The Meaning of hatha in Early Hathayoga
<p>This essay was prompted by the question of how Hathayoga, literally 'the Yoga of force', acquired its name. Many Indian and Western scholars have understood the 'force' of Haṭhayoga to refer to the effort required to practice it. Inherent in this understanding is the ass...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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2011
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| _version_ | 1797054747683848192 |
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| author | Birch, J |
| author_facet | Birch, J |
| author_sort | Birch, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>This essay was prompted by the question of how Hathayoga, literally 'the Yoga of force', acquired its name. Many Indian and Western scholars have understood the 'force' of Haṭhayoga to refer to the effort required to practice it. Inherent in this understanding is the assumption that Haṭhayoga techniques such as <em>praṇayama</em> (breath control) are strenuous and may even cause pain. Others eschew the notion of force altogether and favor the so-called 'esoteric' definition of Haṭhayoga (i.e, the union of the sun (<em>ha</em>) and moon (<em>ṭha</em>) in the body). This essay examines these interpretations in light of definitions of <em>haṭhayoga</em> and the adverbial uses of <em>haṭha</em> (i.e, <em>haṭhat, haṭhena</em>) in Sanskrit Yoga texts that predate the fifteenth-century <em>Hathapradipika</em>.</p> |
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| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:13b678e0-a400-4ce0-9eff-0fd4ff81d4ed |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:01:35Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
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| spelling | oxford-uuid:13b678e0-a400-4ce0-9eff-0fd4ff81d4ed2022-03-26T10:15:26ZThe Meaning of hatha in Early HathayogaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:13b678e0-a400-4ce0-9eff-0fd4ff81d4edOriental philosophySanskritReligions of the Indian subcontinent.Philosophy,psychology and sociology of religionLiteratures of other languagesLiterature (non-English)History of Asia & Far EastHistoryLanguages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literatureEnglishOxford University Research Archive - Valet2011Birch, J<p>This essay was prompted by the question of how Hathayoga, literally 'the Yoga of force', acquired its name. Many Indian and Western scholars have understood the 'force' of Haṭhayoga to refer to the effort required to practice it. Inherent in this understanding is the assumption that Haṭhayoga techniques such as <em>praṇayama</em> (breath control) are strenuous and may even cause pain. Others eschew the notion of force altogether and favor the so-called 'esoteric' definition of Haṭhayoga (i.e, the union of the sun (<em>ha</em>) and moon (<em>ṭha</em>) in the body). This essay examines these interpretations in light of definitions of <em>haṭhayoga</em> and the adverbial uses of <em>haṭha</em> (i.e, <em>haṭhat, haṭhena</em>) in Sanskrit Yoga texts that predate the fifteenth-century <em>Hathapradipika</em>.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Oriental philosophy Sanskrit Religions of the Indian subcontinent. Philosophy,psychology and sociology of religion Literatures of other languages Literature (non-English) History of Asia & Far East History Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature Birch, J The Meaning of hatha in Early Hathayoga |
| title | The Meaning of hatha in Early Hathayoga |
| title_full | The Meaning of hatha in Early Hathayoga |
| title_fullStr | The Meaning of hatha in Early Hathayoga |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Meaning of hatha in Early Hathayoga |
| title_short | The Meaning of hatha in Early Hathayoga |
| title_sort | meaning of hatha in early hathayoga |
| topic | Oriental philosophy Sanskrit Religions of the Indian subcontinent. Philosophy,psychology and sociology of religion Literatures of other languages Literature (non-English) History of Asia & Far East History Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT birchj themeaningofhathainearlyhathayoga AT birchj meaningofhathainearlyhathayoga |