Roots of Yoga (Penguin Classics)

Yoga is a trendy activity today and the authors affirm: “The global diffusion of yoga began at least a century and a half ago, since which time yoga has continued to be refracted through many new cultural prisms, such as New Age religion, psychology, sports science, biomedicine, and so on” (page ix). One, among many examples, is the proclamation of 21 June as the International Day of Yoga made two years ago by the United Nations.The authors have a long experience as dedicated yoga practitioners and have the most impeccable academic credentials for such an endeavor; both are senior scholars in oriental studies at the University of London. The book is addressed to the general public and is written in a clear language, but it is also a rich source of documentation that will be appreciated by scholars. The focus of the book is on the practical aspects of yoga and not on its philosophical or religious dimensions. The authors explain that yoga can be understood both as a practice and as the goal of that practice and they fully cover the two of them in the entire volume. They provide also the timeline of the most important selected texts and a glossary of the most common terms used in yoga."Roots of Yoga" is a comprehensive overview that covers such a vast subject in 11 chapters and a long introduction. It took several years of gestation. Each chapter is devoted to a particular subject (e.g. what is yoga, postures, breath control, the yogic body, mantras, and yogic powers) and is subdivided in relevant sections following the chronological order of the texts. Such a presentation introduces the reader to the selected translated texts, explaining their historical context, their influence in the cultural evolution of the Indian subcontinent, and their current relevance. This excellent survey is a major contribution to understand better the rich yoga tradition. The anthology includes a selection of 169 primary sources, which are listed with the complete references from the most authoritative editions; many of these texts have been neglected, considered lost, or have been poorly translated. The selected texts cover a wide timeline, from the Vedas (1500 BCE) to the 19th century CE. Many of them have been translated by the authors from Sanskrit, Pali, Avadhi, and Braj Bhasha; others are translations from Arabic, Chinese, Old Bengali, Kashmiri, Persian, Tibetan and Tamil sources. The successful collection of texts has been made possible because of the significant advances in historical and philological research on yoga made during the last three decades.The book is part of the Hatha Yoga Project, a research undertaking that has been funded by the European Research Council for several years with the purpose of producing critical and annotated translations of key texts; it is based at the School of Oriental and African Studies –SOAS, at the University of London and with the participation of other international centres. With their book, Mallinson and Singleton have made a significant contribution emphasizing the idea that yoga is not a static subject but that it has been evolving, adapting and mutating. Through multiple examples, they illustrate how yoga masters were true innovators and were successful in improving yoga practices while they also emphasize that their innovative views were bound to a proper orthodoxy.

My first reaction when I saw this new publication was, “Oh no, not another yoga book.” Once I received it and saw what was inside I realized I was very wrong. This may not be the best collection of yogic writings, but it is certainly one of the best. It is a worth-while piece in any collection, and a very good introduction into Yoga in all its many facets.Most of the translations in this book are from sources already found in English translation. Mallinson and Singleton however offer their own fresh, clear translations. Some of source material, even though other English translations exist, are either from obscure, hard-to-find, or out of print publications. Some of the translations appear to be from sources translated into English for the first time. All of the translations are expertly translated in clear modern English, yet faithful to key yogic concepts.Yoga is an expansive topic not limited to the approach in Ashtanga Yoga. Nor is yoga limited to the yoga of Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. With this in mind, this collection of writings is grouped with reference to the yoga found in the Mahabharata, and in Buddhist, tantric, and Nath writings, traditions and samhitas. The approach of yoga is differ in each of these traditions; Mallinson and Singleton do a good job in showing the nuances between schools of yoga. The chapters follow the general approach taken in the Yoga Sutras, but also include chapters on bandha (yogic locks) and the yogic body.The inclusion of writings by the Nath Siddhas are especially welcomed. The Naths were the spiritual ancestors to modern Hatha Yoga, a direct line leading to modern yoga as we now know it. The source material from this school of yoga is hard to find in English translation, let alone in any sort of publication.The translators have supplied an introduction and glossary. The introduction contains an enlightening history of yoga. There are copious notes and a bibliography. This collection in other words contains something for any type of reader, whether this is your first time in studying yoga, a general reader, or a specialist. All in all, a highly recommended collection.

It is dense but isn’t history? The yoga history has its roots in so many grounds. It also tells the story of a culture that I an not familiar with -I am a US citizen.I would not say that I enjoy reading it -I read at night, before bed!- but it is a necessary read for yoga students who want to take it to the next level, meditation and asana teachers. Well documented and organized.Side note: as a yoga teacher I found it useful and inspiring to theme my classes or understand what I am teaching :)

I am excited that the book came so quickly, but it arrived looking less than brand new. Fortunately, I'm not super picky about the condition of my books so long as they are readable, but it was a bit frustrating.

Awesome collection of excerpts from classical yoga works by many schools. Commentaries help guide the reader through the selection of texts by outlining the main points and differences. For any serious yoga student this is invaluable help. Well done, Jim and Marc !

There are so many yoga books out there and trust me, my wife probably has most of them. She was at an impasse in her studies and was starting to get frustrated with certain questions never being addressed. This book however blew her mind. It took her yoga research to a whole new level. She says its her new favorite yoga book.

My wife loves the book. She is a yoga therapist and seeks out the best books to read for her continuing education.

