Yoga timeline (over 3000 years)

One keeps hearing/reading different things being called Yoga. Most people have various notions about Yoga that are quite confusing. So I thought of giving a brief timeline of Yoga (set of practices that apparently resemble the system propounded by Patanjali – a generally accepted source) spanning over 3000 years.

Upanishads – more than 3000 years ago – focus is mainly on meditation including meditation on OM. The purpose is to attain ultimate realization.

Bhagavadgeetha  -  oldest form believed to have been composed prior to 600 B.C. -  in the present form it has 18 chapters each calling itself as Yoga (including Arjuna’s remorse). One chapter specifically on Yoga proper, namely “Dhyäna Yoga” very briefly discusses all components of Patanjali Yoga (albeit no Yoga postures as known today). The purpose is ultimate realization and peace.

Tripitaka – recorded sometime during 300 B.C. – these are Yoga like practices taught by Buddha. They have all components of Patanjali Yoga (no Yoga postures known today). The purpose is to free oneself from ‘endless cycle of deaths and rebirths (Nirvana)’ by proper modulation of the mental processes.

Yoga Sutra of Patanjali – composed sometime during 200 B.C. This is the Yoga proper with 8 components. This composition seems to combine Buddhist techniques in the context of Upanishadic ideas. No body postures as known today. The purpose is to calm down the mind in such a way that one attains ultimate realization.

The following are more recent compositions that laid the foundation for modern Yoga. These are mainly body oriented practices unlike the practices listed above, which are predominantly mind oriented.

Dattätreya Yoga Sastra – composed during 13^th century A.D.  Emphasizes mainly on various physical techniques meant to preserve ‘Bindu’ (defined variably as something dripping from head, seminal fluid and so on) and move it up through the spinal column. The word Hatayoga (Yoga of force) originated here.  Not much on Yoga postures as known today.

Goraksha Shataka – composed during 14^th century A.D. by some Yogi belonging to Näth tradition of Gorakshanath. Emphasis and techniques are more or less same as the previous except that the Kundalini (a mystic force lying dormant in the perineum) awakening is projected as an end result.

Siva Samhita – composed during 14-15^th century A.D.  Further builds on previous Hatayoga texts and is an important forerunner of modern Yoga.

Hatapradeepika – composed during 15^th century A.D. This is the real basis of modern Yoga. The emphasis is on body and its manipulation to stimulate and raise the Kundalini which is the ultimate goal. A short set of Yoga postures is also described, which forms the starting point of modern Yoga.

Gheranda Samhita – composed during 18^th century A.D. Builds further on Hatapradeepika and adds more body postures and breathing techniques.

Yoga Upanishads - Believed to be 18^th century A.D. and later compositions. Summarize and build on previous Hatayoga texts.

Modern Yoga - All most all of them are based on Hatayoga described in Hatapradeepika and later texts. Some teachers emphasize on Yoga postures, some on breathing techniques, and some on Kundalini. Improvement of health is the main aim. As compared to Patanjali Yoga, which is mind oriented, this Yoga is body oriented practice. Also, the techniques, operative mechanisms, and goals are all different.