Detail from Rāmcaritmānas mansucript (18th Century), Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur.
Mapping the religiosity, history and culture of yoga Over the past thirty years or so yoga has become an increasingly mainstream activity, yet little is known about its historical roots in South Asia. Dr Jim Mallinson tells us about his research into the origins of haṭha yoga, and how it evolved into the practices that we see in yoga studios across the world today The practice of yoga is becoming increasingly popular across the world, with many people getting into the habit of attending regular classes for a variety of reasons, whether to counter the indulgences of modern life, to relax, or simply to socialise and meet new people. This is very different to earlier practitioners of yoga, says Dr James Mallinson. “All our evidence of yoga practitioners up until around the last 200 years is that they were full-time religious professionals. They were almost always celibate, ascetic men, who had basically given up normal family life,” he outlines. Based at SOAS University of London, Dr Mallinson is the Principal Investigator of an EU-backed initiative investigating the origins of modern yoga, in particular the important branch of Hatha Yoga, which lies at the root of contemporary practice. “We’re trying to map out the development of yoga, from about the 11th to the 19th century,” he explains. Yoga practice This involves investigating the early evidence of yoga practice, with researchers both analysing historical manuscripts and spending time with yoga practitioners to gain deeper insights. While it is known that some of the physical elements of yoga practice date
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Unidentifed goddess (13th Century), Mahudi Gate, Dabhoi, Gujarat, India.
back to at least the time of the Buddha, it was only around 1,000 years ago that they were first written down. “We’re specifically looking at texts on yoga in which the physical methods of practice predominate,” says Dr Mallinson. Research is focused on ten core texts, an unusually small and self-contained corpus mostly written in Sanskrit, which Dr Mallinson and his colleagues plan to edit and translate. “We’ve been helped in establishing that corpus by a text from around the 15th century called the Hathapradipika, which
means the light on hatha yoga,” he continues. “We’ve identified about twenty texts that the Hathapradipika borrowed from, quite a few of which are among the ten texts that we’re editing in the project.” These texts reveal a process of evolution in the practice of yoga. Some of the early Buddhist texts refer to ascetics holding particularly difficult postures as part of their practice, for hours, days, or even sometimes years on end. “Ascetics were known for standing up for years on end for example,” says Dr Mallinson. About 1,000 years ago came the first textual descriptions of specific postures like balancing on the hands, which clearly cannot be held indefinitely. “There’s a quantum change in the notion of postural practices as part of yoga, but it remains a very minor element until about the 15th or even 16th century, when we start seeing texts which give lists of large numbers of such postures,” continues Dr Mallinson. “From the 16th/17th century onwards they are listed, described and analysed, and more and more emphasis is put on that. Then we start seeing dynamic postures, so we really have seen a process of development.” The more ascetic practices such as holding difficult postures for extended periods are absent in the textual treatments, in which
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