This book is very thorough. Somewhat above my head and the print is TINY. Definitely not for newbies to the sacred practice of yoga, but extremely in depth for those lookin to delve deep !

Die Indologie hat seit Erscheinen dieses Buches weiter Fortschritte gemacht. Dennoch ist Roots of Yoga ein Must Read für alle, die tiefer in Yoga einsteigen wollen. Den beiden Autoren gelingt es, die Yogakonzepte umfassend und historisch einzuordnen. Und auch darzulegen, dass sich der Yoga immer wieder verändert hat, je nach dem, welche Einflüsse zum Tragen kamen. Mit diesem Buch kann man sich selbst ein gutes Bild machen und ist nicht von den gängigen Halbwahrheiten der Yogaszene abhängig.Ein gutes Beispiel dazu ist das Kapitel über Kundalini, ich glaube, ab S.178. Hier wird mit Bezug auf die Handschriften dargelegt, wie unterschiedlich das Verständnis zu Kundalini war, und dass es in der Tat nicht die eine Vorstellung dazu gegeben hat.Es ist ein sehr sinnvolles und hilfreiches Nachschlagewerk und nach meiner Ansicht sollten sich Yogalehrerausbildungen mehr an diesen Wissensstand orientieren.

This is a great book if you have a keen interest in yoga. It’s a long researched work and gives you the details of origins interpreted from variations of the original texts.

James Mallinson is an Indologist and world renowned Sanskrit scholar. He is a Reader in Sanskrit and Yoga Studies at School of Oriental and African Studies, Univ of London.Mark Singleton is a scholar of yoga and Senior Research Fellow at same place.Mallinson on the book in an interview:The conventional history is that yoga begins with Patanjali in the fourth century CE. That’s what most practitioners of modern yoga learn. 95% of modern yoga is not from that.There's stuff on yoga earlier than that – Buddhist texts, Jain texts, some writing in the Mahabharata which has been almost entirely ignored, and some writing in the Upanishads (and even earlier Vedas from 1500 BCE - 'Roots of Yoga').Yoga was practiced in a wide range of traditions with many different viewpoints. They all agree that ‘yoga works’.There’s a passage I often quote from one ancient text, which says, ‘whether you are a brahman, an ascetic, a Buddhist, a Jain, or even an atheist, if you practice yoga assiduously, it will work, you will attain siddhi’ – that can be translated as success or magical powers.------------------------------------------------------Copying some passage from the 'Introduction' (the book is worth a buy just for the introduction itself):Over the last three decades there has been an enormous increase in the popularity of yoga around the world. The United Nations’ recent declaration of an International Day of Yoga is symbolic of yoga’s truly globalized status today. Along with this globalization, however, has come metamorphosis: yoga has adapted to social and cultural conditions often far removed from those of its birthplace, and in many regions has taken on a life of its own, independent of its Indian roots.In spite of yoga’s now global popularity (or perhaps, rather, because of it), a clear understanding of its historical contexts in South Asia, and the range of practices that it includes, is often lacking..Along with the virtual hegemony of a small number of posture-oriented systems in the recent global transmission of yoga, this has reinforced a relatively narrow and monochromatic vision of what yoga is and does, especially when viewed against the wide spectrum of practices presented in pre-modern texts.In some respects this book resembles a traditional Sanskrit 'nibandha' (scholarly compilation) in that it gathers together a wide variety of texts on a single topic. Unlike a 'nibandha', however, our approach does not have a sectarian religious orientation, and it will, we hope, be somewhat more accessible as a result. The material is drawn from more than a hundred texts, dating from about 1000 BCE to the nineteenth century, many of which are not well known.Although most of the passages translated here are from Sanskrit texts, there is also material from Tibetan, Arabic, Persian, Bengali, Tamil, Pali, Kashmiri, Old Marathi, Avadhi and Braj Bhasha (late-medieval precursors of Hindi) and English sources...The earliest known definition of yoga comes in the c. third-century BCE Kaṭha Upaniṣad, a dialogue between the boy Naciketas and Yama, the god of death.Drawing on an image familiar from the Vedic literature, but adapted to a doctrine of liberation, an analogy is drawn between living as a human being and riding a chariot.The body is the chariot itself, the self (ātman) is a rider in the chariot, the intellect (buddhi) is the charioteer, the mind (manas) is the reins, the senses (indriya) are the horses, and the sense objects (viṣaya) are the paths taken by the senses.If the senses are not brought under control, the result is rebirth. On the other hand, one who is able to control the senses by means of the mind, as a charioteer reins in his horses, is not reborn. He attains the highest state, which is identified as puruṣa, the indwelling person.The condition in which the senses are held still and one becomes undistracted is named yoga.[Above doesn't do any justice to the knowledge that the book has, those who are deeply interested in Yoga would find this book invaluable]

Consigliato per chi vuole avvicinarsi alla filosofia yoga. Spiega i fondamenti e le basi di questo stile di vita.

Le livre en soit est un régal, je l'ai acheté car je l'avais déjà lu auparavant. Par contre la livraison a été déplorable. Le livre, acheté comme neuf, a été livré en mauvais état comme montrent les photos. Soit la livraison n'a pas été bien gérée, soit le bouquin était très mal stocké.