator from Sanskrit to Arabic, ~ 1035 AD), and Patañjali
Al-Bīrūnī's Arabic Version of Patañjali's ''Yogasūtra''
''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', Vol. 29, No. 2 (1966), pages 302-325 Along with generally accurate translations, Al Biruni's text has significant differences from Yogasutra manuscripts discovered in India during the 19th century. Al Biruni's record has helped modern scholars establish that Patanjali's ''Yogasutras'' manuscript existed in India in many versions, each with multiple commentaries by Hindu scholars. Some of these versions and commentaries are either lost or undiscovered. Al Biruni's translation preserved many of the core themes of Yoga philosophy of Hinduism; however, certain sutras and analytical commentaries were restated, making them more consistent with Islamic monotheistic theology. Al Biruni's version of Yoga Sutras reached Persia and Arabian peninsula by about 1050 AD. In Indian historical timeline, marking with the arrival of Islam in India in twelfth century, further development and literature on Yoga philosophy of Hinduism went into decline. By the sixteenth century, Patanjali's Yoga philosophy was nearly extinct. Yoga was preserved by

sadhu ''Sadhu'' ( sa, साधु, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female)), also spelled ''saddhu'', is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. ...

s (ascetics,

sannyasi ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...

s) of India. Some of the Hindu yoga elements were adopted by Sufi sect of Muslims in India. The Sufi Muslims at times adopted and protected the Yoga tradition of Hindus during the Islamic rule of India, and at other times helped the persecution and violence against those Hindus. The Mughal Emperor Akbar, known for his syncretic tolerance, was attracted to and patronized Yoga philosophy of Hinduism.David White (2014)
The ''Yoga Sutra of Patanjali'' - A Biography
Princeton University Press, , pages 146-152

Comparison with Buddhism

The yoga scholar Stephen Cope identifies the following similarities between Raja yoga and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

. He notes that the two philosophies are not the same, but are strikingly similar, having shared a long period of interchange up to about 500 CE.

References

External links

Yoga exercises
''Thai Journal of Physiological Sciences'' (compares Raja yoga to other yogas)
Raja Yoga Meditation
''Yoga Spirit Life'' (describes 8 limbs of Raja yoga) {{DEFAULTSORT:Raja yoga Hindu philosophical concepts Movements in ancient Indian philosophy Yoga paths Āstika