YOGA AND TOTAL HEALTH • February 2018YOGA AND TOTAL HEALTH • February 2018^55

Shri Yogendraji

he Antiquity

of Yoga

T

Leaving aside speculations of Indian

mythology as a rather doubtful source

of history, we can safely proceed to

investigate the origin of this culture by

analysing the various primitive efforts

at civilization. The earliest spiritual

efforts of mankind, however, consisted

in their struggle against the forces of

nature. In course of time, this effort

manifested itself in the form of various

ethical virtues and practices of self-

mortification. In all such efforts, the

idea of defying the forces of nature

seems to be so predominant that

even acts of highest penance and self-

torture were followed. The man who

succeeded in controlling his natural

feelings of passions was considered a

sage with supernatural powers. This

controlling, or rather subduing, of the

individual activities, both physical and

mental, was regarded as a spiritual

attainment worthy of the highest

acquisition.

Thus, while the natural tendency of

man is to keep active, the early Yogin

would defy the activities of Nature by

holding his hands up for years. The

layman who is unable to perform this

extraordinary feat calls it a miracle,

and worships the sage, not so much

for his spiritual development, as for his

supernatural powers. The aim of such

austerities as standing motionless, or

even standing on one leg for years, etc.

seems to support the general belief

that the greater the power of

endurance or resistance against the

forces of nature, the higher the spiritual

development.

From the oldest Indian, and even

non-Indian spiritual records, we are able

to gather that there was an age when

the standard of spiritual superiority

was measured by the amount of self-

mortification one can undergo. This

seems to me to be the beginning of

spiritual era, and yoga in this sense is

as old as the spiritual civilization itself,

for the earliest practice of yoga known

to us is Tapas (bodily penance and

act of self-mortification). References

of this type of sages (Tapasvins) occur

quite often in the Vedas and we have

every reason to believe that yoga (in

the earlier synthetic sense), was in

some crude form or the other, quite

prevalent in India before the period

of the Vedas. Suggestions have also

been made by certain authors (Weber)

“that the Indian Yogis were in existence

when the Aryans reached India is

proved from the Zend Avastha.”

It is true, no doubt, that a number of

obscure and contemporary practices