Yoga Upanishads

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Yoga Upanishads are a group of minor

Muktika anthology.[1][2] The Yoga Upanishads, along with other minor Upanishads, are generally classified separate from the thirteen major Principal Upanishads considered to be more ancient and from the Vedic tradition.[3]

The Yoga Upanishads deal with the theory and practice of Yogic techniques, with varied emphasis on methodology and meditation, but with some shared ideas.[2] They contrast from other groups of minor Upanishads, such as the Samanya Upanishads which are of a generic nature, the Sannyasa Upanishads which focus on the Hindu renunciation and monastic practice, the Shaiva Upanishads which highlight aspects of Shaivism, the Vaishnava Upanishads which highlight Vaishnavism, and the Shakta Upanishads which highlight Shaktism.[3][4]

Date

While the date of composition of each Yoga Upanishad is unclear, scholars generally date them between 100 BCE and 400 CE.[5][6] According to Mahony, they likely are dated between 100 BC and 1100 AD.[7] However, Gavin Flood dates the Yoga Upanishads to the 100 BCE to 300 CE period.[6] According to James Mallinson, some Yoga Upanishads were revised in the eighteenth century to incorporate the Hatha Yoga ideas of the Hindu Natha sub-tradition.[8] Other scholars state that the Yoga Upanishads, specifically the Yogatattva, contain some of the earliest mentions of Hatha yoga practices.[9][6]

Nadabindu, Yogashikha, Dhyanabindu and Yogatattva.[10] Eliade's suggestion places these in the final BCE centuries or early CE centuries. All these, adds Eliade, likely were composed earlier than the ten or eleven later Yoga Upanishads such as the Yoga-kundalini, Varaha and Pashupatabrahma Upanishads.[10]

Scope

Yoga Upanishads discuss different aspects and kinds of Yoga, ranging from postures, breath exercises, meditation (dhyana), sound (nada), tantra (kundalini anatomy) and others.

Many texts describe Yoga as consisting of steps or members (angas) and according to

dhyana (contemplation and meditation) and samadhi (a state of meditative absorption-consciousness).[12][13]

List of 20 Yoga Upanishads

List of the Yoga Upanishads
Title Muktika serial # Attached Veda Period of creation
Hamsa Upanishad 15
Shukla Yajurveda
Amritabindu Upanishad 20 Atharvaveda Final centuries of BCE or early centuries of the CE.
Nadabindu Upanishad or Amrita Nada Bindu Upanishad 21 Rigveda or Atharvaveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Kshurika Upanishad 31 Atharvaveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Tejobindu Upanishad 37 Atharvaveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Nadabindu Upanishad 38 Atharvaveda or Rigveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Dhyanabindu Upanishad 39 Atharvaveda and Samaveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Brahmavidya Upanishad 40 Atharvaveda and Krishna Yajurveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Yogatattva Upanishad 41 Atharvaveda 100 BCE to 300 CE or about 150 CE or 11th- to 13th-century
Trishikhibrahmana Upanishad 44 Shukla Yajurveda Early 1st-millennium CE
Yogachudamani Upanishad 46 Samaveda 14th- to 15th-century CE
Mandala-brahmana Upanishad 48 Shukla Yajurveda Early 1st-millennium CE
Advayataraka Upanishad 53 Shukla Yajurveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Shandilya Upanishad 58 Atharvaveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Yogashikha Upanishad 63 Krishna Yajurveda 100 BCE to 300 CE
Pashupatabrahma Upanishad 77 Atharvaveda Later era
Yoga-kundalini Upanishad 86 Krishna Yajurveda Common era text, composed sometime after
Yoga Sutras
Darshana Upanishad 90 Samaveda Around 100 BCE to 300 CE
Mahavakya Upanishad 92 Atharvaveda Around 100 BCE to 300 CE
Varaha Upanishad 98 Krishna Yajurveda Middle of the 2nd millennium CE

See also

References

  1. ^ Deussen 1997, p. 556.
  2. ^ a b Ayyengar, T. R. Shrinivasa (1938). "The Yoga Upanisads". The Adyar Library. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  3. ^ a b Mahony 1998, p. 271.
  4. .
  5. ^ Shearer, Alistair (2020). The Story of Yoga From Ancient India to the Modern West. C. Hurst & Co. p. 30.
  6. ^ a b c d Flood 1996, p. 96.
  7. ^ Mahony 1998, p. 290.
  8. ^ Mallinson 2004, p. 14.
  9. .
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ Derek 1989, p. 196-197.
  12. ^ a b Deussen 2010, p. 385-86.
  13. ^ Sen 1937, p. 25.

Bibliography