Origin of Yoga (Vol 1) - Part 2

Vedic Origin

Vedas state that "Hiranyagarbha yogasyananyahvaktapuratanah”, meaning no one before Hiranyagarbha has talked about yoga before. The exponent of yoga started from the golden womb, that which is preserved and was never discussed or talked about before.

In the Matsya Purana one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature - Sloka (2.25-30) gives an account of initial creation. After Mahāprālaya, the great dissolution of the Universe, there was darkness everywhere. Everything was in a state of sleep. There was nothing, either moving or static. Then Swayambhu, the self-manifested being arose, which is a form beyond senses. It created the primordial waters first and established the seed of creation into it.

The seed turned into a golden womb, Hiraṇyagarbha. Then Swayambhu (the self-manifested being) entered the egg. This would infer a self-manifested awareness or pure consciousness. When brahman or pure consciousness entered this womb of light, Purusha and Prakriti emerged giving birth to the gunas or the nature of reality/universe.

We understand from these texts that Hiranyagarbha is equated as pure consciousness, and was the first to present yoga.

To be continued......