DEFINITION AND MEANING OF YOGA

DEFINITION AND MEANING OF YOGA

1. DEFINTION AND MEANING OF YOGA

2. 1.3. Meaning The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root word ‘Yuj’ (Yuj yate anena iti yogah) - to join or to unite. Yoga is uniting of the individual consciousness (or Jivatma) to the Universal Consciousness (Paramatma). 1.4. Definition of Yoga Pata n jali defines in his second aphorism ‘Yoga h cittavrtti nirodha h ’, Yoga is a process of gaining control over the mind by cessation of the modifications of mind. By controlling the mind one can reach the original state . ‘Tada dra stuh svar u pe avasthanam’. “ Then the seer establishes himself in his original state”. This technique of ‘mind control’ prescribed by Pata n jali has tools to develop the power of concentration and focusing of mind with increased speed of thoughts and to harness power to stop all the thoughts in the mind. Vasistha define yoga as Mana h pra s amanopaya h Yoga ityabhidh i yate . Yoga is called a skilful trick to calm down the mind.

3. Yoga Vasishta says “Manah prashamanah Upayah yoga ityabhidhiyate” which means that Yoga is a skilful method to calm the mind. Yogic methods are subtle and skilful and does not use brutal force. Knowledge of the mind is the key to subduing it in a skilful way. Bhagvat Gita It is said that “Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam”, which means that Yoga is dexterity in action. This perfection in action is a result of calmness and awareness of mind. Dexterity also means that the action is done with maximum efficiency. This perfection is also result of performing actions in a detached way, without overly being anxious about the outcome of the action. Bhagvat Gita Yoga is defined as equanimity of mind or the balance of mind in all situations. It says: “Yogasthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva dhananjaya Siddhyassiddhyoh samo bhutva samatvam yoga uchyate”   It means perform actions, being established in Yoga, free from attachments and being even minded in success and failure. Evenness is verily Yoga.

4. Kathopanisad “Tam yogamiti manyante sthiram indriya dharanam” It means that Yoga is a state where the indriyas (or the senses) are held steadily. In other words it is the mastery of senses and mind. Swami Vivekananda He has emphasized the role of yoga as a means to accelerate the rate of evolution of an individual soul. Evolution is a natural process. All beings including humans are evolving constantly. But through Yoga, one can make a conscious effort to speed up this process of evolution. One can get liberated from the cycle of birth and death in single birth itself. Sri Aurobindo Sir Aurobindo emphasized that Yoga is a conscious method towards self-development to bring out the inherent potential of the individual. He focused on all-round personality development at physical, emotional, mental, intellectual and spiritual levels.