Wondering how yoga originated? How has it evolved throughout its history? What is inspiring
many people to do yoga teacher training courses in Rishikesh? Let's take a quick peek into this
wholesome discussion. Every true yoga enthusiast has at least once questioned, “From where
did this wonderful practice of yoga even start?” or “How yoga evolved so much and led people
to open so many yoga schools in Rishikesh? Adhiroha will today unveil the answer to these
most sought-after questions because at Adhiroha we believe that Self-Study (svādhyāya) is an
important dimension of Yoga and taught in every yoga teacher training course in Rishikesh to
strengthening once conviction and perseverance towards their yogic practice.
What is the most authentic way of answering this question? First things first, we will agree on a
central point that, despite more than a century of research, there is not much scientific
documentation of yoga’s beginnings. However, what we do know is that it originated in India
several thousand years ago which could be one of the reasons that most authentic yoga teacher
training courses can be found in India. Therefore, we will be looking at its origin and evolution as
per the Indian cultural context as this will be the most real way of approaching this question.
Origin of Yoga & Shiva’s Legend... As per Vedas and scriptures the origin of yoga is credited to
Lord Shiva who is seen as the “Adiyogi” (first yogi). According to the legend, Shiva reached
enlightenment thousands of years ago in a place called Mount Kailash. Followed by this, on the
banks of the lake Kantisarovar in the Himalayas. Adiyogi poured his profound knowledge into
the legendary Saptarishis or “The Seven Sages”. These sages are responsible for the spread of
the yogic way of life around the world (or world as they knew it then). However, it was in India
that the yogic system found its fullest expression. Agastya, one of the Saptarishis who travelled
across the Indian subcontinent, crafted this culture around a core yogic way of life. There are
multiple historic
evidence to validate this claim. The main sources from which we get the information about Yoga
practices and the related literature during the early period, are available in Vedas, Upanishads,
Smritis, Puranas etc.
The Bible of Yoga, Before and After! Well, In the early days of yoga most certainly you wouldn’t
find yogis doing asanas on a branded yoga mat with the best in class music and yoga
classrooms as we do now in every yoga teacher training course in Rishikesh. Obviously yoga is
not the same as it was back in those days. Tentatively, the period between 500 BC - 800 A.D. is
considered as the Classical period which is also considered as the most fertile and prominent
period in the history and development of Yoga. During this period, commentaries of Vyasa on
Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita etc. came into existence and if we want to delve deeper into
understanding the history of yoga at this time we can look at something commonly referred to as
the Bible of Yoga- The Bhagavad Gita, it has been the base of may yoga schools in Rishikesh.
The Bhagavad Gita is a sacred Hindu text in the form of a poem that takes place on a
battlefield. Weird? Right? Not really the kind of setting you would do yoga in! But this setting is
often believed to be a metaphor for the “battlefield of the mind.” In Bhagavad Gita the ‘Guru’ lord
Krishna has elaborately presented the concept of Gyan yoga, Bhakti yoga and Karma Yoga.
These three types of yoga are still the highest example of human wisdom and even today
people find peace by following the methods as shown in Gita. Briefly:
Be sure to check back for great new Adhiroha blog articles.
|| 🙏Sarve Jana Sujano Bhavantu, Sarve Sujana Sukhinobhavantu 🙏||