A Brief History of Yoga: Part I

The Indus Valley Civilization

Nearly 10,000 years ago, the social organization of humanity switched from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies to stationary agricultural societies. However, it wasn’t until the 4th millennium BCE that civilization as we know it finally began to explode across the entire world.

This time period marks the rise of the Egyptians, the formation of the Mesopotamian city-states, and the appearance of the first written languages. It was also around this time that the Indus Valley Civilization came to prominence around the lush environment surrounding the Indus River, in what is now known as Pakistan. The Indus Valley culture was an indigenous development that grew out of earlier cultures in the region, rather than from the external influence of Sumer or Egypt.

The Indus Valley Civilization developed from about 2500 BCE, though its origins reach back to the Neolithic Period (7000-6000 BCE), reached its peak around 2300-2000 BCE (trade links with Mesopotamia have been dated to this period), was in decline by 1800 BCE and had faded away by 1500 BCE.

The Indus culture was centered around Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, two urban cities separated by 40 miles. Together these cities were populated by some 40,000 inhabitants who enjoyed a high period of technology; most houses included drainage systems, wells, and garbage chutes. Archeological records suggest a unity of material culture as evidenced by pottery, architecture, and writing.

The Roots of Hindu and Yogic Thought

The biggest obstacle to thoroughly understanding the roots of Hindu and Yogic thought comes from the indecipherable Indus Valley script that was used throughout the region.

The main source of insight into the Indus culture comes from physical evidence excavated at archeological sites. Findings at these sites have led researchers to the conclusion that the state religion of the Indus Valley involved temples, goddess worship, animal sacrifice, and ritual bathing.

The great bath found in the citadel of Mohenjo-Daro is reminiscent of tanks found in later Hindu temples and reflects a concern for purification through water, an important idea in Hinduism. This idea of external purification would later become internalized by the Yogic tradition, as exemplified by the practice of renunciation to steadily purify the mind of its false concepts and beliefs.

At the Kalibangan archeological site a ritual area has been found in which animal sacrifice seems to have been practiced and seven fire altars have been located. This practice of offering up a body for sacrifice would later come to influence the Yogic notion of offering up the temporal, conditioned self in order to experience the unconditioned self that lies behind appearances.

Pottery images from the Indus suggest a worship of goddesses.  Goddess worship was widespread throughout the world at this time, and therefore shouldn’t be thought of as unique to the region. However, the idea of the Goddess as Mother comes to play a particularly important role in Hindu and Yogic thought in the coming centuries, with Hinduism using the Goddess as an external figure of worship, and Yoga using the Goddess as a symbol for the Source as Mother of the Universe, and the Universe as Mother of all Beings.

The first visual clues that Yoga, as we know it, was practiced during this time come from statues and seals that were found in the region. Of particular interest is the Pashupati seal which shows a horned, three-faced, seated figure sitting in a posture with knees out and feet joined. This image is suggestive of future images of the god Shiva, who is classically considered the god of Yoga. The crossed-legged position that this proto-Shiva is seated in is the same position which we currently associate with Yoga. These observations have led scholars to suggest this seal as evidence of an early practice of Yoga in the Indus Valley Civilization.

The Rise of the Vedic Age

During the time period of 2000-1500 BCE the Indus Valley Civilization began to give way to an entirely new culture. The leading theory explaining this cultural transformation is that nomads from Central Asia, now referred to as Aryans or Indo-Europeans, began making their home in the region.

In the centuries that followed, the major philosophical and pragmatic foundations of both Hinduism and Yoga would become established. This period of time is known as the Vedic Age.

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References

Flood, Gavin. (2001). An Introduction to Hinduism. UK: Cambridge University Press

Images used in this Post

ganges photo courtesy of Flickr user >S@TS< published under the CC license.

serenity photo courtesy of Flickr user roblerner published under the CC license.

Shiva @ Elephanta Caves photo courtesy of Flickr user ricardo.martin published under the CC license.