Vedic Yoga, the Oldest Form of Yoga

Vedic Yoga is the oldest form of Yoga. It goes back to the Rig Veda, which is probably the oldest book in the world. It is the oldest Sanskrit text and also the oldest work in any Indo-European language. According to Yogi Sri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, Vedic teachings go back to the Satya Yuga, or Golden Age, more than 10,000 years ago.

The Vedic view holds that humanity spoke one language and followed one religion during the Golden Age. People had an innate contact with the Divine Self within. They had telepathic powers and photographic memories as well. So, books and other media were unnecessary. Religious institutions, too, were not needed and neither was technology. People spent their life in Sadhana (spiritual practice) while human consciousness moved freely through the domains of cosmic consciousness, in harmony with both nature and the Spirit.

When the Golden Age ended, spiritual intelligence began to decline. Differences in language and the growth of the ego brought more ignorance and divisions between people. Around this time, Vedic teachings were first compiled in an oral format to preserve the spiritual knowledge of the Golden Age.

Vedic Yoga was created by many Vedic seers of the Angiras and Bhrigu families. The most important of these are the 7 great seers: Vasishta, Vamadeva, Bharadvaja, Gritsamada, Vishwamitra, Kanwa, and Atri. Through their vision, the Vedas revealed all the possible spiritual paths for human beings. The Vedas have a comprehensive key to cosmic evolution and human spiritual unfoldment that can unlock all the laws of the universe.

Vedic language uses powerful Mantras to disseminate this teaching. They have many different levels of application and meaning. Vedic language has a depth and dimension that is lacking in modern languages, which are the products of the outer mind and ego. Vedic Mantras reflect the blueprint of cosmic intelligence and the pattern of cosmic law, through which everything that exists can be comprehended in one’s innermost consciousness. Vedic Mantras contain within them the prototypes of all knowledge and powers of creation. However, one needs special insight to understand and use them correctly. Vedic Mantras are not comprehensible to the ordinary intellect, the reason why academic renderings of the Vedas are pretty useless and prone to many distortions.

Three Basic Types of Vedic Yoga

There are 3 basic types of  Vedic Yoga. They have many important correspondences:

1.    Mantra Yoga – Speech – Rig Veda – Earth

2.    Prana Yoga – Prana – Yajur Veda – Atmosphere

3.    Dhyana Yoga – Mind – Sama Veda – Heaven

1.    Waking State – Agni or Fire – Brahma, Creator

2.    Dream – Indra or Lightning – Shiva, Transformer

3.    Deep Sleep – Surya or the Sun – Vishnu, Preserver

Mantra Yoga is about developing Mantra Shakti (power of Mantra). Through it, the Mantra comes to life and becomes a tool of transformation in the mind. Mantra Sphota or mantric insight arises from this, and through it, one can grasp the inner meaning of the Mantra and connect with divine laws. This enables us to understand that all forms in the universe are manifestations of the Divine Word or OM. This Mantric force then sets in motion all the other inner energies, not only on an internal level but also on an external level, by offering mastery over all the natural forces.

Prana Yoga is about developing Prana/Vidyut Shakti (lightning or electrical force) and Pranic insight (lightning perception). This helps us work with our vital energy as a manifestation of the energy of consciousness. Mantra becomes Prana as the latter itself is unmanifest sound. This Prana gives the vitality and impetus for inner transformations.

Dhyana Yoga is the Yoga of meditation. It involves developing Buddhi or awakened intelligence and its power to perceive truth. This helps us understand the universe and people as integral unfoldments of cosmic Intelligence. This higher intelligence arises due to the energization of speech and Prana. It brings great transformative power into the deepest level of the mind. In Dhyana Yoga, truth, like a light, floods the mind, and one discovers the unitary nature of all reality.

The 3 Yogas relate to three basic faculties - speech, Prana, and intelligence-dominated mind. These are not ordinary faculties but our ability to develop the Divine Word, the Divine Life, and the Divine Mind within us. They relate to the 3 bodies - the physical, astral (Pranic) and causal (soul or deeper mind).

The 3 Vedas correspond to these 3 Yogas. The Rig Veda, the Veda of Mantra, includes the basic Mantras or seeds of cosmic knowledge. The Yajur Veda, the Veda of sacrifice, reveals their application through ritual, both external and internal (yogic). Pranayama is the internal ritual. The Sama Veda, the Vedas of unification, reveal their realization through insight and ecstasy.

