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 Hathayoga 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_ | 1826276757679898624 |
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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 Hathayoga to refer to the effort required to practice it. Inherent in this understanding is the assumption that Hathayoga 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 Hathayoga (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>hathayoga</em> and the adverbial uses of <em>hatha</em> (i.e, <em>hathat, hathena</em>) in Sanskrit Yoga texts that predate the fifteenth-century <em>Hathapradipika</em>.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:18:40Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:67fdf903-0773-456d-a28c-64ae3d21e08c |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:18:40Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:67fdf903-0773-456d-a28c-64ae3d21e08c2022-03-26T18:41:56ZThe Meaning of hatha in Early HathayogaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:67fdf903-0773-456d-a28c-64ae3d21e08cReligions of the Indian subcontinent.History of Asia & Far EastOriental philosophyHistoryLiterature (non-English)Philosophy,psychology and sociology of religionLiteratures of other languagesLanguages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literatureSanskritEnglishOxford 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 Hathayoga to refer to the effort required to practice it. Inherent in this understanding is the assumption that Hathayoga 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 Hathayoga (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>hathayoga</em> and the adverbial uses of <em>hatha</em> (i.e, <em>hathat, hathena</em>) in Sanskrit Yoga texts that predate the fifteenth-century <em>Hathapradipika</em>.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Religions of the Indian subcontinent. History of Asia & Far East Oriental philosophy History Literature (non-English) Philosophy,psychology and sociology of religion Literatures of other languages Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature Sanskrit 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 | Religions of the Indian subcontinent. History of Asia & Far East Oriental philosophy History Literature (non-English) Philosophy,psychology and sociology of religion Literatures of other languages Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature Sanskrit |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT birchj themeaningofhathainearlyhathayoga AT birchj meaningofhathainearlyhathayoga |