Hindu yoga

Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita famously distinguishes several types of "yoga", corresponding to the duties of different nature of people. Capturing the essence and at the same time going into detail about the various Yogas and their philosophies, it constantly refers to itself as such, the "Scripture of Yoga" (see the final verses of each chapter). The book is thought to have been written some time between the 5th and the 2nd century BC. In it, Krishna describes the following yogas:

1. Karma yoga, the yoga of "action" in the world.
2. Jnana yoga, the yoga of knowledge and intellectual endeavor.
3. Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion to a deity (for example, to Krishna).

Patanjali

Perhaps the classic description of yoga is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which form the basis not only of the darshana called "yoga"--one of six such "orthodox" (i.e. Veda-accepting) schools of Hindu philosophy--but also of the practice of yoga in most ashrams (to the extent these can be distinguished). The school (dharshana) of Indian philosophy known as "yoga" is primarily Upanishadic with roots in Samkhya, and some scholars see some influence from Buddhism. The Yoga philosophy fully believes in the epistemology of the Samkhya school, as well as its concept of the individual spirits (Purusha) and the Nature (Prakriti)—but differs from Samkhya's atheism.

Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras presents the goal of yoga as 'the cessation of mental fluctuations' (cittavrtti nirodha), an achievement which gives rise to the possibility of stable meditation and thus deeper states of absorption (dhyana or samadhi). This requires considerable restraint (yama) and self-discipline (niyama; see below for Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga)). Patanjali's yoga is sometimes called Raja Yoga (Skt: "Royal yoga") or "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"), in order to distinguish it from Hatha yoga. It is held as authoritative by all schools. Patanjali is also known for writing commentaries (Mahabhashya) on the Sutras of the great Sanskrit grammarian Panini. In fact, Panini, Patanjali and Katyayana are regarded are the highest authority not only in Sanskrit but also in the whole of Linguistics.

Patanjali's text sets forth eight "limbs" of yoga practice. Interestingly, only one of them involves physical postures (and these mainly involve seated positions). The eight are:

1. Yama (The five "abstentions"): violence, lying, theft, (illicit-) sex, and possessions
2. Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerities, study, and surrender to God
3. Asana: This term literally means "seat," and originally referred mainly to seated positions. With the rise of Hatha yoga, it came to be used of these yoga "postures" as well.
4. Pranayama: Control of prana or vital breath
5. Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): "that by which the senses do not come into contact with their objects and, as it were, follow the nature of the mind." — Vyasa
6. Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object
7. Dhyana ("Meditation")
8. Samadhi: Super-conscious state or trance (state of liberation)