The 3 main Vedic deities or Devatas correspond to the 3 kinds of light. Agni is fire, which is thermogenic light or heat that burns all negativity and reformulates our nature on a higher plane. Indra is lightning, which is light energy or electrical force through which a person can ascend and move to a higher level of being. Surya or the Sun is pure light or magnetic force that draws us into the omnipresent infinite.

These 3 forces operate in our 3 states of waking, dream and deep sleep. They can convert them into states of divine waking or perception, divine dream or creation, and divine rest or peace. These are the 3 worlds of Earth, Atmosphere and Heaven as internal realities, through which we can understand all the worlds as creations of our own mind.

Vedic Yoga and Classical Yoga

Vedic Yoga, which is 3-fold, is slightly different from the classical 8-fold or Raja Yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. In Vedic Yoga, the yamas and niyamas, which are the observances and restraints that constitute the first 2 limbs of Raja Yoga, are part of the Dharmic foundation of Vedic life. This implies living according to one’s higher nature and keeping one’s lower nature under control through the right values, the right effort, and the right diet. Asana or yogic postures are not a separate limb of Vedic Yoga.

Vedic Mantra and Prana Yogas include Pranayama (control of Prana) and Pratyahara (control of the senses) of the Raja Yoga system. Pranayama is about developing Pranic energy, while Pratyahara is about withdrawing it from the senses and motor organs. Mantra enables us to direct both Prana and the mind. Vedic Dhyana Yoga includes Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, concentration, meditation, and realization of Raja Yoga. These are the 3 aspects of merging the mind back into the Divine Self.

Mantra Yoga

Vedic Yoga begins with Mantra as its foundation. It uses Mantras from the Vedas, especially those of the Rig Veda. These Mantras are of 3 types:

1.    Name Mantras – Names of the Deities like Agni, Indra, Soma, and Surya. These are part of Bhakti Yoga or the Yoga of devotion. The names of deities like Vishnu, Shiva, and the Goddess can be used in the same way. Eg: Om Namah Shivaya.

2.    Bija or Seed Mantras – These are based on the root sounds of key Vedic terms like OM, AIM, HUM, HRIM, KRIM, and SHRIM. They should be chanted silently along with their breath, and they are also part of Prana Yoga. They unite Prana and the mind, transforming unconscious patterns and attachments into new powers of attention.

3.    Suktas – These are extended prayers and Mantras like Gayatri mantra (Tat Savitur vareniyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat). These should be meditated upon and are part of Dhyana Yoga. They help engage our entire awareness in the higher light and in a comprehensive manner.

Usually, these Mantras are given through special initiations or empowerments, which form the foundation of Vedic practice. The practice of Vedic Yoga starts with Vedic Mantras. It requires an awakened speech and contact with the Divine Word. This, in turn, requires that our soul, the immortal part of our individualized consciousness, which is a form of Agni, the inner flame, comes forth. The student repeats different Nama Mantras, Bija Mantras, and Suktas as per his or her state of consciousness and approach to Divinity. OM is the most common Bija Mantra, while Gayatri Mantra is the most common Sukta.

Prana Yoga

Vedic Prana Yoga comprises different types of Yogic techniques involving Prana, including various forms of Pranayama. It includes an observation of and acquiring mastery over all the 5 main Pranas, the senses, and the motor organs. It enables the awakening of inner Prana and Kundalini Shakti, an internal form of electrical energy. For this to happen, one must learn to offer the various aspects of one’s being, especially one’s Prana, as a sacrifice to the deity that dwells within. Prana Yoga calls for developing vital power or Ojas and renouncing sensory enjoyment to fuel it. Vedic Prana Yoga is of many types.

1.    Mantra – Prana Yoga: Here, Mantras are repeated along with the breath, especially special Bija Mantras. Name Mantras and Suktas can also be used. As per Vedic understanding, Prana is unmanifest speech. So, Mantra Yoga is a form of Prana Yoga.

2.    Pure Prana Yoga – Here, one works directly with the force of Prana, not merely as the breath but as one’s basic will and motivation. One works to bring the Prana out of the lower chakras to the higher, developing one’s will power through surrender to the descent of divine grace.

3.    Dhyana – Prana Yoga: In this Yoga, one has to meditate upon the Prana in the form of the Vedic deity Indra or the power of perception. Other deities of Prana can also be used, like Shiva and Kali. In the Vedic view, the mind is unmanifest or subtle Prana. Through Prana, we can control the mind’s energy and awaken its lightning power of direct perception.

