![]() Inherent in this understanding is the assumption that Haṭhayoga techniques such as prāṇāyāma (breath control) are strenuous and may even cause pain. Many Indian and Western scholars have understood the ‘force’ of Haṭhayoga to refer to the effort required to practice it. "This essay was prompted by the question of how Haṭhayoga, literally ‘the Yoga of force’, acquired its name. It proceeds to discuss the relevant theory (digestive fire, humoral theory, vital points, herbs) and praxis (āsana, ṣaṭkarma and therapy or cikitsā) of the yoga texts in question in order to assess the possible influence of Āyurveda. The article begins with a discussion of the terminology in these texts that is also found in the Bṛhattrayī, that is, the Carakasaṃhitā, the Suśrutasaṃhitā and Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā. The physical techniques became known as Haṭhayoga and the ascetic state of samādhi as Rājayoga, and the texts in which they appear posit the practice (abhyāsa) of Yoga as the chief means to liberation (mokṣa). The date of the Yoga corpus ranges from the eleventh to the nineteenth century CE, and all of its texts teach physical techniques and an ascetic state of dormant meditative absorption (samādhi), either as auxiliaries within a system of Yoga or as autonomous systems in themselves. ![]() The research for this article was prompted by the question: were Yoga and Āyurveda as intimately connected in premodern times as both seem today? It attempts to give a preliminary answer by assessing the shared terminology, theory and praxis of a corpus of mediaeval Yoga texts with the classical texts of Ayurveda. ![]()
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