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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>[[File:Yogabija.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|Covers of the Yogabija, the "Seed of Yoga", an early [[Haṭha yoga]] text]]<br />
The '''''Yogabīja''''' ([[Sanskrit]]: योगबीज, "Seed of Yoga"{{sfn|Muñoz|2016|page=124}}) is an early [[Haṭha yoga]] text, from around the 14th century.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=xl}} It was the first text to propose the derivation of ''haṭha'' from the Sanskrit words for sun and moon, with multiple esoteric interpretations.<br />
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==Text==<br />
[[File:Yogabija page.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A manuscript page from the ''Yogabija'']]<br />
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The ''Yogabīja'' describes a fourfold system for attaining liberation ([[moksha]]), spanning [[Mantra]] Yoga, [[Laya Yoga]], [[Hatha yoga|Haṭha Yoga]], and [[Rāja Yoga]]. It specifically denies that liberation is possible simply by knowledge or [[jñāna]]; instead, it argues that the [[yogin]] needs both knowledge and yoga, and that liberation results in the yogin becoming an immortal [[jivanmukti]], invisible but alive.{{sfn|Birch|Hanneder|2019}} The text shares that concept, and others such as that Rāja Yoga is the union of bindu and rajas (semen and uterine fluid), and some verses with the ancient ''[[Yogashikha Upanishad|Yogaśikhā Upaniṣad]]''.{{sfn|Muñoz|2016|page=125}}{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=7}} In turn, the ''[[Hatha Yoga Pradipika]]'' incorporates around 18 verses from the ''Yogabīja''.{{sfn|Muñoz|2016|page=133}} <br />
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The teaching is presented as a dialogue between the goddess [[Devī]] (Parvati) and the god [[Īśvara]] (Shiva); the text begins ''śrī devy uvāca:'' ("Respected Devī said:").{{sfn|Muñoz|2016|page=132}}<br />
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It is one of the few early [[Haṭha yoga]] texts to describe the [[Mudra (Yoga)|mudras]]. Their purpose, along with [[Pranayama|breath retention]], is to make the [[Kundalini]] rise.{{sfn|Mallinson|2011|pp=770–781}} It teaches the three [[Bandha (yoga)|bandhas]] and śakticālanīmudrā ("stimulating [[Saraswati|Sarasvatī]]") for the purpose of awakening [[Kundalini|Kundalinī.]]{{sfn|Mallinson|2016|pp=109–140}}{{sfn|Muñoz|2016|page=124}}<br />
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On mantras, the ''Yogabīja'' mentions the involuntary ''[[So Ham|so 'ham]]'', the sounds made by breathing in and out; the phrase, from the [[Upaniṣads]], means "I am that" in Sanskrit.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=263}}<br />
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The text states (verses 80–86) that controlling the breath with [[pranayama]] controls the mind (and is the only way of doing so), and that this leads to liberation.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=132–133, 159–160}}<br />
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It describes Laya Yoga as the "dissolution of the mind", leading to steadiness of breath and the highest happiness, ''svātmānanda'', "bliss in one's own self" (verses 150–151). Mallinson comments that so defined, Laya Yoga is hardly distinguishable from Rāja Yoga, the practice of ''[[samādhi]]''.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=328, 346}}<br />
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The ''Yogabīja'' formalises the distinction between supernatural powers (''[[siddhis]]'') that arise unintentionally (''akalpita'') and those that are deliberately sought (''kalpita'') by means such as herbs, rituals, and mantras; it considers the latter powers inferior.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=361–362, 389–391}}<br />
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==Esoteric interpretation==<br />
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The ''Yogabīja'' is the source of the esoteric etymology of "Haṭha", deriving the term from ''ha'', the sun, and ''ṭha'', the moon, stating that Haṭha yoga is the union (''yoga'') of the two. The "sun" and "moon" here do not however denote the heavenly bodies, but have several alternative esoteric interpretations, which the Indologist [[James Mallinson (author)|James Mallinson]] explains as:{{sfn|Mallinson|2011|pp=770–781}}<br />
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* the ''[[prāṇa]]'' and ''[[apāna]]'', the upper and lower breaths;{{sfn|Mallinson|2011|pp=770–781}}<br />
* the ''piṅgalā'' and ''iḍā [[Nadis|nāḍīs]]'', two of the main channels of the [[subtle body]];{{sfn|Mallinson|2011|pp=770–781}}<br />
* the deities [[Śakti]] and [[Śiva]], meaning the [[Menstruation|menstrual]] blood and the [[semen]];{{sfn|Mallinson|2011|pp=770–781}}<br />
* the tip of the tongue, and the forehead.{{sfn|Mallinson|2011|pp=770–781}}<br />
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The ''Yogabīja'' states that [[yoga]] unites all dualities:{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=23}}<br />
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{{quote|The union of ''apāna'' and ''prāṇa'', one's own ''rajas'' and semen, the sun and moon, the individual soul and supreme soul, and in the same way the union of all dualities, is called yoga. ''Yogabīja'', 89–90{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=23}}}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist|26em}}<br />
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== Sources ==<br />
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* {{cite web |last1=Birch |first1=Jason |last2=Hanneder |first2=Jürgen |title=Yogabīja workshop - Marburg 23.–26.7.2019 Held by Jason Birch and Jürgen Hanneder |url=https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fb10/iksl/faecher/indologie/aktuelles/news/flyer_yogabija.pdf |publisher=University of Marburg |access-date=15 November 2020 |date=26 July 2019}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Mallinson |first=James |author-link=James Mallinson (author) |work=Haṭha Yoga |title=The Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 3 |editor=Knut A. Jacobsen |display-editors=etal |year=2011 |publisher=Brill Academic |isbn=978-90-04-27128-9 |pages=770–781 |url=http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17971/1/Hatha%20Yoga2.pdf}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Mallinson |first=James |author-link=James Mallinson (author) |chapter=Śāktism and Haṭhayoga |title=Goddess Traditions in Tantric Hinduism: History, Practice and Doctrine |editor-link=Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen |editor-last=Wernicke-Olesen |editor-first=Bjarne |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2016 |pages=109–140 |isbn=978-1317585213 |url=http://www.khecari.com/resources/SaktismHathayoga.pdf}}<br />
* {{cite book | last1=Mallinson | first1=James |author1-link=James Mallinson (author) |last2=Singleton |first2=Mark |author2-link=Mark Singleton (yoga scholar) | title=Roots of Yoga |title-link=Roots of Yoga | publisher=Penguin Books | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-241-25304-5 | oclc=928480104}}<br />
* {{cite journal |last=Muñoz |first=Adrián |title=Yogabῑja: a Critical Transcription of a Text on a Haṭhayoga |journal=Nova Tellus |volume=33 |issue=2 |year=2016 |pages=123–152 |issn=0185-3058 |doi=10.19130/iifl.nt.2016.34.1.712 |url=http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/novatell/v34n1/0185-3058-novatell-34-01-00123.pdf|doi-access=free }}<br />
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== Further reading ==<br />
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* {{cite book |editor-last=Śrīvāstava |editor-first=Rāmalāla L. |title=Yogabīja |publisher=Gorakhanātha-Mandira |location=Gorakhpur |year=1982 |language=Sanskrit <!--with Hindi translation-->|ref=none}}<br />
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{{Hatha yoga}}<br />
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[[Category:Hatha yoga]]<br />
[[Category:Sanskrit texts]]</div>imported>OAbot