Yoga in Sanskrit Literature: A Comprehensive Survey

Abstract

Yoga—etymologically derived from the Sanskrit verbal root yuj (“to yoke,” “to unite”)—is simultaneously a spiritual discipline, a philosophical system, and a cultural idiom. Sanskrit literature, spanning more than three millennia, preserves the multilayered evolution of yogic thought, praxis, and symbolism. This seminar paper traces that evolution from the earliest Vedic hymns to modern Sanskrit compositions, demonstrating how the lexicon, metaphors, and doctrines of Yoga have both shaped and been shaped by India’s literary imagination.

The study proceeds diachronically through six interconnected strata: (1) the proto‑yogic imagery of the Ṛg‑ and Atharva‑Vedas, where tapas, sādhana, and disciplined breath herald later techniques; (2) the classical Upaniṣads, which crystalize an interiorized “yoga of knowledge” (jñāna‑yoga) and a contemplative “yoga of silence” (śama); (3) the epic synthesis found in the Mahābhārata—culminating in the Bhagavad‑Gītā’s triune paths of karma, bhakti, and jñāna‑yoga—and in the Rāmāyaṇa’s portrayal of yogic asceticism; (4) the systematization of practice in Patañjali’s Yoga‑sūtra and its medieval commentaries, which codify the eight‑limbed (aṣṭāṅga) discipline; (5) the expansion, democratization, and ritual infusion of Yoga in Tantric and Haṭha texts such as the Haṭhapradīpikā and Gorakṣa‑śataka; and (6) the literary, devotional, and didactic uses of yogic tropes in kāvya, nīti, and contemporary Sanskrit drama and poetry.

Across these strata, Sanskrit authors deploy Yoga as cosmology, soteriology, medical science, allegory, and even political ethics. The paper highlights lesser‑studied sources—the Śivayoga‑praṇāmā, Bhartṛhari’s Śatakatraya, the Laghu‑yoga‑vāsiṣṭha, and modern Sanskrit plays—to show that Yoga is not a static doctrine but a living, intertextual conversation. Methodologically, the survey combines philological close reading with intellectual‑historical contextualization, demonstrating that Yoga’s multiple textual faces—from austere renunciation to embodied practice—mirror the pluralism of Sanskrit literature itself. Ultimately, the paper argues that understanding Yoga through its literary lineage enriches both Indological scholarship and the contemporary global reception of yogic traditions.