Rāja yoga

In Sanskrit texts, Rāja yoga (/ˈrɑːdʒə ˈjoʊɡə/) was both the goal of yoga and a method to attain it. The
term also became a modern name for the practice of yoga[1][2] in the 19th-century when Swami
Vivekananda gave his interpretation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in his book Raja Yoga.[3] Since then,
Rāja yoga has variously been called aṣṭāṅga yoga, royal yoga, royal union, sahaja marg, and classical
yoga.[4]

Etymology and usage

Rāja (Sanskrit: राज) means "chief, best of its kind" or "king".[5] Rāja yoga thus refers to "chief, best of
yoga".

The historical use of the term Rāja yoga is found in other contexts, quite different from its modern usage.
In ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, it meant the highest state of yoga practice (one reaching
samādhi).[2] The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, for example, states that Hatha yoga is one of the ways to achieve
Rāja yoga.

Rāja yoga is discussed in the Yogatattva Upanishad.[6] It is then mentioned in a 16th-century commentary
on a specific step in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali.[1] The medieval era Tantric work Dattātreyayogaśāstra
explains in 334 shlokas the principles of four yogas: Mantra yoga, Hatha yoga, Laya yoga and Raja
yoga.[7] Alain Daniélou states that Rāja yoga was, in the historic literature of Hinduism, one of five
known methods of yoga, with the other four being Hatha yoga, Mantra yoga, Laya yoga and Shiva
yoga.[8] Daniélou translates it as "Royal way to reintegration of Self with Universal Self (Brahman)".

The term became a modern retronym in the 19th-century when Swami Vivekananda equated raja yoga
with the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali.[1][2][3] This meaning is different from that in the Hatha Yoga Pradīpikā,
a text of the Natha sampradaya.[9]

The method of meditation followed under Sahaj Marg, also called Heartfulness follows Raja Yoga system
of practice. This system is in practice formally since 1945 under the name Shri Ram Chandra Mission
(SRCM).[4]

The Brahma Kumaris, a new religious movement, teaches a form of meditation it calls "Raja yoga" that
has nothing to do with either the precepts of Hatha Yoga or Patañjali's Yoga Sūtras.[1]
Modern interpretations and literature that discuss Raja yoga often credit Patañjali's Yogasūtras as their
textual source, but many neither adopt the teachings nor the philosophical foundations of the Yoga school
of Hinduism.[1] This mixing of concepts has led to confusion in understanding historical and modern
Indian literature on Yoga.[2][9]

History

In Shaivism
The Shaiva Yoga text, Amanaska, dated from the 12th century CE or
earlier, is a dialogue between Vamadeva and the deity Shiva. In the second
chapter, the text mentions Raja yoga. It states that it is so named because it
enables the yogin to reach the illustrious king within oneself, the supreme
self.[10] Raja yoga is declared as the goal where one experiences nothing
but the bliss of the undisturbed, the natural state of calm, serenity, peace,
communion within and contentment.[1]

The Raja yoga goal and state are synonymous with various terms, such as
Amanaska, Unmani and Sahaj.[11] The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (literally, A
Swami Vivekananda
Little Light on Hatha Yoga) asserts this as follows,[12]
equated raja yoga with the
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.[3]
राजयोगः समाधिश्च उन्मनी च मनोन्मनी | अमरत्वं लयस्तत्त्वं शून्याशून्यं परं
पदम || ३ ||
अमनस्कं तथाद्वैतं निरालम्बं निरञ्जनम | जीवन्मुक्तिश्च सहजा तुर्या चेत्येक-
वाचकाः || ४ ||
सलिले सैन्धवं यद्वत्साम्यं भजति योगतः | तथात्म-मनसोरैक्यं
समाधिरभिधीयते || ५ ||
यदा संक्ष्हीयते पराणो मानसं च परलीयते | तदा समरसत्वं च
समाधिरभिधीयते || ६ ||
तत-समं च दवयोरैक्यं जीवात्म-परमात्मनोः | परनष्ह्ट-सर्व-सङ् कल्पः
समाधिः सोऽभिधीयते || ७ ||

