YOGA AND UPANISHADS

PROF.N.V.C.SWAMY
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA YOGA ANUSANDHANA SAMSTHANA,
BANGALORE,
INDIA

Click Play button to Play Video

Abstract of Prof NVC Swamy's Keynote Address

Archaeological excavations in the several sites of the Saraswati Valley have provided enough data to overturn the popular western version of Indian history. According to western scholars, the Upanishadic literature and Yogic practices are post-buddhistic. But, archaeology and related disciplines indicate that both of them are as old as at least 5000 years. Under these circumstances it is high time that a proper study is made of these two philosophies to find out if they were contemporaneous. The first person to draw our attention to this need was Swami Vivekananda, who, on his last day on this earth, the fourth of July 1902, suggested to one of his disciples that it is high time one settled the issue whether the Vedic Rsis were aware of Hatha Yogic practices. This talk highlights this issue and produces arguments to show that Upanishads and Yoga were contemporaneous.