Yoga in the UpaniÓsads
TheKaÓtha UpaniÓsadprovides one of the earliest articulations of yoga,
and expresses a central way of conceiving yoga—restraint of the senses—
likened to the yoking of “the vicious horses of a chariot driver” [KaÓth.
Up. 3:5]. In this metaphor, the self, ̄atman, rides in a chariot representing
the body. The driver is the intelligence or faculty of discriminating wis-
dom (buddhi), and mind (manas) is the reins. In this UpaniÓsadthe young
man Naciketas receives instruction from Yama, Lord of Death, on the
means of attaining Brahman and immortality. Yama teaches that the wise
one may transcend joy and sorrow by the yoga-study of what pertains to
the self, “set in the secret place [of the heart], dwelling in the depth pri-
meval—by considering him as God” [KaÓth. Up. 2:12]. Yama instructs
that this self is not slain when the body is slain [repeated in Bhagavadg ̄ıta ̄
2:19–20 ̄a]. Yama describes yoga thus:
When cease the five [sense-] knowledges
Together with the mind [manas],
And the intelligence [buddhi ] stirs not—
That, they say, is the highest course.
This they consider as yoga—
The firm holding back of the senses.
Then one becomes undistracted.
Yoga, truly, is the origin and the end.
KaÓth. Up. 6:10–11A six-fold (ÓsaÓdanga ̇ ) yoga is recommended in the Maitri UpaniÓsad. A
beautiful description is given of Brahm ̄a, the One in the sun, in the cook-
ing fire, and in the heart. Realization of the unity of self with the limitless
One is attainable by six yogic practices: restraint of the breath
(pra ̄Ónay ̄ am ̄ a ̄), withdrawal of the senses (praty ̄ah ̄ara), meditation (dhyana ̄ ),
concentration (dh ̄araÓn ̄a), rational contemplation (tarka), and meditative
absorption (samadhi ̄ ) [Mait. Up. 6:18]. This sixfold yoga is similar to
P ̄atañjali’s eight-fold classical Yoga, which differs only in that classical
Yoga begins with moral restraints (yama) and observances (niyama), and
includes posture (asana ̄ ) but not tarka[YS 2.29]. Meditation on the mys-
tical syllable Om is recommended by these upaniÓsads[KaÓth. Up. 2:15–
17; Mait. Up. 6:21–29 ̄a] as it is in the Yoga-s ̄utras.
In the Ívetasvatara UpaniÓsad, yoga is prescribed for the realization
of Brahman, which pervades all things “as oil in sesame seeds, as butter
in cream.” [Ívet. Up. 1:15–16]. TheÍvetasvatara describes the methods
and results of yoga practice, indicating how meditative posture, control
of the breath, and withdrawal of the senses lead to liberation:
one line long
88 religious therapeutics