The Yoga Yajnavalkya (, Yoga-Yājñavalkya) is a classical Hindu yoga text in the Sanskrit language. The text is written in the form of a male–female dialogue between the sages Yajnavalkya and Gargi. The text consists of 12 chapters and contains 504 verses.
Like Patanjali's Yogasutras, the Yoga Yajnavalkya describes the eight components of yoga; however, it has different goals. The text contains additional material that is not found in Yogasutras, such as the concept of kundalini. The Yoga Yajnavalkya contains one of the most comprehensive discussion of yoga components such as the Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dhyana, and Dharana.
The text was influential in the development and practice of the yoga traditions of India before the 12th century.
Author The text is traditionally attributed to Yajnavalkya, a revered Vedic sage in Hinduism. He is estimated to have lived in around the 8th century BCE, and is associated with several other major ancient texts in Sanskrit, namely the Shukla Yajurveda, the Shatapatha Brahmana, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the Dharmasastra named Yājñavalkya Smṛti, Vriddha Yajnavalkya, and Brihad Yajnavalkya.I Fisher (1984), Yajnavalkya in the Sruti traditions of the Veda, Acta Orientalia, Volume 45, pages 55–87 He is also mentioned in the Mahabharata and the Puranas,Vishwanath Narayan Mandlik, , pages lvi, xlviii–lix as well as in ancient Jainism texts such as the Isibhasiyaim.Hajime Nakamura (1968), Yajnavalkya and other Upanishadic thinkers in a Jain tradition, The Adyar Library Bulletin, Volume 31–32, pages 214–228 These references to Yajnavalkya in other texts, in addition to the eponymous Yoga Yajnavalkya, may be to different sages with the same name.
The actual author of Yoga Yajnavalkya text was probably someone who lived many centuries after the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya, and is unknown. Ian Whicher, a professor of Religion at the University of Manitoba, writes that the author of Yoga Yajnavalkya may be an ancient Yajnavalkya, but this Yajnavalkya is not to be confused with the Vedic-era Yajnavalkya "who is revered in Hinduism for Brihadaranyaka Upanishad".Ian Whicher (1999), The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga, State University of New York Press, , pages 27, 315–316 with notes
David White, a professor of Comparative Religion at the University of California, suggests that the author – a 9th- to 12th-century South Indian with the name of Yajnavalkya – was "the author of two works that combined the eight part practice with teachings on Hatha Yoga and Vedanta Philosophy": the Yoga Yajnavalkya and the Yogi Yajnavalkya-smriti. This issue has since been clarified in a 2017 study of the two works.
According to Dominik Wujastyk – a scholar of Sanskrit literature, Indology and the history of Yoga philosophy and practice, the Yoga Yajnavalkya is an early text on yoga. Many versions of its manuscripts have been discovered, with two pre-10th-century CE palm leaf manuscripts in Sanskrit, while many more versions have been found in other regional languages of the Indian subcontinent. The original text is likely many centuries older. The variations between the manuscripts suggest that this text was compiled and revised by multiple authors.
Chronology
The composition date of Yoga Yajnavalkya is unclear. Prahlad Divanji, an Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, states that the text was composed between the second century BCE and fourth century CE, because Yoga Upanishads and Hatha Yoga texts contain verses from Yoga Yajnavalkya. Divanji cites Tantra texts, Ayurveda tradition texts, and literature of Advaita Vedanta from the 4th century CE, which mention the Yoga Yajnavalkya, thereafter concluding that the text or some version of the Yoga Yajnavalkya text must have been in existence by the 4th century CE. However, adds Divanji, the text is likely to have been composed after Patanjali's Yogasutra, which itself is variously estimated to have composed sometime between 500 BCE and 400 CE.Michele Desmarais (2008), Changing Minds: Mind, Consciousness and Identity in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 16–17 Divanji premises his dating proposal from the observation that Yoga Yajnavalkya expands on ideas in Patanjali's text, such as its list of Yamas, which includes the Patanjali's five plus five additional ones.
A. G. Mohan, an author and yoga teacher, states that the text was likely completed before the 4th century CE. David White, in contrast, suggests the date of composition to be much later, between the 10th and 12th centuries. White states that the 13th-century Dattatreya Yoga-shastra acknowledges Yajnavalkya, and describes its teachings as "supplementary to the eight part practice as taught by Yajnavalkya", which means that the text was already established and accepted by then. Other manuscripts with devotional, "non-mental" and "mental" yoga texts in the Hindu tradition also refer to teachings of the text, suggesting the text originated before many other yoga texts.
Ram Shankar Bhattacharya, an Indologist, dates the Pune version of a manuscript of the text to about the 13th or 14th century CE, and notes that this version of the Yoga Yajnavalkya quotes verses from Hatha Yoga texts. He also points out that Gargi is mentioned as the wife of Yajnavalkya in the manuscript. However, no other text affirms that Gargi was the wife of Yajnavalkya; rather, Maitreyi and Katyayani are listed as his two wives, leading to the theory that the Pune manuscript is a corrupted and more modern edition of the original text.Karen Pechilis (2004), The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States, Oxford University Press, , pages 11–15
According to Dominik Wujastyk, two of its manuscripts – MS Kathmandu NAK 5-696 (now preserved in Nepal), MS London BL Or. 3568 (preserved in the British Library)– are amongst the oldest surviving Sanskrit manuscripts found on the Indian subcontinent. The first is dated to the early 10th-century or late 9th-century, while the one discovered in Nepal is dated to 1024 CE from its colophon. The original text is likely much older than these palm leaf manuscript copies.
