Jaina Origin of the Yoga
Sanjay Sonawani
Yoga is thought to be first elaborated in the Upanishads. They are
considered to be the last parts of the Vedas. There has been a debate about whether
Upanishads can be a logical extension of Vedic thought. In a close examination,
the spiritual realms the Upanishads delve into are poles apart from the
philosophy and rituals that have been propounded by the Vedas, thus connecting
them both could be a grave mistake of the students.
The indelible influence of the Samana philosophy can be
seen on the ancient Upanishads. Before the word "Brahma" appeared in
the Upanishads, the word "Yaksha" (यक्ष which means
mysterious radiance.) was used as a synonym for
Brahma. Moreover, the word Brahman (ब्रह्मन) in the Upanishads is
neither related to the word Brahman (ब्राह्मण) nor to the Vedic word
"Brahma" (ब्रह्म). The
Vedic word Brahma comes in the sense of mantra (chant), while in the Upanishads
it comes in the sense of the cause of creation. Different philosophies use
different terminological meanings for the same word. Hence, finding similar
terms applied in different streams with different connotations doesn’t help us
to lead us to a single source. Upanishad philosophies too, thus, cannot be
connected with the Vedas since both stand opposite to each other though the
big claim has been made that the Upanishads are end part of the Vedas and thus
called Vedanta cannot be true, though this impression has hyped us.
The term “Yoga” also has different connotations to explain
physical or spiritual activities and their aims. In textual form, the
term ‘yuj” appears in the Vedas as a process of yoking horses
to a chariot. This simply describes an action, essential to ready a chariot for
travel. It has nothing to do with the usual meaning we take for the term Yoga.
Yoga has over forty different meanings about a hundred synonyms as given in the
dictionaries.
The spiritual usage of this word first appears in a late
Taittiriya Upanishad, which especially elaborates on the necessity of meditation and Brahmvidya, to remove the cause which leads
to recourse to Karmas. The Yoga term is used here as uniting self with
blissful self. This is an expansion of the meaning of the original term “Yoga” in the
form of the metaphor associated with karma and rebirth. The time of Taittiriya
Upanishad is estimated by different scholars to be the first half of the first
million BC. According to Patrick Olivelle, the Taittiriya Upanishad was
composed in a pre-Buddhistic period, possibly 6th to 5th BCE.
We find further expansion of the term in Shvetashvatar and Maitri Upanishads
which are dated by the scholars to be about fifth to second century BCE.
If we take a dip in the philosophical views of the Vedic Aryans in
the Vedas, a very contradictory picture appears. Unlike the Upanishads, the Vedic world
is centered on sacrificial fire rituals offering oblations to a pantheon of the
major to minor gods to receive their blessings to get victories in the wars or
the material wealth. Though at some places the Rigveda, such as in verses 5.82.7, 6.44.8,
9.113.4, 10.133.6, and 10.190.1, and hymn Hymn 10.117 mentions
core ethical values but there is an absence of spiritual ideology. The word Yoga
appearing in the Rigveda just means yoking horses to the chariots. There is no
spiritual connotation associated with this word. The term Atma is used to
address the self and not as an eternal entity governing the self.
Vedics couldn’t have been authors of the Yoga
in the absence of the term Atma and clear understanding that
the Atma is cause of the life and that the soul is immortal.
This is the basic doctrine of Yoga (originally Vratas), which is absent from
the Vedas.
For example, term Atma appears in the Rigveda in
10.168.4. “ आत्मा देवानां भुवनस्य गर्भो यथाव॒शं चरति देवा एषः । घोषा॒ इदस्य शृण्विरे॒ न रूपं तस्मै॒ वात॑य ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥“ To which Wilson
translates as “The
soul of the gods, the germ of the world, this divinity moves according to
his plural asure; his voices are heard, his form is not (seen); let us worship
that Vata with oblations. Nutritious life-sustaining (waters); Rudra, have
compassion upon the food which has four feet.” Here vayu is treated as the soul of the gods which should be
worshipped with oblations to get the food. The term is not used in the same
sense as being used or considered in the Yoga philosophy schools and Yoga’s
progenitor The Samana tradition. Vata (wind), though couldn't be seen, it can
be heard and sensed as said in this verse implying that the Vedic Aryans had a
very vague idea of the Atma concept.
