In Hindu philosophy, yoga is the name of one of the six orthodox (which accept the testimony of Vedas) philosophical schools. founded by Patanjali. Karel Werner, author of Yoga And Indian Philosophy, believes that the process of systematization of yoga which began in the middle and Yoga Upanishads culminated with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.Scholars also note the influence of Samkhyan and Buddhist ideas on the Yoga Sutras.The yoga school accepts the samkhya psychology and metaphysics, but is more theistic than the samkhya, as evidenced by the addition of a divine entity to the samkhya's twenty-five elements of reality.The parallels between yoga and samkhya were so close that Max Müller says that "the two philosophies were in popular parlance distinguished from each other as Samkhya with and Samkhya without a Lord...."The intimate relationship between samkhya and yoga is explained by Heinrich Zimmer:
These two are regarded in India as twins, the two aspects of a single discipline. Sāṅkhya provides a basic theoretical exposition of human nature, enumerating and defining its elements, analyzing their manner of co-operation in a state of bondage ("bandha"), and describing their state of disentanglement or separation in release ("mokṣa"), while yoga treats specifically of the dynamics of the process for the disentanglement, and outlines practical techniques for the gaining of release, or "isolation-integration" ("kaivalya").
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Patanjali is widely regarded as the compiler of the formal yoga philosophy.The verses of Yoga Sutras are terse and are therefore read together with the Vyasa Bhashya (c. 350–450 CE), a commentary on the Yoga Sutras.Patanjali's yoga is known as Raja yoga, which is a system for control of the mind. Patanjali defines the word "yoga" in his second sutra, which is the definitional sutra for his entire work:
yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
- Yoga Sutras 1.2
This terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga is the inhibition (nirodhaḥ) of the modifications (vṛtti) of the mind (citta)".The use of the word nirodhaḥ in the opening definition of yoga is an example of the important role that Buddhist technical terminology and concepts play in the Yoga Sutras; this role suggests that Patanjali was aware of Buddhist ideas and wove them into his system. Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from taking various forms (Vrittis).
Patanjali's writing also became the basis for a system referred to as "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"). This eight-limbed concept derived from the 29th Sutra of the 2nd book, and is a core characteristic of practically every Raja yoga variation taught today. The Eight Limbs are:
-Yama (The five "abstentions"): Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (Truth, non-lying), Asteya (non-covetousness), Brahmacharya (non-sensuality, celibacy), and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
-Niyama (The five "observances"): Shaucha(purity), Santosha(contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (study of the Vedic scriptures to know about God and the soul), and Ishvara-Pranidhana (surrender to God).
-Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation.
-Pranayama ("Suspending Breath"): Prāna, breath, "āyāma", to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force.
-Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.
-Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object.
-Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.
-Samadhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.
In the view of this school, the highest attainment does not reveal the experienced diversity of the world to be illusion. The everyday world is real. Furthermore, the highest attainment is the event of one of many individual selves discovering itself; there is no single universal self shared by all persons.
There are five forms of prāṇa, all having different names according to the bodily functions with which they correspond. These forms of prāṇa are:
*udāna-vāyu, corresponding to the throat region and the function of speech
*prāṇa-vāyu, corresponding to the chest region
*samāna-vāyu, corresponding to the central region of the body and the function of digestion
*apāna-vāyu, corresponding to the region of the lower abdomen and the function of elimination
*vyāna-vāyu, corresponding to the distribution of energy into all areas of the body
We will concern ourselves with two forms: prāṇa-vāyu and apāna-vāyu.
That which enters the body is called prāṇa and that which leaves it is called apāna. The term apāna also refers to the region of the lower abdomen and all the activities that take place there. Apāna describes that part of prāṇa that has the function of elimination and provides the energy for it, and it also refers to the lower belly and the rubbish that collects there when the power of prāṇa is not in a state of equilibrium. When a person is slow and heavy we sometimes say that he has too much apāna. Apāna as prāṇic energy is something we need, but apāna as refuse left from activating this energy actually prevents prāṇa from developing within. All forms of prāṇa are necessary, but to be effective they must be in a state of balance with each other. If someone has a lot of rubbish in the region of the lower abdomen then he or she consumes too much energy there, and this imbalance should be addressed. The goal is to reduce apāna to an efficient minimum.
Apāna as waste matter accumulates because of many factors, some of which lie within our control. The practice of yoga aims to reduce these impurities. People who are short of breath, cannot hold their breath, or cannot exhale slowly are seen as having more apāna, whereas those who have good breath control are considered to have less apāna. An overabundance of apāna leads to problems in all areas of the body. We have to reduce the apāna so that we can bring more prāṇa into the body.
When we inhale, prāṇa from outside the body is brought within. During inhalation, prāṇa meets apāna. During exhalation, the apāna within the body moves toward the prāṇa. Prāṇāyāma is the movement of the prāṇa toward the apāna and the movement of the apāna toward the prāṇa. Similarly, holding the breath after inhalation moves the prāṇa toward the apāna and holds it there. Holding the breath after exhalation moves the apāna toward the prāṇa.
TKV Desikachar - The Heart of Yoga
The word prāṇāyāma consists of two parts: prāṇa and āyāma. Āyāma means “stretch” or “extend,” and describes the action of prāṇāyāma. Prāṇa refers to “that which is infinitely everywhere.” With reference to us humans prāṇa can be described as something that flows continuously from somewhere inside us, filling us and keeping us alive: it is vitality. In this image, the prāṇa streams out from the center through the whole body.
Ancient texts such as the Yoga Yājñavalkya (see appendix 1) tell us that someone who is troubled, restless, or confused has more prāṇa outside the body than within. The amount of prāṇa outside the body is greater when we feel unwell; at those times the quality of prāṇa and its density within the body is reduced. Too little prāṇa in the body can be expressed as a feeling of being stuck or restricted. It can also show as a lack of drive or motivation to do anything; we are listless or even depressed. We may suffer from physical ailments when prāṇa is lacking in the body. And finally the Yoga Sūtra mentions disturbances in the breath, which can take very different forms.1 On the other hand, the more peaceful and well-balanced we are, the less our prāṇa is dispersed outside the body. And if all the prāṇa is within the body, we are free of these symptoms.
If prāṇa does not find sufficient room in the body there can be only one reason: it is being forced out by something that really does not belong there— let’s call it rubbish. What we are trying to do when we practice prāṇāyāma is nothing more than reduce this rubbish and so concentrate more and more prāṇa within the body.
Our state of mind is closely linked to the quality of prāṇa within. Because we can influence the flow of prāṇa through the flow of our breath, the quality of our breath influences our state of mind and vice versa. In yoga we are trying to make use of these connections so that prāṇa concentrates and can freely flow within us
TKV Dasikachar - The Heart Of Yoga
