ABSTRACT
In this essay I survey not only the main passages on yoga in the Mahåbhårata (Mok‚adharma, Bhagavadg⁄tå and Sanatsujåt⁄ya) but also references to yoga more generally and I seek to place these in the context of the emergence of the Såm. khya and Yoga systems.1 Besides the more obviously philosophical passages, there are many more which incorporate elements which we can identify as Yoga or Såm. khya; even the Bh⁄‚mastavaråja (12.47), comprising Bh⁄‚ma’s dhyåna on Kr. ‚n. a, for example, is introduced by a question about which yoga he adopted. Various individuals are associated with such expositions of yoga; indeed, Vyåsa himself is the main teacher of yoga, as well as being once termed vyåso vogavidåm. varaª (12.26.4b) in a standardly formed epithet (cf., for example, vyåso vedavidåm. varaª at 15.38.19b). Yoga and yogins in fact occur quite widely in the Mahåbhårata in contexts which suggest a wider and to some extent different understanding of the terms than that found in classical yoga, while the older practice of tapas and that of yoga are often linked; I shall explore the reasons for and possible explanations of this feature, along with the actual terminology employed in the epic. It is, however, worth emphasizing at the start the prevalence in the Mahåbhårata of various other views, such as those which elevate kåla, daiva, svabhåva or the like to the status of supreme principle.