Rigveda is supposed to have been composed
around 1500 BC. Most of the part of Rigveda was composed in ancient Iran and the remaining part was composed when the Vedic Aryans arrived in the Indian
subcontinent. The new deities and the community like Shudra first
appear in the tenth mandala of Rigveda because of the geographical movement of
the Vedic Aryans. They seem to have got introduced to the ritualistic and
spiritual practices of the local ascetics during their initial phase of stay
and gradually learned more from them as they advanced towards the Kuru-Panchal
region to which they named as Aryavarta. Till then Vedic Aryans held
hostile views towards the Vratyas belonging to Samana tradition.
But as some groups moved further in the Magadha region, which was avoided by them
in the early phase, this group had intimate contacts with the Vratyas which
changed their worldviews and limitations of the philosophy they possessed earlier.
The impact of this newly acquired previously unknown knowledge is reflected in the Atharv
Veda and Upanishads.
The early stage of the Vrata alias Yoga
In the absence of
written records, from archeological proof and logical guesswork, we can infer
the earliest stage of the Vrata (Yoga). Though today, Yoga has been branched in
many schools with different connotations, originally, in a primordial state, it
must have been used to unite physical and spiritual activity that could provide
mental bliss. Indians have been idolatrous since time immemorial. The term Puja
does not appear in the bulk of the Vedas as it was not their ritualistic
practice ever. The external journey was thought to be insufficient to eliminate
miseries or moral problems, the necessity of the inner journey must have been felt
by the early thinkers who started practicing Vrata’s as a new ritual in a crude
form. Yoga was known to the Samana (equanimity) thinkers as Vrata (vow) which
was used to purify the soul. This was the beginning of modern yoga.
In Indus civilization,
we find some seals that depict the males seated in Yogic positions. Though
there are multiple speculations, we cannot get an idea from the seating
position what was the purpose of the depictions. We have no idea in the absence
of the written record, whether the seating person in certain Asana poses was to
gain supernatural powers or had spiritual ambition. Yet, we can get a clear
idea that the specific seating or standing positions which are basic
requirements of Yoga had emerged long before the time of the Vedas came into
existence. The early yoga and the philosophy behind it must have formalized
over a million years before the composition of the Vedas had begun.
When Vedic Aryans
arrived in India, indigenous folk religion was thriving. Vedic Aryans borrowed
freely many local deities adorning Vedic characteristics. At the same time, the
Samana culture of thinkers and ascetics was flourishing almost everywhere. The
ultimate aim of these thinkers was to win over the bad qualities of the mind,
thus, the movement was also named Jina, victors over inner disorders and to see
the world with equanimity, thus called Samana. The ultimate aim of yoga, though
divided into many sects, remains the same as was determined by the ancestors.
The spiritual quests of ascetics had invented means to attain ultimate bliss;
Vrata (Yoga) was one, though they might have decided on spiritual destinations
differently. The thinkers who thought of the equanimity of all living beings
caused a cultural movement that is known to us as Samana culture. The Samana
thinkers of the past, as we can guess from their fundamental philosophy, were
not interested in mundane pleasures, instead, they strived to get answers to
the questions, such as what is the meaning of life, whether there is a creator
or not, what are the sorrow and how to get rid of them and how to solve ethical
problems faced by the world thus acquiring true knowledge by defeating the
inner foes to become Jina. (Bhagavati Sutra, 4.160)
Occult practices
(Tantrashastra) of folk religion could have helped emerge this practice which
primarily was meant to gain supernatural powers to command the netherworld by
chanting mysterious verses. In all probability the syllable Om could
have been invented by them for the sound created an aura of mysticism. We
should not forget that the Om syllable is absent from Vedic literature.