Manuscripts Several versions of the Yoga Yajnavalkya manuscripts are known. The earliest published manuscript of Yoga Yajnavalkya was discovered in Bengal in 1893. Since then, other manuscripts have been discovered with differing numbers of verses. The text published by Divanji in 1954, for example, has over 500 verses, while the manuscript translated by Krishnamacharya and Desikachar, writers and teachers of yoga books, has 460 verses.
A study of the manuscripts reveals that there are two quite different works that are often both called "Yogayājñavalkya." The work discussed in this Wikipedia page is often called the Yogayājñavalkyagītā in the manuscripts. A much older, and quite different work that does not discuss yoga postures, is called the Yogiyājñavalkyasmṛti or the Sārasamuccaya of the Yogayājñavalkya in manuscripts.
Structure
The Yoga Yajnavalkya (or Yogayajnavalkya) text is structured as a conversation between a man (Yajnavalkya) and a woman (Gargi), in the presence of an audience. It is organized into twelve chapters, and cumulatively contains 504 verses.
The text opens with a discussion of virtues and lifestyle of a yogi, with 70 verses in the first chapter dedicated primarily to Yamas and 19 in second dedicated to Niyamas. The yoga postures with breathing and cleansing exercises are described in 149 verses of the third through seventh chapters, wherein the text asserts that these yoga exercises help the yogi master his senses and achieve awareness of his body.
Meditation discussions start in the eighth chapter of the text, where 40 verses discuss how to start and develop meditative practices with the help of Om and resonating sounds, followed by 44 verses in the ninth chapter for advanced meditation that is reflective on one's mind, Vedana (feelings) and nature of one's Atman (self, soul). The text dedicates 23 verses in the tenth chapter on samadhi (concentration) to become aware of the equality of one's Atman and Brahman (Universal Ultimate Reality, God).
The final sections of the text discuss the need for a Guru (teacher) along with the duties of a yogin, and what to do when one realizes one has made a mistake. The last chapter briefly discusses the kundalini, the benefits of yoga and the nature of calmness, contentedness in one's mind and consciousness.
Contents The text opens with reverence and introduction for Yajnavalkya and Gargi, and then gives its purpose: "to disclose the nature of yoga". In verses 10 to 19, Gargi remarks that yoga has been called the best karma, and asks Yajnavalkya to explain yoga to her. Yajnavalkya agrees, but first attributes his knowledge to the Hindu god Brahma who taught him this jnana (knowledge) and karma (works).
Knowledge Yajnavalkya states that there are two paths to attain knowledge. One path is Pravritti-karma, wherein a person is driven by desire and a craving for rewards, forms his will, and then uses his knowledge to act out his free will. The second path is Nivritti-karma, wherein a person is not driven by desire and does not crave for rewards, but he uses his knowledge in his works in a detached way. The Pravritti-karma path is the cause for suffering and rebirth, while the Nivritti-karma is liberating and practiced by those who want to end suffering and rebirth.
Verses 1.27–40 are a non-yoga commentary on the duties of four social classes – this section is missing in manuscripts of Yoga Yajnavalkya that contain 460 verses. The commentary presents two theories on the duties of the four classes in terms of ashrama dharmas of student, householder, hermit and mendicant..
According to Bhattacharya's translation it adds that all four varnas are required to "pay off the debts owed to the sages, men and gods" by practicing Brahmacharya, procreating offspring and performing karma. All four social classes should strive for Nivritti-karma (work without craving for rewards). According to Desikachar's translation, yoga is open to all, without restrictions to varna or gender.
Verses 1.41–49 state that "karma with knowledge is the means to liberation". Yoga is the essence of this knowledge, and it has eight components: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.Richard Rosen (2001), Review of Yogayajnavalkya Samhita by TKV Desikachar, Yoga Journal, Issue March/April, pages 147–149
Yamas: virtuous restraints of a yoga student
The Yoga Yajnavalkya starts its description of yoga practice with a statement of virtuous self-restraints that a yogi or yogini needs to adhere to. This list is longer than the five yamas listed by Patañjali in Yogasūtra, but similar to those found in other Hindu texts such as the Shandilya UpanishadKN Aiyar (1914), Thirty Minor Upanishads, Kessinger Publishing, , Chapter 22, pages 173–176 and other ancient and medieval-era Yoga texts. Verses 1.50–51 of Yoga Yajnavalkya list the following ten Yamas (the restraints), while verses 1.52–70 explain what these virtues mean and why they are necessary:
Ahiṃsā (अहिंसा): nonviolence, nonharmfulness by action, with word or in thoughtJames Lochtefeld, "Yama (2)", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing. , page 777John Ely (2000), Yoga-Yajnavalkya, Ganesh, , page 41 Satya (सत्य): truthfulness Asteya (अस्तेय): not stealing Brahmacharya (ब्रह्मचर्य): celibacy, fidelity to one's partnerArti Dhand (2002), The dharma of ethics, the ethics of dharma: Quizzing the ideals of Hinduism, Journal of Religious Ethics, 30(3), pages 347–372Yajnavalkya tells Gargi in verse 1.55 that one who copulates (मैथुन) only with and always with one's sexual partner is a Brahmachari; see ॥ योगयाज्ञवल्क्य १-५५॥ Sanskrit text of Yoga Yajnavalkya, SanskritDocuments Archives (2009) Dayā (दया): kindness, compassion