योग (Yoga): Genesis to Modernity

Social Restraints: Ahiṁsā (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacarya (energy restraint), Aparigraha (non-greed).

Personal Discipline: Śauca (purity), Saṁtoṣa (contentment), Tapas (discipline), Svādhyāya (self-study), Īśvarapraṇidhāna (surrender).

Physical Posture: Stable, comfortable posture (*Sthira-sukham āsanam*) designed to quiet the physical body for meditation.

Breath Regulation: Regulating inhalation, exhalation, and retention to calm the subtle life force (*Prāṇa*).

Sensory Withdrawal: Turning sensory awareness inward away from external distractions like a turtle drawing its limbs in.

Focused Concentration: Binding the mind to a single focal point (such as the heart center, a mantra, or breath).

Unbroken Meditation: Continuous, uninterrupted stream of awareness toward the object of concentration.

Complete Absorption: Dissolution of ego-boundary where the meditator, meditation, and object become one in pure awareness.

"Knowledge." The foundational revealed scripture (śruti, "that which is heard"), transmitted orally for millennia before being committed to writing. There are four Vedas — Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, and Atharvaveda — each traditionally structured in four layers: Saṁhitā (hymns), Brāhmaṇa (ritual explanation), Āraṇyaka ("forest texts"), and Upaniṣad (philosophical conclusion).

"Sitting near" (a teacher). The philosophical, inward-turning conclusion of each Veda — hence also called Vedānta, "end of the Veda." Of the 108 Upaniṣads recognised in the traditional Muktikā canon, ten are widely regarded as the Principal (Mukhya) Upaniṣads, each receiving a commentary from Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. Their central concern is self-inquiry — the nature of Ātman (the self) and Brahman (ultimate reality).

"Ancient" or "old." Eighteen Mahāpurāṇas, traditionally attributed to the sage Vyāsa, that carry Vedic wisdom through narrative — cosmology, genealogies of sages and kings, and stories of the divine — making it accessible to those without direct access to Vedic study. Tradition groups them by predominant quality (guṇa) into three sets, each centring a different deity; this is a classificatory device within the tradition, not a ranking between the deities or the sampradāyas devoted to them.

"The portion concerned with action." The ritual and sacrificial section of Vedic literature — the Saṁhitā and Brāhmaṇa layers — covering the correct performance of yajña (fire sacrifice) and the saṁskāras (life-cycle rites). It is traditionally paired with, not opposed to, Jñānakāṇḍa ("the portion of knowledge," the Upaniṣads): right action and right understanding are held as complementary paths, not competing ones.

"The science of light." One of the six Vedāṅgas (auxiliary disciplines of Vedic study, alongside Śikṣā, Kalpa, Vyākaraṇa, Nirukta, and Chandas). It originated to determine the correct, auspicious timing of Vedic rituals through observation of celestial bodies, and later grew into distinct branches — Siddhānta (mathematical astronomy), Saṁhitā (omens and mundane astrology), and Horā (predictive, natal astrology). This page presents Jyotiṣa as a traditional discipline within Sanātana Dharma, on the same respectful, belief-and-practice footing as the rest of this table — not as an empirically validated predictive science.