The Ancients – Origins of Yoga

Podcast: The Ancients (History Hit)
Host: Tristan Hughes
Guest: Dr. Jim Mallinson, Bowdoin Professor of Sanskrit, University of Oxford
Date: October 30, 2025

Overview

This episode explores the origins and development of yoga from its ancient Indian roots. Host Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Jim Mallinson, a leading Sanskritist and historian of yoga, to unpack the evidence for yoga’s earliest forms, its practitioners, and how its meanings and methods evolved over nearly two millennia. The discussion delves into textual, archaeological, and cultural sources, dispelling myths and highlighting yoga's complexity, diversity, and constant evolution.

Key Discussion Points

1. The True Age and Early Nature of Yoga

• Myth-Busting Yoga's Age:
  • Many claim yoga is 5,000–10,000 years old, but Dr. Mallinson asserts the earliest concrete evidence dates to roughly 1500 BCE, with more confidence from about 2500–3500 years ago.
    • Notable Quote:

      “People will tell you 5,000, even 10,000 or obviously dawn of time… The time we can start saying it with some confidence is about 1500 BC.”
      — Dr. Mallinson (03:57)

• Early Practitioners:
  • Yoga wasn’t a mass activity. It was largely practiced by ascetics: individuals who renounced normal society for religious ends, often undertaking harsh physical austerities.
    • Notable Quote:

      “If you really want to do the original physical yoga practices, you’re basically going to be harming your body.”
      — Dr. Mallinson (04:54)

• Differentiating from Modern Yoga:
  • Ancient yoga was not health or posture-focused as it is today but was ascetic, spiritual, and often extreme.

2. Sources for Yoga’s History

• Texts (08:08):
  • Vedas: Oldest Sanskrit texts (~1500 BCE), primarily hymns for rituals.
  • Upanishads: Later Vedic texts, more philosophical and introspective — first to discuss yoga in a recognizably modern sense.
  • Pali Canon: Early Buddhist texts—significant for yoga’s cross-pollination with Buddhism/Jainism.
• Material Culture:
  • Indus Valley Civilization (11:47):
    • Material remains and undeciphered script; “Pashupati Seal” once thought to show yoga posture, but evidence for ancient yoga practice is slim and debated.
      • Notable Quote:

        “It’s on the basis of these seals and nothing else that people will tell you that yoga is 5,000 years old and practiced in the Indus Valley civilization... it’s pretty flimsy evidence.”
        — Dr. Mallinson (15:54)

3. The Meaning and Early Evidence of “Yoga”

• Meaning of Yoga (17:15):
  • Sanskrit root yuj: to yoke or to concentrate.
  • Early meanings center around joining or harnessing (e.g., yoking horses), with implications for concentrating the mind or senses for spiritual practice.
  • Notable Metaphor: (33:44)
    • The chariot analogy (Katha Upanishad): body-as-chariot, senses-as-horses, self-as-charioteer, yoga-as-reins for control.
• Earliest Yogic Practices:
  • Ascetic practices: controlling breath, meditating, sometimes using substances (e.g. soma), and extreme physical austerities (standings for years, etc.).
    • Quote:

      “…by about the 5th century BCE… this body of ascetic practice is quite well developed and it still goes on today.”
      — Dr. Mallinson (21:16)

4. Cultural and Spiritual Context

• Vedic and Sramana Movements (25:31):
  • Rise of “Sramana” traditions (Buddhism, Jainism) around 5th century BCE in northeast India (Greater Magadha); emphasis on renunciation, karma, rebirth, and escaping the cycle of suffering.
  • Not only Hindus but Buddhists and Jains contributed to yogic philosophies and methods.
    • Quote:

      “From the start, really, yoga hasn’t been the preserve of one particular religious tradition.”
      — Dr. Mallinson (09:01)

  • Ascetic excess (e.g., fasting, plucking hair, standing/sitting for extreme durations) viewed as ways to burn karma and achieve liberation.

5. Key Texts and Milestones

• Upanishads (32:26):
  • Earliest texts to name yoga as a systematic discipline (not just a concept).
  • Katha Upanishad first to use “yoga” in a recognizable sense (ca. 3rd c. BCE): involves meditation, concentration, breath control.
• Epics – Ramayana & Mahabharata (35:47):
  • Stories of ascetic feats: standing on one leg, generating “tapas” (spiritual heat) for power or spiritual progress.
  • Bhagavad Gita (ca. 2nd c. BCE–2nd c. CE):
    • Revolutionary for democratizing yoga by allowing participation in yogic ideals without full renunciation.
    • Bhakti Yoga (yoga of devotion), Karma Yoga (yoga of action) become prominent.
    • Quote:

      “The ultimate form of doing Yoga is to do your birth given duty without regard to what happens, what the reward is.”
      — Dr. Mallinson (45:14)

• Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (49:33):
  • Composed ~400 CE, foundational for later yoga philosophy.
  • Codifies the “Eight Limbs” (Ashtanga Yoga):
    1. Yamas (ethical restraints)
    2. Niyamas (observances)
    3. Asana (posture — only meditation seats, not gymnastic movement)
    4. Pranayama (breath control)
    5. Pratyahara (sense withdrawal)
    6. Dharana (concentration)
    7. Dhyana (meditation)
    8. Samadhi (absorption, cessation of thought)
  • Comment on difficulty:

    “It has very little to do with what is practiced in yoga studios today… probably the hardest yoga text out there.”
    — Dr. Mallinson (52:16)

  • Draws on Buddhist and Jain traditions as well as Hindu.

