Where Did Yoga Come From?

There was a moment lost to time and space—a moment of inspiration—and that inspiration gave birth to what we call yoga. When that happened, how that happened…nobody precisely knows.

The question of the origins of yoga is the subject of much debate. Some say it began at the dawn of time, some say it began thousands upon thousands of years ago, and some say it began much later. When it comes to yoga as we know it today there is one thing plain as day: it’s that yoga is a practice that has evolved over time.

Yet the root remains the same, which is to discover ones true nature. 

So what is the truth?

Many years ago there was a group who sought to discover just that. This was around 800-600 BCE, and this scandalous group of ascetics, known as the Sraminas (or Strivers for the truth), began to reject the indisputable authority of the Brahmin priests of the time. They did so due to the overwhelming presence of poverty, misery, death and disease. So they did something radical. 

They asked questions. 

Rather than take the Brahmin authority at their word and go about daily activity accepting life as it is they asked Why? What for? Is this it? And if this is it, what’s the point?

Or as the Buddha posed, who was himself a Sramina:

What makes life worth living even in the face of death?

They asked questions and more questions and went in search of the answers through self reflection and meditation. In other words, they went in search of liberation. 

This movement gave birth to todays Buddhism, Jainism, and it was the collective gathering of Buddhists, Jains, and Hindus that set the building blocks for yoga.

The word Yoga has a plethora of meetings, like care, discipline, zeal, contemplation, wealth, constellation, action, etc. (it’s a very…very long list), but the most common meaning of yoga is union or to yoke. In fact the first time we see the word yoga is in the Rig Veda, where yoga is attributed to yoking horses to a chariot to prepare for war. We would see that metaphor again, but many years down the line in the Katha Upanishad where the reins, horses, charioteer, chariot and passenger would represent the mind, senses, intellect, body and soul.

Thanks to an archeological dig in the 1920s, the debate of the origins of yoga exploded. A seal was found in modern Pakistan from the Indus Valley Civilization. This seal , known as the Pashupati seal, exhibited a figure seated in a posture that many state is a yoga posture, as it looks like Baddha Konasana (or Bound Angle Pose). The figure seems to display more than one face and is surrounded by various creatures. Some say this is proof of the existence of yoga as an established practice as this figure must be Siva, Lord of the Animals and God of Destruction.

Others say this is simply a man sitting down wearing a hat. 

So taking all of this into consideration, the hypothetical time table for the origin of yoga looks something like this:

Pre-Vedic: (Before 3000 BC) The discovery of the Pashupati Seal sets the argument of the existence of yoga as far back as the Indus Valley Civilization.

Vedic: (3000 BC to 800 BC) The word yoga is seen for the first time in the Rig Veda.

Pre-Classical: (800 BC to 250 BC) The Upanishads enter into existence. This is also the time of the Sraminas and the Bhagavad Gita.

Classical: (184 BC to 148 BC) Patanjali’s yoga sutras offer the eight-limbed path to yoga.

Middle Age: (800 AD to 1700 AD) Hatha Yoga develops.

Modern: (1863 AD to present day) Yoga goes global.

So how old is yoga? Well, it seems that no matter how you look at it…it’s OLD!

To continue your educational journey, here are few great sources:

Roots of Yoga
The Hatha Yoga Project
The Sociological Yogi
Yoga, Brief History of an idea
Beyond Belief