In a later course, the sound of Om might have gotten the attention of all
those who followed the spiritual path by giving it fantastic meaning, which
originally may not have been intended. New goals must have been set by the early
thinkers to use vratas for a wider application, such as to attain salvation
that is Moksha or Nirvana, which was never part of Vedic doctrine, neither Puja
nor Yoga in the modern sense.
It is clear from Rigveda that the Vedics came across new identities
like the Yatis, the Vratyas, the Munis, and the Keshis. (10.136.1-2) when they
arrived in the Indian sub-continent around 1200 and 1000 BC. Vratyakanda of
Atharvaveda clearly shows how the mystic Vratyas had impressed the Vedic Aryans
who settled in the region of Magadha, which Vedic Aryans delving in the Aryavarta region despised in the early phase and had expressed conflicting views
about them. But the Vedic Aryans who later on moved towards Magadha, had closer acquaintance with the Vratyas (who
followed different vratas) they learned many aspects of their philosophy forcing
them to abandon the previously held by them. It changed their perspective to
look at the world.
The fifteenth chapter (kanda) of the Atharvaveda is the
'Vratyakanda', in which the Vratyas are glorified. In the ninth and tenth verses
of this Kanda, it is said that a Vratya who is favorable to the assembly,
committee, army, and Sura, goes as a guest to the king, that the king should
respect a Vratya as superior to himself. The Vratyas of the Atharvaveda are
self-conscious vratins (yogis) and a different type of sacrifice performer in
which Soma was not involved. Sacrifice here seems to have been used as a simile
for spiritual and mystic activity. Vratya is also called 'Mahadev' in
Atharvaveda. Vratya and Yogi are
synonymous for both required to renounce the world and hence were respected the
most. Likewise, the yati and keshis could be the individuals following
different types of vratas or vows to attain spiritual powers. The meaning of
the term Vrata cannot be taken in a modern sense though it still needs some
observance but does not cover all the aspects that originally were meant.
However, an association of the Vrata (Yoga) and Tapa with the
above-mentioned identities is undeniable. The term Rishi was used for only
those who composed or recited Vedic Richa’s (verses). Muni is a person who
observes silence. Both terms are not the same as assumed.
Initially the Vedics couldn’t grasp the spirituality associated
with their (yati, vratya, keshi etc.) seemingly strange practices, still they
were awestruck. Though they have expressed their respect towards them by
fitting them in Vedic phrasings still they used the word Vata (invisible wind)
for Atma.
केश्यग्निं केशी विषं केशी बिभर्ति रोदसी । केशी विश्वं स्वर्दृशे केशीदं ज्योतिरुच्यते ॥१॥
मुनयो वातरशनाः पिशङ्गा वसते मला । वातस्यानु ध्राजिं यन्ति यद्देवासो अविक्षत ॥२॥
(ऋ. १०.१३६.१-२)
“1. HE with the long loose locks supports Agni,
and moisture, heaven, and earth:
He is all sky to look upon: he with long hair is called this light.
2 The Munis, girdled with the wind, wear garments soiled of yellow hue. They,
following the wind's swift course, go where the Gods have gone before. (Trans. by Griffith)
To the Vedic, at their initial stage of understanding the meaning
of the Atma, they associated the soul with the wind, invisible but that could
be sensed, quite contrary to what the term actually meant to Indian
Samanic thinkers. The idea Vedics took was obviously fantastic grafting it in
the Vedic sense in the absence of alternative terminology. It normally happens that
while borrowing ideas or concepts, people often tend to use their own
terminologies while attempting to fit new concepts in their environment. Vedic
Aryans settled in Magadha and applied their word “Yuj” as “yoga” to explain the
phenomena of attaching the individual soul to the universal self. However,
the understanding of the Samanik thinkers was that the cosmic soul and individual
soul were one and the same.
