Yoga and yogins in the second part of the Bhagavata Purana

The Bhāgavata-purāṇa's dominant version of yoga is theistic bhakti-yoga, a modification of Vedānta, Sāṁkhya, and Yoga teachings. When yoga other than bhakti is mentioned, polemical motifs appear. Yogins are depicted as able to communicate with non-human worlds while realizing the ultimate soteriological ideal. The text also describes yogic practice in supermundane realities and presents yoga not as a human creation but as an eternal cosmic archetype.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The article examines the yogic problematic, which has not yet become the subject of separate historical-philosophical research. All cases of using in the second part of the Bhagavata Purana words with the base yoga, other related terms and contexts are analyzed. It was found that the defining and dominant version of yoga in the text is its theistic version (bhakti-yoga), which is obviously a modification of the teachings of such philosophical schools as Vedānta, Sāṁkhya, and Yoga. In those cases in which it may be about yoga other than bhakti, polemical motifs appear in the work. Yogins are depicted as able to establish the necessary communication with other, non-human worlds, realizing at the same time the maximum possible for a person, the ultimate (i.e. soteriological) ideal. The Bhāgavata-purāṇa, reports not only about yoga and yogins in earthly conditions, but also about yogic practice in supermundane realities. Yoga, according to the Bhāgavata-purāṇa, appears not as a human creation, but as an eternal cosmic archetype.