The Six Branches of Yoga – Types of Yoga and The Roots of Yoga

Bhagavad Gita – The Six Branches of Yoga

The Bhagavad Gita famously distinguishes several types of yoga, corresponding to the duties of different nature of people. Capturing the essence and at the same time going into detail about the various Yogas and their philosophies, it constantly refers to itself as such, the “Scripture of Yoga” (see the final verses of each chapter). The book is thought to have been written some time between the 5th and the 2nd century BC. In it, Krishna describes the following types of yoga:

Karma yoga, the yoga of “action” in the world. Its practice aims to perform selfless acts of work.
Jnana yoga, the yoga of knowledge and intellectual endeavour.
Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion to a deity. This yoga practice is a form of worship.
Raja yoga, the yoga of meditation.
Hatha yoga, the yoga of the physical body. This practice of yoga uses postures, breathing exercises and cleansing to achieve physical purification. The term “Hatha” means “forceful”.
Tantra yoga, the yoga of rituals to find spirituality through physical and ritual cleaning, breathing exercises (pranayama), contemplation, visualization and repetition of mantras.

Patanjali – Classical Yoga Philosophy – The Roots of Yoga

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is the key text of Indian philosophy, which is concerned with the nature of the mind. It is the cornerstone of classical yoga and only includes one yoga posture for meditation, but does not mention or describe any other postures. Classical yoga is a discipline of Hinduism with the purpose of spiritual realization.

The texts of Patanjali are composed of 195 sutras (the word sutra means “a thread”). Sutra is a short statement that is easy to memorize and chant. The Patanjali sutras describes the path of yoga, it defines yoga as “the ability to control the fluctuations of the mind”.

Patanjali’s texts also include the eight-limbed principals that should be followed in life when unaffected by adverse circumstances. Although not much is known about Patanjali; the sutras of Patanjali is one of the most important ancient texts of yoga. The name Patanjali means “Pat”, “to fall”; “anjali”, “a gesture of giving and receiving”.

The eight “limbs” paths of yoga practice are:

Yama (The five “abstentions”) – social conduct: non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, moderation in sex and all things, and non-greed.
Niyama (The five “observances”) – individual conduct: purity and cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study, and awareness and devotion to the highest.
Asana: stable posture open to meditation. This term literally means “seat,” and originally referred mainly to seated positions. With the rise of hatha yoga asana refers to all postures.
Pranayama: Control of prāna or vital breath to help concentrate one’s thoughts.
Pratyahara (”Abstraction”): Reversal of the sense organs to enhance inner perception ( “That by which the senses do not come into contact with their objects and, as it were, follow the nature of the mind.” — Vyasa).
Dharana (”Concentration”): Fixing the attention on a single object.
Dhyana (”Meditation”): a state of mind when concentration is enhanced.
Samadhi: Super-conscious state or trance (state of liberation), self-realization, cognitive unification. Freedom from all the ties of existence.

Practicing the eight limbs of yoga enables the clarity of perception necessary to achieve enlightenment or self-realization.

Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras presents the goal of yoga as ‘the cessation of mental fluctuations’ (cittavrtti nirodha), an achievement which gives rise to the possibility of stable meditation and thus deeper states of absorption (dhyana or samadhi). This requires considerable restraint (yama) and self-discipline (niyama; see below for Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga)). It is held as authoritative by all schools. Patanjali is also known for writing commentaries (Mahabhashya) on the Sutras of the great Sanskrit grammarian Panini. In fact, Panini, Patanjali and Kātyāyana are regarded are the highest authority not only in Sanskrit but also in the whole of Linguistics.

The classic description of yoga is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which form the basis not only of the darshana called “yoga”- one of six such “orthodox” (i.e. Veda-accepting) schools of Hindu philosophy- but also of the practice of yoga in most ashrams (to the extent these can be distinguished). The school (dharshana) of Indian philosophy known as “yoga” is primarily Upanishadic with roots in Samkhya, and some scholars see some influence from Buddhism. The Yoga philosophy fully believes in the epistemology of the Samkhya school, as well as its concept of the individual spirits (Purusha) and the Nature (Prakriti) – but differs from Samkhya’s atheism.

What is Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga derived from different traditions including classical yoga and Tantric texts. Hatha means forceful and the practice of hatha yoga aims to liberate from the cycle of rebirth in one lifetime.

Over the last century the term yoga has come to be especially associated with the postures (Sanskrit āsanas) of hatha yoga (”Forced Yoga”). Hatha yoga has gained wide popularity outside of India and traditional yoga-practising religions, and the postures are sometimes presented as entirely secular or non-spiritual in nature.

Traditional Hatha Yoga is a complete yogic path, including moral disciplines, physical exercises (postures – asanas), breath control (pranayama), and meditation. It encompasses far more than the yoga of postures and exercises practiced in the West as a physical culture. The seminal work on Hatha Yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Swami Svatmarama.

Hatha Yoga was created to provide a form of physical purification and training that would prepare aspirants for the higher training that is called Raja Yoga. This is still true today. Despite this, many in the West practice ‘Hatha yoga’ solely for the perceived health benefits it provides, and not as a path to enlightenment. There are various branches or styles of Hatha Yoga.

The Main Types or Styles of Hatha Yoga Are:

Ashtanga Yoga

Iyengar Yoga

Viniyoga Yoga

Jivamukti Yoga

Bikram – Hot Yoga

Kundalini Yoga

Power Yoga

Sivananda Yoga

Forrest Yoga

Natya Yoga – Dance Yoga

The guide to Natya (Dance) Yoga was written by Bharata Muni. Sage Narada along with Gandharvas were the first to practise Natya Yoga, it comprises mainly of Karma and Bhakti yoga with some aspects of Hatha and Raja yoga. Natya Yoga was practised by the medieval devadasis, and is currently taught in a few orthodox schools of Bharatanatyam and Odissi.