The provenance of any concept thus gets blurred by applying a new
term for the original which has a different meaning. This often creates
confusion in the minds of the students of the later generations, making them
unsure of what really transpired in the past. Yoga term became obviously the
victim of this tendency.
Vrata was a synonym for
equanimity to Indian Samanic thinkers, as they never thought to connect
something with something in duality as they thought of oneness between the
cosmic soul and the self to which they gave the term Moksha, i.e. emancipation
from the perpetual cycle of birth and death. To achieve this one needed to
perform Vratas i.e. spiritual practices. Though physical postures were
thought to be essential for beginners, they were never thought to be an
essential part of spirituality.
When Upanishada says “Aham
Brahmasmi” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4. 10), it clearly echoes Samanik
thought. When inner foes are defeated, the person's soul dissolves
in the supreme cosmic entity, thus, such a person is called Jina. Brahma
here is the cosmic soul. Here yoking (yoga) does not carry the proper meaning
that is intended by the original term “Vrata”.
Vedics too, as always in
the quest for mundane pleasures, praying to their abstract deities through the
Fire Sacrificial rituals, began to understand that outer efforts were not
sufficient to attain supreme fulfillment and eternal bliss; they started
following age-old Samanic principles, adding self-innovated elements, and
advocating it in a new garb under the title of the Yoga, avoiding the original
term “Vrata” because they might be comfortable with this term. Yoga, as a
spiritual means to attain emancipation, entered the Vedic stream in such a
manner. Controlling the mind and yoking the mind with the divine has a
fundamental contrast.
Patanjali of Yogsutra
stresses upon restraints on chitta, vrutti, i.e. “Yoga is the control
(nirodhah, regulation, channeling, mastery, integration, coordination,
stilling, quieting, setting aside) of the modifications (gross and subtle
thought patterns) of the mind field.” (Patanjali Yogsutra 1.2) This nothing has
to do with yoking. In fact, Patanjali is repeating Jain philosophy which
principally asks for restraints on the thoughts and actions (Karma) that bring
disorder. Originally, Jaina's thoughts go far ahead, which asks for not just
restraints but winning over the disorder. Vedic people, what we can
understand from their philosophy as appears in the Vedas, were hedonists; their
prayers to their abstract gods were for the victories in the wars and for the
wealth. They strived to live as long as a hundred years. The term “Atma” does
not appear in the Vedas in the same sense that is fundamentally considered in
the Samana terminology. In the absence of this term, the term Yoga is left with
no meaning. This only means that Yoga in the modern sense is a later
development in the Vedic stream of philosophy.
We are aware of the fact that to reach a certain destination,
there is a beginning, which always is uncertain and filled with
difficulties, and crude understandings as one proceeds the vision clears
gradually, and when one reaches the ultimate goal the vision is clear. The
Samana tradition began with a feeling of equanimity between all the souls which
gradually reached towards the oneness which meant salvation from the karmic
cycle. Yoga could put this goal before the seekers because there was a solid
background built by the Samanic tradition.
The Yoga in Jaina tradition
As the meaning of Jaina is ‘The victor over inner disorders”, it
can explain the provenance of the Yoga. The Jaina tradition credits the first
Tirthankara as an inventor of Yoga. Rishabhnatha has proven to be a historical
figure and his time is estimated between 3000 and 2700 BC. In the absence of
other comparative sources, it can be safely stated that the Samana movement
began with Rishabhnatha which branched later in many philosophical schools
giving different philosophical dimensions resulting in several sects.
