Yoga in the Rigveda

Yoga was first used in the Rigveda, one of the oldest sacred texts of ancient Indian literature. It was compiled between 1500 and 1200 BC and is the earliest of the four Vedas. We know for a fact that Yoga exists for at least 5000 years, so before being mentioned in the Vedas, the practice of Yoga has already existed for 1500 years. Historically and anthropologically, we are unable to discover the seed, but through the Vedas we can get close.

There are not many verses that directly mention Yoga in the Rigveda, but when it´s used, they refer to Yoga in a broad and symbolic sense. Today, Yoga is mostly referred as an organized and practical system, with many methods and purposes. Previously, it was not seen as practical and was related to a unified essence between the individual and the divine. Please note that the expression “divine” can be mentioned in many ways. The word per se does not hold the essence. In ancient times, sometimes it was never spoken or written because the transliteration of this concept could never get close to its essence. What is important to understand is the embodiment of the unity and not its intellect understanding.

Understanding the notion of Yoga as a unified state is not easy. We have yoga predetermined as technical and methodical. In the Vedic Yoga they give many lights of Yoga as a unified state of being as we will see. Understanding the Vedic Yoga is understanding the root of Yoga and can get you a step further in your journey of Yoga.

Jñānena prajñām surucam cetasi yogam krnvamsāyāmahe sudhiyo yuñjānah.

“We unite with wisdom, intelligence, illumination, and understanding, engaging in yoga with our consciousness.”

Yoge sadhyasvasyo yugeva yuktah sādhanam dhyānacitramuñcatuh.

“May you, with yoga as your companion, attain the desired goal; may your meditative practices manifest in various colourful forms.”

Samānasya manah sahacittayoh yogam bhāgamapadyatam.

“May the minds and thoughts of all be united in yoga and in harmony; may they all share in the divine union.”

Please note that there are many different translations. All individuals will describe it through their own eyes and experience, so all will be different and unique. This does not mean that one is wrong and the other right. There are different angles to the same object.

On this verse they are quite explicit on the notion of Yoga as a state of union inside the consciousness mind: “We unite with wisdom, intelligence, illumination, and understanding, engaging in yoga with our consciousness.”. In other words, the unification of different states of mind creates Yoga (state of union) in the consciousness. The mind ultimately divides reality. The emotions feel reality, the mind rationalizes reality, the eyes generate the image of reality. In our dreams we experience a different form of reality, so where does reality exist? This question is answered in Yoga. In the unification of all expressions of the consciousness we can engage with reality as it is.

On the second verse we can see how meditation, the practice to understand the depths of the human mind and beyond, is so relevant to the state of Yoga. “May you, well equipped with Yoga”, manifest colourful meditations. May you, in states of union, obtain deep meditations, which will bring colour and many forms – geometries, used to describe reality in yoga and many other ancient civilizations.

The understanding of colours and geometry in states of union is a deep subject. As human beings we perceive specific colours and three-dimensional forms. We know for fact that the human eyes only perceive a fraction of the wavelength of the entire electromagnetic frequency spectrum. Colour is a result of the interaction of light, eyes, and brain and our brain can’t decode or transcribe all frequencies of light. Basically, we only see a portion of colours that are existent.

Many Yogis and truth seekers have experienced the visualization of different colours in their meditation, describing the colours as indescribable. The same has happened with forms. Sacred geometry is a field that study the significance of the different shapes that have been transcribed by ancient civilizations, religions, philosophies, and cultures, including Yoga. There is a specific discipline of Yoga dedicated to geometry called Yantra. Some say that these geometries are three-dimensional representations of extradimensional realities experienced through the practices of meditation. Mathematical theories and physics propose the existence of additional dimensions and through Yoga it is said that you can experience reality beyond tridimensionality.

On this last verse they go deep in the knowledge of the unification of all in Yoga. Explaining how everyone is unified in Yoga, as one – divine union, bringing forward that we as individuals are a part of all, the divine. “May the minds and thoughts of all be united in yoga”. May everyone experience yoga and be united “in harmony”.  “May they all share in the divine union.”