A Concise History of Science in India c8.s3.t4: The Yoga School
A Concise History of Science in India c8.s3.t4
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The Yoga School
c8.s3.t4.1
The Yoga system of philosophy,c due to Patañjali (*c.* second century B.C.), with its mental and physical discipline by the eightfold path of *yama* (abstention), *niyama* (observance), *āsana* (physical postures involving muscular co-ordination), *prāṇāyāma* (regulation of breathing), *pratyāhāra* (voluntary control of the sense-perceptions), *dhyāna* (fixed attention), *dhāraṇā* (contemplation) and *samādhi* (ultimate and absolute mental concentration), is not only a philosophy but also a discipline of the body to make it function in a state of perfect health and flexibility. A branch of this discipline, known as *haṭhayoga*, is a refined form of physical culture involving the voluntary as well as involuntary muscles of the body and claims to cure many pathological conditions. This integrated system of mental concentration, breath control, sense-control and physical culture can also be called a medical system. *Āyurveda* has not borrowed from it but this system has always been held in high respect in India and has recently earned a spate of popularity in Western countries.
c8.s3.t4.2
a *CS. Vi.*, 4; *Ni.*, 1. 13; *SS. Sū.*, 10.
c8.s3.t4.3
b Sen, Gananatha (2), p. 69.
c8.s3.t4.4
c Das Gupta, II, pp. 273–463.