I have explained that the Yoga term was accepted by overall philosophical sects, the original term was “vrata” (vows), and the people who strictly followed the Vrata practice were used to be called Vratyas. From the descriptions, we understand that the Vratyas were mendicants who had renounced the world owing to their vows. Jaina ideology fundamentally stands on the concept of Vratas (Vows), such as Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya (non-stealing), celibacy, and non-possessions at the very initial stage. Vrata was the foundation of the alternative term Yoga since it too essentially needed restraints on human tendencies. Patanjali also adds these five mahavratas of Jainism as yamas in his Yogsutra. In the later course of the time the term, Vratya for yogi was defamed owing to the supremacist tendency of the Vedics, who tried hard to take credit for the novel concepts that didn’t belong to them. Thus, by the third century BC, the alternate term Yoga acquired fame though the basics of yoga remained the same, i.e., Vratas.
In fact, Yama those are Vratas or vows is the first limb of the
Yoga as described by Patanjali. Niyama is the second limb that involves supporting
vows (vratas) and then only comes asanas (bodily postures).
The fifth Jain Agama “Bhagavati Sutra” Lord Mahavira’s teachings
have been recorded and were committed to writing in 466 AD during the last
Jaina council held at Vallabhi. Till then the text was preserved by oral
tradition. In this sutra, Lord Mahavira explains to Somila that his lifestyle
is of six types, 1. Tapas, 2. Niyama, 3. Sanyama, 4.svadhyaya, 5. Dhyana, and
6. Avashyaka (observance of essential duties (vratas) with self-awareness.).
(Sudharma Swami’s Bhagavati Sutra, Vol.1, Translated by K.C. Lalwani,
pub. Jain Bhavan, Calcutta, 1999).
Patanjali has co-related these essentials in Yogsutra under
different names under title Niyamas. Saucha (शौच) means mental purity
to Jainas but Patanjali stresses on bodily purity. Though Jainas had accepted
Asana (bodily posture) as one of the limbs of Yoga, under the title Kayaklesh-tapa,
and the sixth kind of external tapas, Patanjali treats asanas as sadhana. Thus
various limbs of Yoga as discussed in Yogasutra have been elaborated under
different titles and with different perspectives. Yogsutra can be said a
further expansion of the Jaina or Samana way of meditation as a means to get
salvation.
The Provenance of the Yoga system belonging to Samanas or Jains is
obvious for the gradual progressiveness that can be tracked in Jaina canons.
The Jain yoga was centered on a fourfold path of emancipation, 1. Right faith,
2. Right knowledge, 3. Right conduct, and 4. Right austerity. Although
the paths under different heads have been applied by other schools also in
later times, the fundamentals never changed. Yoga originally meant Vrata to the
Jainas or the masters of the samana movement. Vrata obviously
was the earliest term for yoga since Vrata needed certain observances that
became key foundations of the Yoga philosophy as described later by Patanjali.
Vratyas, described by early Vedic Aryans, were the Yogis of those times whose
practice was new to them. Vrata was always an individual effort to attain
enlightenment for emancipation; it had nothing to with yoking self with the
outer supreme force. In the earliest part of Jain philosophy yoga meant a process
through which the impulses of karma adhered to and hence occluded the
luminosity of the soul. However, according to Christopher Key Chapple “Responding to a shift in cultural usage of this
term that probably arose during the later Upanisads, Jaina thinkers began to
describe their religious practice in light of new definitions of Yoga as referring
to techniques employed to achieve a state of mental quiescence.” (Yoga in
Jainism, Edited by Christopher Key Chapple, pub.-Routledge, 2016, page 10)
This only means that though the terminologies changed over
time original essence remained the same even in Upanishads. This is why the samanic impact over the
Upanishads is quite obvious though the Upanishads have used alternate
terminologies under Vedic influence.
