Book Title: World of Philosophy
Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan
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THE CONCEPT OF YOGA
– Dr. Pratima Joshi Yoga is derived from Sanskrit root "Yuj” means to join, unite or bind. Union of an individual soul with the cosmic consciousness is Yoga. Naturally, to be one with the divine, as name itself suggest, individual consciousness has to be purified and needs to be transcended from the ego consciousness. Here come the eight limbs of yoga, yama, niyama ensuring ethical development and purification measures. Asana taking care of disciplining the body, Pranayama helps in regulating breathe and pratyahar withdrawal of senses and opens the doors of inner awakening, Dharana leads to increased concentration and then meditation and samadhi attunes sadhaka with the divine, thus these limbs clearly constitutes the distinguishing characteristics of yoga.
Yoga is beyond religions, though methods of yoga help all religious followers equally to practice their religious code of conduct. Because religion means "to go back to his real self. Religion ensures ethical development by offering code of conduct for a small section of human race, while yoga offers universal code of conduct in form of yama and niyama, to entire human race. Occultism speak of acquiring siddhi or miraculous powers, but, an aspirant of yoga has to surpass the stage of acquiring siddhi to attain higher goal hence, it is far beyond the occultism.
Like all sciences it is (bunded on facts investigated through analysis and synthesis of thought. Yoga consists of analysis of both subject and object, while all other sciences analysis object only. Yoga is a spiritual science of the human psyche and human life and of the reality itself.
Yoga sutras of Patanjali have been accepted as darsana. "Drishyate Anena iti Darsanam". That with which we see is called Darsana. Yoga enable us to visualize the discriminating between Purusa and Prakrti, that is between the pure consciousness and inert matter. It, therefore, stands tall among the darsanas.
Sankara in Brahmasutras (2.19) speaks, "Atha Tattvadarsanopayo yogah” means, now, onward tattvadarsana starts with the key of yoga. Hence, yoga becomes the master key of all darsanas. Moreover, philosophy means Darsana which means, to see. Yoga means to be one with the divine. Hence, yoga renders greater services to philosophy but in itself it is much more than a darsana. Philosophy is thinking while science is a search as truth conerete Yoga combines both philosophy and science.
Yoga teaches an art of life but it is not merely an art. True yogi
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