Raja yoga, samadhi, unmani, manonmani, amaratva, laya, tatva,

sunya, asunya, parama pada,
amanaska, advaita, niralamba, niranjana, jivanmukti, sahaja and
turiya denote the same state of being.
Just as with salt dissolved in water becomes one with it, so the
union of Atman and Manas (mind) is denominated samadhi,
When the breath becomes exhausted, and mind becomes
Praliyate (still, reabsorbed), they fuse into union called
samadhi.
This equality, this oneness of the two, the living self and the
absolute self, when all Sankalpa (desire, cravings) end is called
samadhi.
 — Hath Yoga Pradipika, 4.3 - 4.7, [12]

As a type of yoga
Some medieval Indian texts on Yoga list Rajayoga as one of many types of yoga.[13] For example, the
17th-century Sarvanga yoga pradipikå, a Braj-bhashya commentary by Sundardas, teaches three tetrads of
Yogas. The first group is Bhakti yoga, Mantra yoga, Laya yoga, and Carcha yoga; the second is Hatha
yoga, Raja yoga, Laksha yoga, and Ashtanga yoga; the third is Samkhya yoga, Jñana yoga, Brahma yoga,
and Advaita yoga. Of the twelve, Sundardas states that Rajayoga is the best yoga.[13]

As the yoga system of Patanjali

One meaning of Raja yoga is as a modern retronym introduced by Swami
Vivekananda, when he equated raja yoga with the Yoga Sutras of
Patanjali.[2][1][3] After its circulation in the first half of the 1st millennium
CE, many Indian scholars reviewed it, then published their Bhāṣya (notes
and commentary) on it. Together, they form a canon called the
Pātañjalayogaśāstra ("The Treatise on Yoga of Patañjali").[14][15]

According to Axel Michaels, the Yoga Sutras are built upon fragments of
texts and traditions from ancient India.[16] According to Feuerstein, the
Yoga Sutras are a condensation of two different traditions, namely "eight
limb yoga" (ashtanga yoga) and action yoga (kriya yoga).[17] The kriya
yoga part is contained in chapter 1, chapter 2 verse 1-27, chapter 3 except
verse 54, and chapter 4.[17] The "eight limb yoga" is described in chapter Patañjali statue (traditional
form indicating Kundalini or
2 verse 28-55, and chapter 3 verse 3 and 54.[17]
incarnation of Shesha)

There are numerous parallels in the ancient Samkhya, Yoga and

Abhidharma schools of thought, particularly from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century AD, notes
Larson.[18] Patanjali's Yoga Sutras may be a synthesis of these three traditions. From the Samkhya school
of Hinduism, Yoga Sutras adopt the "reflective discernment" (adhyavasaya) of prakrti and purusa
(dualism), its metaphysical rationalism, and its three epistemic methods to gaining reliable knowledge.[18]
From Abhidharma Buddhism's idea of nirodhasamadhi, suggests Larson, Yoga Sutras adopt the pursuit of
an altered state of awareness. However, unlike Buddhism, which believes that there is neither self nor
soul, Yoga is physicalist and realist, like Samkhya, in believing that each individual has a self and
soul.[18] The third concept that Yoga Sutras synthesizes into its philosophy is the ancient ascetic traditions
of isolation, meditation and introspection, as well as the yoga ideas from the 1st millennium BCE Indian
texts such as Katha Upanishad, Shvetashvatara Upanishad and Maitri Upanishad.[18]

Islamic period
In early 11th century, the Persian scholar Al Biruni visited India, lived among Hindus for 16 years, and
with their help translated several significant Sanskrit works into Arabic and Persian. One was Patanjali's
Yogasutras.[19][20][21] Along with generally accurate translations, Al Biruni's text has significant
differences from Yogasutra manuscripts discovered in India during the 19th century. Al Biruni's record
has helped modern scholars establish that Patanjali's Yogasutras manuscript existed in India in many
versions, each with multiple commentaries by Hindu scholars. Some of these versions and commentaries
are either lost or undiscovered.[19] Al Biruni's translation preserved many of the core themes of Yoga
philosophy of Hinduism; however, certain sutras and analytical commentaries were restated, making
them more consistent with Islamic monotheistic theology.[19][22] Al Biruni's version of Yoga Sutras
reached Persia and Arabian peninsula by about 1050 AD.