Equanimity was and is the foundation of the Vrata or Yoga, the
soul of the Saman (समण) tradition. The
word Saman in the Prakrit language means “One who looks at
everything with equanimity”. The Bhagavati Aradhana (Gatha 70, Vijayodaya Tika) defines
the word Saman as “Samano” “Samano” samanasya bhavo samanan,
quchipadpynugata ragadweshata samata samanna sabdenochyate.” This
means that the spirit of the Saman is equality. Samanna is
equanimity which does not hold grudges against anything. Hargobind Seth’s
Prakrit Dictionary also gives the meaning of Saman as
"one who sees all beings with equal vision". It was obvious that the
Saman tradition though first felt equality in all beings later developed the
thought towards equanimity with the cosmic soul. It was the progressive
nature of the thought which is not traceable in the Vedic stream.
Who was Patanjali?
Patanjali is credited with the codification of Yoga. He is a
legendary person whose origins are shrouded in various mythical stories of his
origin and time. He is often called the father of modern yoga. Also, there are
heavily fought debates about whether Patanjali of the Yogsutras and Patanjali
of Mahabhashya are one and the same or they are different personalities of
different times. The time estimated for Patanjali by different scholars ranges
from the second century BC to the fourth century AD. In my opinion, the Sutra style
was invented after the third century AD and since Yogsutra is written in the
Sutra style it only could have been written during the third to the fifth
century. Umaswati of the Jain stream codified the Jaina Yoga under the title
“Tattvarth Sutra” during this time. Though we have very little to go we safely
can say that Umaswati’s Samana thought must have influenced
Patanjali. Umaswati begins his text with a statement "Right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct
constitute the path to liberation", the key philosophy of Samanism.
Patanjali, despite all the legends associated
with him, is in unison related to the Naga cult and Shaivait tradition. This
only means that he was not from the Vedic tradition. The Yoga he expounds is
the accumulation and proposition of the Samanik Vrata or Yoga. He gives
importance to the Vratas, calling the mahavratas or supreme vows. In Shaivait
tradition also the Vratas find a significant place.
Sagarmal Jain states in his article published
in the book “Yoga in Jainism” edited by Christopher Chappel that the ‘Samatva’
yoga is the principal concept underlining Jainism. To Jains, it is the first and
foremost duty of both the monks and householders. Yoga to Jaina is the observance
of equanimity, viewing all living beings as one. And to me, this is the
objective of Vrata or yoga. Vedic system, on the contrary, is based on
inequality by classifying human society in diminishing order, thus denying the
very principle of equality.
Philosophically, the meanings of yoga can be
taken individually differently, and goals also can be set individually, asanas,
dhyana, or dharana can be practiced differently, but the goal remains the same,
equanimity with the cosmic self. To achieve this one needs to follow vratas
which were explained by the Jaina, the founders of the Samana movement…a
movement of equanimity. The Vedic groups that settled in the Magadha region borrowed
the concept, but as can be seen, the Vedic Aryans who were settled in
Aryavarta never applied the principle of equanimity in social life. The Atharv
Veda and Upanishads emerged in the Magadha region, and not in Aryavarta can be seen
through the annals of history. However, the Vedic Aryans settled in Magadha too
could never touch the fundamental philosophy propounded by the ancient Jains.
To conclude the above article, the following
points must be stressed-
1. Vrata
was the original name of the Yoga and those who followed the path of Vrata were
called Vratya’s.
2. Samana,
an ancient Indian tradition of equanimity was the founder of the Vrata alias Yoga
system.
3. Jaina,
being progenitors of the samana (Equanimity) tradition can be credited
with the foundation of Yoga.
4. The
Vedic stream adapted the Vrata tradition from the Vratyas in the form of yoga and propagated it, though they couldn’t erase its origin.
5.
Patanjali belonged to the non-Vedic Shaivait stream and he used all the
previous streams to codify Yoga in his treaty ‘Yogsutra’ between the third to
fifth century AD., just around the time when Umaswati composed his treaty
“Tatvarth Sutra” on Jain Philosophy in sutra style.
6. The
Vedic community has nothing to do with the foundation of yoga as fundamental
tenets of the term yoga go contrary to Vedic philosophy. It cannot have been
evolved from the Vedic
tenets.
-Sanjay Sonawani
