Eight limbs of yoga
EIGHT LIMBS OF
YOGA :-
Ashtanga yoga is a system of yoga recorded by the sage Vamana Rishi in the Yoga Korunta, an ancient manuscript "said to contain lists of many different groupings of asanas, as well as highly original teachings on vinyasa, drishti, bandhas, mudras, and philosophy.
According
to the sage Patanjali (he described Yog in his book Patanjali's
Yog Darshan) eight limbs of yoga are the whole process of Yog. The
explanation of eight limbs are came first in SADHAN PAD in PATANJALI'S
YOG DARSHAN. Meaning of limbs are parts, that means the yoga has eight
parts and these are-
1. Yam ( यम) [moral codes]
2.
Niyama ( नियम)[self purification and study]
3.
Aasana (आसन)[posture]
4.
Pranayama (प्राणायाम)[breathing control]
5.
Pratyahara (प्रत्याहार)[sense control]
6.
Dharana (धारणा)[concentration]
7. Dhayan (ध्यान)[meditation]
8. Samadhi (समाधि)[absorption into the universal]
The top five (yam, niyama, aasana, pranayama, pratyahara) are called external cleansing practices. They are called externa cleansing practices because they only can done by outer body not by inner part. The left three (dharna, dhayan, samadhi) are called internal cleansing practices. They called internal cleansing because they clean the sole.
Now let's discuss about each and every limbs of yoga in details:-
1. Yama:- It is first limb of yoga also known as moral coads in english. Yama has five types and these are:-
1. Ahimsa (अहिन्सा):- means nonviolence, it is first yama in which any person can't hurt or kill any animal, or any living thing in this world.
2. Satya (सत्य):- means truthfulness, in this, any person can't lie to other person.
3. Asteya (आस्तेय):- means non stealing. In this, what you have, you have to be happy in these, don't steal the things which you have won't.
4. Bramacharya (ब्रम्हचर्य):- means moderation. In this, you have to live very simple life. Bramacharya means character like a God Brahma.
5. Aparigraha (अपरिगृह):- means non hourding. In this, you not have to collect all the things which you haven't any use. Only collect or use those things or needs which are used by you.
2. Niyama :- Niyama is second limb of yoga also known as self purification and study. Like Yama, Niyama is also five types, these are:-
1. Saucha (सौच):- means cleanliness of our self and nearer places.
2. Tapas ( तप):- means self discipline.
3. Santosha (सन्तोष):- means contentment. In this, what you have be happy in these things.
4. Svadhyaya (स्वाध्याय):- means self study. In this, you have to study your Holley Books, study by your self.
5. Isvara-Pranidhana (ईश्वर प्राणिधान):- means surrender yourself in your god.
3. Aasana :- Aasana means postures. Patanjali defined asana as
स्थिरसुखम्आसनं ॥४६॥
The meditation posture should be steady and comfortable.
This sutra is from Sadhan Pad of Patanjali's Yog Darshan.
In Yog there are so many types of aasanas and these all are different from each other. For example there are standing pose like tadasana, Natrajasana etc, sitting poses, back side sleeping poses, chest side sleeping poses and so on.
4. Pranayama:- Prāṇāyāma is the practice of breath control in yoga. In modern yoga as exercise, it consists of synchronising the breath with movements between asanas, but is also a distinct breathing exercise on its own, usually practised after asanas. In texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the Yog Sutras of Patanjali and later in Hatha yoga texts, it meant the complete suspension of breathin.
5. Pratyahara :- Pratyahara or the 'withdrawal of the senses' is the fifth element among eight stages of Patanjali's Astanga Yog as mentioned in his classical work, Yog Sutras of Patanjali. It is also the first stage of the six-branch yoga (sadangayoga) of the Buddhist Kalachakra antra, where it refers to the withdrawal of the five senses from external objects to be replaced by the mentally created senses of an enlightened deity.
Pratyahara marks the transition of yoga experience from the first four limbs of Patanjali's Ashtanga scheme that perfect external forms, to the last three limbs that perfect the yogin's inner state: moving from outside to inside, from the outer sphere of the body to the inner sphere of the spirit.
6. Dharna:- Dharana (Sanskrit: धारणा) means concentration, introspective focus and one-pointedness of mind. The root of the word is dhṛ (धृ), meaning "to hold, maintain, keep".
Dharana, as the sixth limb of yoga, is holding one's mind onto a particular inner state, subject or topic of one's mind. The mind is fixed on a mantra, or one's breath/navel/tip of tongue/any place, or an object one wants to observe, or a concept/idea in one's mind. Fixing the mind means one-pointed focus, without drifting of mind, and without jumping from one topic to another.
7. Dhayan:- Dhyana (Sanskrit: ध्यान) literally means "contemplation, reflection" and "profound, abstract meditation".
Dhyana is contemplating, reflecting on whatever Dharana has focused on. If in the sixth limb of yoga one focused on a personal deity, Dhyana is its contemplation. If the concentration was on one object, Dhyana is non-judgmental, non-presumptuous observation of that object. If the focus was on a concept/idea, Dhyana is contemplating that concept/idea in all its aspects, forms and consequences. Dhyana is uninterrupted train of thought, current of cognition, flow of awareness.
8. Samadhi :- Samadhi (Sanskrit: समाधि) literally means "putting together, joining, combining with, union, harmonious whole, trance".
Samadhi is oneness with the subject of meditation. There is no distinction, during the eighth limb of yoga, between the actor of meditation, the act of meditation and the subject of meditation. Samadhi is that spiritual state when one's mind is so absorbed in whatever it is contemplating on, that the mind loses the sense of its own identity. The thinker, the thought process and the thought fuse with the subject of thought. There is only oneness, samadhi.
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