A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy c7.7.1

c7.7.1

5. As for the roots of the Yoga system, we must also turn to the Śvetāśvatara, which is its *locus classicus*. There is a passage of a very peculiar interest in the second chapter of the Śvetāśvatara which gives us the rudiments of the practice and philosophy of the Yoga doctrine as later formulated. It may be seen that in the first place it calls our attention to the posture of the body at the time of practising the Yoga. Anticipating the Bhagavadgītā, it tells us that we should hold the trunk, the neck, and the head in a straight line at the time of meditation. No elaborate scheme of Āsanas is yet furnished, which was to form the principal theme of the New Upanishads, especially those pertaining to Yoga which brought Rājayoga into line with Haṭhayoga. Then, secondly, we are advised to control our senses by means of mind, a process equivalent to the later Pratyāhāra. Thirdly, we are told to regulate our breath, implying that it should be made rhythmical, which practice may be called the precursor of the later Prāṇāyāma. Fourthly, we are told that the environment in which one should practise meditation should be pure, and free from sand and fire, as well as sounds and water-pools, and that as far as possible, the meditation should be practised in the recesses of a cave.