In Indian historical timeline, marking with the arrival of Islam in India in twelfth century, further
development and literature on Yoga philosophy of Hinduism went into decline.[23] By the sixteenth
century, Patanjali's Yoga philosophy was nearly extinct.[24] Yoga was preserved by sadhus (ascetics,
sannyasis) of India. Some of the Hindu yoga elements were adopted by Sufi sect of Muslims in
India.[25][26] The Sufi Muslims at times adopted and protected the Yoga tradition of Hindus during the
Islamic rule of India, and at other times helped the persecution and violence against those Hindus.[27] The
Mughal Emperor Akbar, known for his syncretic tolerance, was attracted to and patronized Yoga
philosophy of Hinduism.[28]

Comparison with Buddhism

The yoga scholar Stephen Cope identifies the following similarities between Rāja yoga and Buddhism.
He notes that the two philosophies are not the same, but are strikingly similar, having shared a long
period of interchange up to about 500 CE.[29]
 Aspects[29] Rāja yoga[29] Buddhism[29]
Duhkha (suffering)
Primary problems
Not seeing reality clearly

Problem-solving method 1: Yamas (restraints),

Sila (ethical practices)
Cultivate skilful behaviours Niyamas (observances)

Problem-solving method 2: Dharana (concentration),

Samadhi
Cultivate concentrated states Dhyana (meditation)
Problem-solving method 3: Samyama Vipassana,
Use states to explore self (i.e. dharana, dhyana, samadhi) other insight practices

4 Erroneous Beliefs 3 Marks of Existence,

— permanence, obscured by error:
View of ordinary reality — reality of body, — anicca (impermanence)
— that suffering is happiness, — anatta (no-self)
— that body/mind is true self — duhkha (suffering)

Nirvana ("unbinding"
The end of suffering Kaivalya (emancipation)
of constructions)
nirodha (cessation)
klesha (affliction)
karma (action)
Shared concepts samvega (urgency)
prajna (intuitive wisdom)
samskara (unconscious pattern)
maitra/metta (loving-kindness)

Direct investigation of reality (not metaphysics)

Shared approaches
using self-study, self-reliance, self-liberation

See also
Cittabhumi
Karma yoga
Kundalini yoga
Shinshin-tōitsu-dō, Japanese yoga
Thelema
Yoga (philosophy)

