Gorakhnath
The first treatise on Hatha Yoga was written by
Gorakhnath, who lived sometime between A.D. 900
and 1225. Although there are no known copies of
the work remaining, the information imparted
remains.
The Goraksa-sataka, Hundred verses of Goraksa
(Goraksanathais a Sanskrit form of Gorakhnath),
describes six aspects of yoga referred to as limbs.
This does not include the yama (restraint) and
niyama(disciplines), which precede asanain Patan-
jali’s text. There are no reliable facts about
Gorakhnath, only legends. According to Bengal lit-
erature, he was born of the matted hair of the god
Mahadeva (Shiva). As the purest and strongest of
yogis, he put the goddess Durga to shame with his
purity and strength. Gorakhnath has been
described as the most influential Indian since
Shankara.
The Upanishads, Vedanta, and Shankara
Much detail and understanding of yogic theory
come from The Upanishads (pronounced oo-PAN-
ee-shadz), which literally means secret teaching.
Much of it is written in the form of dialogues
between kings and yogis. The book is known as the
Vedanta, meaning the end or final goal of wisdom.
As in the Yoga-Sutra, there is no mention of an
author. Composed ca. 900 B.C., it forms the last sec-
tion of the Vedas, a four-part collection of hymns,
mantras, prayers, and psalms dealing with religious
ceremony and ritual. The parts are called Rig-Veda,
Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Artharva-Veda.
According to the introduction in the book’s trans-
lation by Swami Paramananda, these scriptures
arrived in the Western world in the form of a Persian
translation made in the 17th century. The first Eng-
lish translation was that of Raja Ram Mohun Roy
(1775–1833). Several European translations have
been published since then. It is a doctrine of brah-
man, the universal reality of consciousness, and the
identity of brahmanwith the inner essence (atman)
of the human being. It is a prototype for the later
philosophical schools of Vedanta, which is based pri-
marily on the Upanishads.
Adi Shankara (also known as Samkara), one of
India’s greatest sages, wrote Advaita Vedanta, the
Vedanta treatise, among other texts. He is believed
to have come closest to depicting the true path of
yoga. He also wrote commentaries of the Brahma
Sutras, the Upanishads, and the Gita. Regarded as
an incarnation of Lord Shiva, he was born in 509
B.C.and died at age 32. By the age of eight he had
mastered the four Vedas, and by age 12 the Shas-
tras. Legend has it that a crocodile grabbed young
Shankara’s foot while he bathed in a river. He
shouted to his mother that to spare his life, she
must permit him to renounce evil. When she
agreed, he uttered a mantra. After the crocodile let
him go, he left home to search for a guru. He met
Govinda, a realized sage, and attained self-realiza-
tion (samadhi). Later he established four monaster-
ies called Mutts, which exist today throughout
India.
For studies of logic and metaphysics Shankara’s
work is highly recommended. In S. Dasgupta’s five-
volume work, A History of Indian Philosophy,
Shankara is synopsized as follows: “So great is the
influence of the philosophy propounded by
Shankara and elaborated by his illustrious follow-
ers, that whenever we speak of Vedanta philosophy
we mean the philosophy that was propounded by
Shankara” (vol. 1, p. 429).Ramakrishna Paramhansa
Ramakrishna Paramhansa (1836–86) was a scholar
of the Vedas, Upanishads, Sufism, the Bible,
Sikhism, and Buddhism. He did not found any
organization or claim to know a new path to salva-
tion. He grew to realize that different religions lead
to the same goal. He was known to say, “As many
faiths, so many paths” and “Man’s upliftment is the
main goal in life.” His main disciple, Swami
Vivekananda, was once quoted as saying, “My
master used to say that such names as Hindu,
Christian, etc., stand as great barriers to all broth-
erly feeling between man and man. We must try to
break them down first. They have all lost their
good powers and now only stand as baneful influ-
ences under whose black magic even the best of us
behave like demons. Well, we will have to work
hard and we must succeed.”Swami Vivekananda
When Swami Vivekananda was born, January 12,
1863, in Calcutta, his parents named himyoga 165