For Prana Yoga, the power of Indra or Divine Prana has to be awakened. This calls for awakened vitality and energized insight. This happens through the descent of divine grace and power into the soul. One must connect with God or the divine creator within. The student does different types of Pranayama using the breath along with the Mantras learned, connecting deeply with the deities as forms of cosmic energy. The Kriya Yoga taught by Paramahansa Yogananda is an example of this kind of practice.

Dhyana Yoga

Vedic meditation includes meditation upon Prana, Mantra, and the Devtas/Deities. It ultimately leads to meditation upon the Self. This Yoga of meditation is also of many types:

1.    Dhyana Devata Yoga – Here, we meditate upon the various Devatas or Deities of the Vedas and their inner significance as powers of the light of consciousness, like Agni, Indra, Soma, and Surya. This requires us to work with light and energy on a subtle level.

2.    Atma Dhyana Yoga – Here, we meditate upon the inner Self. It is of three types:

a) Self-inquiry, b) Self-observation, c) Atmic Mantras

Self-inquiry (Atma vichara) is about tracing the source of the I-thought back to its origin in the spiritual heart (hridaya). In the Vedic view, this is tracing back our inner flame, the soul or Jiva, Agni, back to its original home and highest birth in the heart. This is a practice of constant wakefulness through which we become conscious in all three states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.

Self-observation involves contacting the solar light of consciousness and letting this effortlessly illumine all mental states through the power of the illumined intelligence (Dhi or Buddhi). One takes the attitude of a witness (sakshi-bhava) in all that one does.

Atmic Mantras include Vedic statements like “I am God,” Aham Brahmasmi, which should be meditated upon in the expanse of the quiescent mind. They are of use only for a disciple who is at a high level. Without preliminary self-purification they have little power. They should be done not with ordinary speech or mind but with the highest level of speech on the level of the Divine Self.

For Dhyana Yoga, one has to create the expanse of the Sun or truth consciousness. One must contact the Divine Self or Paramatman within one’s heart. The student meditates on the Prana-energized Mantras and uses them to move into deeper states of consciousness.

The space of light and the light of space have to open for this realization to proceed.

Samadhi Yoga: The Ultimate Yoga

All three Vedic Yogas lead to Samadhi, or the state of merging with the Divinity dwelling within us. The symbol of Samadhi Yoga is Soma, which is the Ananda or Amrita, the bliss or nectar of immortality. Letting the Soma or bliss energy flow is the basis of Samadhi Yoga, perhaps the highest of the Vedic Yogas. This demands the opening of all the nadis or channels of the subtle body through which the Amrita or Soma can flow. This requires proper development of all three Vedic Yogas.

Vedic Integral Yoga

Together, these 4 Vedic Yogas form an integral Yoga. They culminate in a complete or Purna Yoga. Usually, the Purna Yoga relates to Indra and to Prana but in the expanded sense as the energy of consciousness and insight on all levels. There is also a Purna Yoga of Agni called Vaishvanara Vidya (knowledge of the Cosmic Person), which proceeds through Self-inquiry.

There is also a Purna Yoga of the Sun, especially in the form of Vishnu or Savitar.

In this Purna Yoga the second world or the Atmosphere becomes the all world or the Cosmic Ocean, the ocean of the heart as the 4th world. This ocean is space and its waves are the worlds. The space within the heart contains all the universe and the Supreme Self beyond all manifestation. This leads to a slightly different formulation of the 3-fold Vedic Yoga.

1.    Mantra Yoga – Earth – Body – Mother

2.    Dhyana Yoga – Heaven – Head (Mind) – Father

3.    Samadhi Yoga – Waters – Heart (Soul) – Child

The main form of Purna Yoga is meditation on the heart, which involves tracing the origin of speech, Prana, and mind back to the Self in the heart, which is the main practice of Self-inquiry. Vedic texts call this search ‘gaveshana’ or 'anveshana’. It is not done simply by repeating, “Who am I?” It requires mantric and meditational control of speech, Prana, and mind and an examination of all their movements in all states of consciousness as powers of the Atman.

Vedic Yoga is very vast and has many sides. Its teachings are appropriate for each individual as per his or her level of development. Hence, it has no standardized instruction. Each individual needs to be treated differently.