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Who Originated Yoga? - A Cultural Perspective.

Zahir Akram
Jul 17, 2023
4 min read

Updated: Sep 18, 2024

Who Originated Yoga? - A Cultural Perspective

Countless individuals around the globe have embraced the practice of yoga, but have you ever wondered about its origins? While it's easy to view yoga as merely a fitness regime, particularly in the West, its roots trace back to the fertile spiritual and philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent, weaving through layers of mythology, philosophy, and ancient wisdom.

Śhiva: The Adiyogi and First Teacher

Traditionally, the credit for planting the seed of yoga in human consciousness is given to Śhiva, also known as Adiyogi, signifying the primordial yogi. This is not just myth but a deeply embedded understanding in the yogic and tantric traditions. Śhiva, often seen as the embodiment of both chaos and order, carried within him the essence of enlightenment, but also the fire of destruction—a metaphor for the transformation yoga brings to those who practice it.

In the oldest stories, Śhiva did not initially teach this profound knowledge to anyone. His union with yoga was a deeply personal, solitary journey. Lost in ecstatic stillness, his presence on Mount Kailash was so powerful that it attracted celestial beings, sages, and gods alike. Yet it was Parvati, his eternal companion, who broke through his intense focus, seeing not just his wild, untamable nature, but the calm ocean of wisdom that lay beneath.

Parvati: The First Student

Although Śhiva was the pioneer in practising yoga, the first individual to receive his wisdom was his beloved Parvati. Drawn to his dynamic, ecstatic dance (tandava) and to the divine state of bliss he radiated, she found herself irresistibly pulled toward him. But Parvati's inquiry wasn't just personal; she understood the human plight and asked a question on behalf of all humanity: “How can we, ordinary beings, also experience this divine bliss?”

In his response, Śhiva outlined 112 methods for a human being to transcend to higher states of consciousness—what later became known as the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, a profound text on meditative practices. These methods, he said, encompassed the entire range of human experience, from breath and sensory perception to deep stillness. “For humans, there exist only 112 ways,” he stated, marking the beginning of a path that would be followed by yogis for millennia.

Śhiva: Symbol or Reality?

Understanding Śhiva as a person, as the first yogi, is no easy task, especially when his identity is steeped in myth and reverence as a Hindu deity. Yet, Śhiva may be less of a person in the historical sense and more of a symbol—a cosmic representation of the duality of existence. He embodies wisdom and chaos, life and death, the known and the unknowable. Interpreted in this way, Śhiva's yogic teachings become universal, transcending the bounds of culture and creed.

This is crucial because yoga, at its heart, is a spiritual pursuit, not tied to any one religion, but to the search for the divine within us all. While the scriptures have immortalized Śhiva in stories, his contribution to yoga extends beyond myth. Through him, the understanding that life can be both meditative and active—that chaos can yield wisdom—has become the foundation of the yogic path.

The Influence of Tantra and the Vijnanabhairava

Śhiva’s transmission of yoga to Parvati is also key to understanding yoga’s tantric roots. Far from the modern misconceptions of Tantra as purely sexual, it is a complex and rich spiritual tradition, one that views the body and the senses not as obstacles to enlightenment, but as vehicles to experience the divine. The Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, said to be a conversation between Śhiva and Parvati, offers a range of meditation techniques, many of which form the basis of modern yogic practices.

Here, we see Parvati not just as a devoted wife, but as a symbol of the seeker, the aspirant who yearns to understand and transcend. Her role in the story is critical. Without her questions, the teachings of yoga might never have been shared with humanity. Her curiosity sparked Śhiva's compassion, and their union is symbolic of the dance between the masculine and feminine energies within all of us—Shiva as stillness, Parvati as motion.

Yoga’s Path Through the Ages

While these origins are rooted in the symbolic, their influence has rippled through time. Śhiva left no written manual, but his teachings were passed down orally, morphing through centuries, surviving through the Vedic and Upanishadic traditions, before crystallizing in texts like Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

Patanjali’s work is often viewed as the definitive text on yoga in the West, focusing on the eight-limbed path. Yet, the wisdom of Śhiva, passed on to Parvati, is deeply embedded in its philosophy. This synthesis of meditation, breath control, and physical discipline has been carried through ancient lineages and adapted across cultures.

Honoring the First Yogi

Acknowledging Śhiva as the originator of yoga allows us to appreciate the depths of this ancient practice. Beyond the modern postures and fitness regimes, yoga is a path toward self-realization, a journey to understanding the nature of existence, just as Śhiva did in his own solitary meditations. His teachings, though often cloaked in myth, remain as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago.

Śhiva’s wisdom reminds us that yoga is not about physical prowess but about the union of body, mind, and spirit. Just as Parvati found herself transformed, today’s practitioners find their own journey through yoga leading them from ignorance to knowledge, from confusion to clarity. The reverence we offer to Śhiva is not just for his mythological status but for the timeless truths he shared with the world.

As we practice today, moving from pose to pose, breathing consciously, we do so under the shadow of Śhiva, the first yogi, whose wisdom continues to shape and transform us, millennia later.