The Yoga Upanisad; Text with Commentar & English Translation (NEW)

There are twenty Yoga Upanishads which deal with the theory and practice of Yogic techniques. Traditionally, each of the Yoga Upanishad is attached with a particular Veda merely on the basis of the benedictory verse present in the beginning. The following table gives an idea about the association of the Upanishad with the sacred Veda. The composition of these is stated to have continued till the eighteenth century. In these texts several types of yoga are elaborated such as Mantra yoga, Laya yoga, Hatha yoga, Raja yoga and Samadhi yoga and other. The most striking feature of the Yoga Upanishads is that most of these Upanishad texts describe the Hatha yoga practices as means to attain the absolute Brahman, the Brahman without a second, the Brahman without any adjuncts or attributes. Though each of the Upanishads does not deal with all the necessary topics of Yoga, all of these important topics of Yoga are however dealt with in these texts at large. Some of these Upanishads though branded as Yoga texts do not directly deal with the matter related to Yoga. Some of these discuss matter of Advaita Vedanta also.