References
1. Jason Birch (2013), Råjayoga: The Reincarnations of the King of All Yogas, International
Journal of Hindu Studies, Volume 17, Issue 3, pages 401–444
2. Mallinson-1 2011.
3. Swami Vivekananda, Raja Yoga, ISBN 978-1500746940
4. "World's largest meditation centre coming up in Hyderabad" (https://www.thehindubusinessli
ne.com/news/national/worlds-largest-meditation-centre-in-hyderabad/article30643824.ece).
24 January 2020.
5. rAja (http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html) Monier-
Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, Germany
 6. Ayyangar, TR Srinivasa (1938). The Yoga Upanishads (https://archive.org/stream/TheYogaU
panishads/TheYogaUpanisadsSanskritEngish1938#page/n301/mode/2up). The Adyar
Library. p. 301.
7. Antonio Rigopoulos (1998), Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara, State
University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791436967, page 62
8. Alain Daniélou (1991), Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe, ISBN 978-
0892813018, Chapters 1-12
9. Mallinson-2 2011.
10. Jason Birch (2013), The Amanaska: King of All Yogas, Ph.D. Dissertation, Oxford University
11. Gerald James Larson and Karl H. Potter (2011), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies:
Yoga: India's philosophy of meditation, Volume XII, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-
8120833494, pages 364, 366
12. Sanskrit and English: Hath Yoga Pradipika (https://archive.org/stream/HathaYogaPradipika-
SanskritTextWithEnglishTranslatlionAndNotes#page/n153/mode/2up), Pancham Singh
(Translator), OCLC 897482 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/897482), pages 154-155;
Modern Translation (English): GW Briggs (2009), Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs,
Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120805644, page 343
13. Jason Birch (2013), Råjayoga: The Reincarnations of the King of All Yogas, International
Journal of Hindu Studies, Volume 17, Issue 3, pages 415-416
14. Maas 2006.
15. Larson, p. 21–22.
16. Michaels 2004, p. 267.
17. Feuerstein 1978, p. 108.
18. Larson, pp. 43-45
19. S Pines and T Gelblum (Translators from Arabic to English, 1966), Al-Bīrūni (Translator from
Sanskrit to Arabic, ~ 1035 AD), and Patañjali, Al-Bīrūnī's Arabic Version of Patañjali's
Yogasūtra (https://www.jstor.org/stable/611180), Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2 (1966), pages 302-325
20. White 2014.
21. Hellmut Ritter, al-Bīrūnī's übersetzung des Yoga-Sūtra des Patañjali (https://www.jstor.org/st
able/1579273), Oriens, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Dec. 31, 1956), pages 165-200 (in German)
22. Philipp Maas (2013), A Concise Historiography of Classical Yoga Philosophy, in
Periodization and Historiography of Indian Philosophy (Editor: Eli Franco), Sammlung de
Nobili, Institut für Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismuskunde der Universität Wien, ISBN 978-
3900271435, pages 53-90, OCLC 858797956 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858797956)
23. White 2014, pp. 6–9.
24. White 2014, pp. 6–16.
25. Bonnie G. Smith et al (2012), Crossroads and Cultures, Volume I: To 1450: A History of the
World's Peoples, Macmillan, ISBN 978-0312442132, page 428
26. Jean Filliozat (1991), Religion, Philosophy, Yoga: A Selection of Articles, Motilal
Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120807181, pages 215-230, 293-303
27. Jamal Malik (2008), Islam in South Asia: A Short History, Brill Academic, ISBN 978-
9004168596, pages 185-186
28. David White (2014), The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali - A Biography (https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.
ctt6wq06f), Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-1-4008-5005-1, pages 146-152
29. Cope, Stephen (2006). The wisdom of yoga : a seeker's guide to extraordinary living (https://
archive.org/details/wisdomofyogaseek00cope). New York: Bantam Books. pp. 276-278 (http
s://archive.org/details/wisdomofyogaseek00cope/page/276). ISBN 978-0-553-38054-5.
OCLC 64098584 (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/64098584).
Further reading
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Maas, Philipp A. (2006), Samādhipāda: das erste Kapitel des Pātañjalayogaśāstra zum
ersten Mal kritisch ediert, Aachen: Shaker, ISBN 3-8322-4987-7
White, David Gordon (2014), The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: A Biography, Princeton University
Press
Wood, Ernest (1951). Practical Yoga, Ancient and Modern, Being a New, Independent
Translation of Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms. Rider and Company.

Treatises on Yoga

Alain Daniélou (1991), Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe, ISBN 978-
0892813018, Appendix D: Main Sanskrit Treatises on Yoga

History

White, David Gordon (2011), Yoga, Brief History of an Idea (Chapter 1 of "Yoga in practice")
(http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i9565.pdf) (PDF), Princeton University Press

Philosophy and practice

Feuerstein, Georg (1978), Handboek voor Yoga (Dutch translation; English title Textbook of
Yoga, Ankh-Hermes
Larson, Gerald James (1998), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and
Meaning (https://books.google.com/books?id=Ih2aGLp4d1gC), London: Motilal
Banarasidass, ISBN 81-208-0503-8
Larson, Gerald James (2008), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Yoga: India's
philosophy of meditation (https://books.google.com/books?id=p6pURGdBBmIC), Motilal
Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-3349-4
Maehle, Gregor (2007), Ashtanga Yoga: Practice and Philosophy, New World Library
Mallinson-1, James (2011), "Hatha Yoga", Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol.3, BRILL
Mallinson-2, James (2011), "Nāth Sampradāya", Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol.3,
BRILL
Michaels, Axel (2004). Hinduism: Past and Present (https://books.google.com/books?id=jID
3TuoiOMQC). Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-08952-3.
Whicher, Ian (1998), The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsideration of Classical
Yoga, SUNY Press

External links
Yoga exercises (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.398.8987&rep=re
p1&type=pdf) Thai Journal of Physiological Sciences (compares Raja yoga to other yogas)

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