Re: Rig Veda Yoking
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté earthpossom
Originally Posted by
earthpossum
It is said that the first reference of Yoga as Yoking is found in the Rig Veda. I am a student of Yoga and I am searching for the correct reference in the Rig Veda to the reference of Yoga as Yoking. (Book, Hymn, Verse) I have only been looking in the Griffiths translation doing a search on the english words Yoga and Yolking but nothing comes up. I am hoping someone here is knowledgeable in the Rig Veda, I can not read sanskrit and the only translatations I have found
are in English. Namaste
I will answer your question in a moment, yet let me if I may expand the conversation just a bit. When you say yoga , or student of yoga, are you thinking haṭha or perhaps aṣṭāṅga yoga we find in patañjali’s yogadarśana? Patañjali’s first words on this matter are the following :
yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
- yogaś - process of yoking; union from 'yuj'
- citta - as a noun it is thinking , reflecting , imagining , thought; some put this as active mind
- vṛtti - ' rolling , or rolling down' i.e. patterning, turnings, movements.
- nirodhaḥ - suppression , destruction ; some prefer stilling, cessation, restriction
How I see this yoga
Yoga योग is rooted in yuj the act of yoking , joining , attaching , harnessing. But to what? To the Supreme, to bind one back to the source, to yoke one back to anuttara ( the Supreme).
Yoga is also defined as a means , expedient , device , way , manner , a method.
Hence with 'method' we get various yoga-s; here are some of the names of the major approaches:
- rāja ( some write rāj ) राज- king , sovereign , chief or best of its kind
- karma (some write karman) कर्मन्- action consisting in motion ; act, special duty, skill in action
- jñāna ज्ञान - knowing , becoming acquainted with , knowledge , (esp.) the higher knowledge of SELF, Supreme.
- bhākti or bhākta भाक्त - ' the faithful ones'
- haṭha yoga हठ - 'by force' ; ' necessarily , inevitably , by all means ' ( we will review this one on another post if requested)
- kriyā क्रिया - action; doing , performing , performance , occupation. For me this looks much like a definition for karma yoga
Are there others? Yes. Some may add kuṇdalinī yoga to this list, which is fine. This is also tightly coupled with kriyā yoga practices.
There are other yoga practices that the originating guru may coin his/her self. Perhaps other HDF members that are interested in this subject may wish to post their insights/studies on one of the yoga-s mentioned above or add to the list.
So , this yuj ( to join, unite, make ready) in the ṛg ved ( some prefer rig veda ) may be yuj, or yukti युक्ति or other words that infer the yoking or union to the Supreme - that is the point i wish to make. It is found in the veda's again & again. This is the foundation.
Now all that said...
Let me offer the answer of where yoga comes about in the ṛg ved saṁhitā¹. The 1st time a full 10 sūkta-s are devoted to indra starts with 1.4.0 . This runs from 1.4.1 to 1.4.10.
This then prepares the aspirant for the next section 1.5.0 , yoga and the arrival of indra ( one must ask where will he arrive?). Hence in sūkta ( or mantra) 1.5.3 you will find the first introduction of yoga.
It is respectful and our obligation to note the seer (ṛṣi) , the meter (chandas) and the devatā of the verse ( śloka ) we are talking:
The ṛṣi is madhuchandāḥ ( some write madhuchandās); the meter (chandas) is gayātrī ; the devatā is indra
sa ghā no yoga ābhuvat sa rāye sa purandhyām |
gamat vājebhiḥ ā sa naḥ ||
I will let you look this up and we can compare and contrast what Mr. Griffith says of this śloka. Tell us what you find and we can use this as input to a deeper appreciation of this verse.
praṇām
words
saṁhitā - collection; hymns
Last edited by yajvan; 18 October 2010 at 11:25 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
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