4. Yoga in the Upanishads (800 BCE–200 CE), Buddhism and Jainism

Perhaps the earliest textual references to yoga as a spiritual discipline occur around 600/500 BCE in the Taittiriya Upanishad: yogatma (II.4.1) refers to an inner self which is made of knowledge and which is yoga; and yogakshema (III.10.2) refers to 'getting and enjoying' in the breath and the lower breath.

In the Katha Upanishad, which was probably composed between 300 and 100 BCE, are the first explicit references to yoga, which is referred to as adhyatmayoga (the yoga of the self): "By the study of the yoga of the self, the wise one knows as god that which is hard to see, that is deeply hidden" (II.12); "The steadfast control of the senses is known as 'yoga'; then one becomes undistracted; for yoga is the origin and the passing away" (VI.11); "The senses of the one without understanding, with mind ever undisciplined, are out of control, like evil horses of a charioteer" (III.5) (2).

Further references to yoga occur in later classical Upanishads, notably in the Shvetashvatara and Maitri Upanishads (dating from the early centuries BCE), where the concepts of withdrawing the senses, controlling the mind, and attaining liberation were further elaborated.

The practices and physiology of yoga were also explained in other, later collections of Upanishads, notably in the Yoga Upanishads, a corpus of about twenty-two texts that are orientated to Vedanta philosophy, and which reached its final compilation in the eighteenth century, comprising some rewritings of older texts and several newly composed texts.

In these texts several forms of yoga are elaborated, including mantra yoga, laya yoga (which dissolves mental activity), hatha yoga (which has eight degrees, roughly corresponding to the eight limbs of Patanjali’s system: see below), and raja yoga, which is identified with hatha yoga in some of the Yoga Upanishads.

Beginning around 500 BCE, new sects arose on the subcontinent; some disappeared, but Buddhism and Jainism flourished and had a great impact on Indian culture and thinking. In Buddhism, yoga means specifically meditation (or meditative techniques), while in Jainism, there is also an ancient tradition of yoga practices, primarily involving austerities and meditation techniques.

In some schools of Buddhism and Jainism visualisations and the chanting of mantras are also performed. Jain yoga also incorporates some of the technical vocabulary of Patanjali (see Section 6).

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