6. Evolution through Antiquity

• Yoga Remained for Professionals (56:32):
  • Still primarily a practice for ascetic religious “professionals” (sadhus, renunciants) well into late antiquity (up to ~500 CE).
  • Entry of Tantra (ca. 5th century CE): brings more color, ritual, and opens up yoga slightly to broader groups, including some women.
• Key Transition Points:
  • “Body-positive” yoga (as we imagine modern postural yoga) only emerges from about the 11th century CE onward.
    • Quote:

      “…no need or point in trying to look for an original yoga, because I don’t think we’ll ever find one. And that’s such a fascinating thing to study.”
      — Dr. Mallinson (58:12)

Notable Quotes and Moments

• On the Evidence from Indus Valley:

  “It’s pretty flimsy evidence… you’ve got to explain a gap of 3,000 years.”
  — Dr. Mallinson (15:54)

• On Asceticism’s Rigors:

  “You’ll find sadhus in India, men who’ve been standing up for 20 years.”
  — Dr. Mallinson (17:17)

• On Democratization via the Bhagavad Gita:

  “Krishna very cleverly reworks… He makes it possible for Arjuna to fight the battle and still be doing yoga at the same time.”
  — Dr. Mallinson (45:00)

• On Patanjali and the Eight Limbs:

  “We kind of maybe… the core teaching for which it becomes most famous is the Ashtanga yoga practice.”
  — Dr. Mallinson (53:33)

Key Timestamps

• Yoga’s Age, Evidence & Early Meaning: 03:44–17:15
• The Indus Valley “Yogi” and Historiographical Myths: 11:47–16:11
• Roots in Vedic, Upanishadic, Sramana Traditions: 17:15–26:50
• Role of Asceticism, Yoga as Professional Practice: 32:26–41:19
• Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and Democratization: 41:19–47:37
• Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and their impact: 48:22–56:07
• End of Antiquity and the Dawn of Tantra: 56:07–57:26
• Evolving, Never-Static Nature of Yoga: 58:12–58:26

Memorable Moments

• The Chariot Metaphor’s First Use — (33:44):
  Dr. Mallinson’s break-down of the Katha Upanishad’s analogy linking yoga to the reins controlling the horses (senses) of a chariot.

• Alexander the Great Encounters Indian ‘Yogis’ — (39:01):
  Reference to Greek accounts of holy men (perhaps yogins) enduring harsh postures and sun exposure, revealing outside recognition of Indian praxis.

• Yoga’s Constant Evolution — (58:12):
  The episode’s close stresses that searching for yoga’s single, pure origin is a dead end — yoga has always changed form and meaning.

Summary Table: Evolution of Yoga through Antiquity

| Period | Key Source(s) | Nature of Yoga | Typical Practitioners | Main Practices | |-----------------------|---------------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------| | Vedic (~1500–800 BCE) | The Vedas | Early notions, no system | Priests, some ascetics | Hymns, ritual | | Upanishadic (~700–200 BCE) | Upanishads | Yoga as liberation, chariot metaphor | Ascetics, early monks | Meditation, breath control | | Sramana Period (~5th c BCE) | Early Buddhist/Jain texts | Renunciation, karma, liberation | Monks, sadhus, Jain/Buddhist ascetics | Extreme austerities, meditation | | Epic Period (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) | Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita | Yoga broadens (Bhakti, Karma Yoga) | Kings, warriors, some ascetics | Meditation, duty-fulfillment (karma), devotion (bhakti) | | Classical (c. 400 CE) | Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra | Systematized eightfold yoga | Ascetic “professionals” | Eight limbs: ethics, posture, breath, meditation, absorption |

Final Takeaway

The origins of yoga are layered, evolving, and complex, woven through strict asceticism, spiritual striving, and philosophical speculation. From Vedic chants to the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali, yoga changed, spread, and absorbed diversities. The ascetic extremes, metaphysical ambitions, and eventual opening to broader society all paved the way for later transformations. Dr. Mallinson’s central message: yoga has never been static or one thing, and its history is richer for it.

This summary covers the main content and insights of the episode, offering listeners a comprehensive guide to ancient yoga’s origins, context, and legacy.