The word "yoga" is derived from the Sanskrit root word "yuj" which, depending upon the context, can have several different meanings. See here for a list of nearly 40 different meanings of the word "yoga" from the dictionary by Monier Williams (type the word "yoga" in the search box provided).

As you are perhaps aware that the most commonly understood meaning of yoga is "union". Most people would say that "yoga is the union of body, mind and soul". But, is that really the case?

Most of us who practice yoga follow the philosophy of yoga as given by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Let us try to understand the meaning of "yoga" in the context of Yoga Sutras. Patanjali defines yoga as  -‘yogash-chitta-vritti-nirodhah" which means that yoga is to still the mind’s fluctuations, which is termed as the state of ‘samadhi’. And the purpose of stilling the mind is to realize the non-connectedness between the soul (atman) and the material aspect of our being – body, mind and intellect. The word for this final state used in the yoga sutras is "kaivalya" which implies understanding that the soul is separate from the mind-body complex. In fact, Patanjanli clearly says that the main cause of our suffering is that we identify the soul with our mind and body. See sutras 2.23 thru 2.25 for more details. So, to reiterate, in the context of the yoga sutras, the word yoga does NOT mean union but in fact it means that we recognize the non-union of purusha (soul) and prakriti (body/mind etc.).

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which is one of the six ‘darshanas’ or Indian systems of philosophy, is a dualistic philosophy. Patanjali has taken some of the basic tenets from Samkhya and built the philosophy, psychology and methodology of yoga based on those Samkhya principles. The key principle there is the presence of two independent entities Purusha and Prakriti. In common parlance, Purusha can be termed the soul and Prakriti the material aspect of this creation which includes our body/mind complex. Since these two are separate and independent entities, there is no question of their union. In fact, the false identification of purusha with prakriti is the root cause of all human sufferings. As mentioned earlier, the goal of yoga is "kaivalyam" which is freedom of purusha from prakriti. I would like to emphasize that I am presenting the view which is based on the concepts in yoga sutras. 

As mentioned above, the word "yoga" has different meanings depending upon the context in which it is used. For example, in Bhagavad Gita, each of the 18 chapters has a name ending in "yoga". The first chapter, for example, is titled, "Arjuna-vishada-yoga" (Yoga of Arjun’s grief). In none of those 18 chapters, the word "yoga" is used in the meaning of "union". The terms Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga etc are used frequently in BG to indicate different approaches to life in pursuit of the final goal of liberation. 

In the Vedanta philosophy also, the concept is "oneness" not "union". Two of the most important statements in the Upanishads, called Mahavakyas (great sentences) are – "aham brahmasmi" ("I AM Brahman" and NOT "I am united with Brahman") and "tat tvam asi" ("you ARE that" and NOT "you are united with that"). In fact, in the Vedantic philosophy, all is ONE, termed ‘brahman’. When all is ONE, there is no question of UNION. When we talk of UNION, we are already talking of separation of two things which need to be united. In Vedanta, no such separation exists. 

To summarize, then, in the context of Yoga Sutras, the word "yoga" does NOT mean "union". The word "yoga" must be understood in the context in which it is used. We want to definitely stay away from blindly saying that "yoga is the union of body, mind and soul".

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please provide your comments below.

– by Kailasam

The Buddha diagnosed the symptoms of the Human Condition ( anxiety over birth, death, old age, and disease) and hypothesized that attachment was the cause. Sage Pathanjali pursues the diagnosis even further and proposes that the root cause is the lack of true knowledge ( agnanam). This lack is at the level of day to day life in the form of misapprehension of the true nature of the phenomenal universe and its activities as well as at the level of not knowing the true nature of our “Self”.

The antidote is, again, at two different levels; a) clearing the mind of biases and prejudices of all kinds to be able to reflect without distortion what is sensed. Ordinarily, we do not have unmediated access to the phenomenal world which includes ourselves. Our knowledge is based on processed and interpreted information. Until and unless the processing and interpreting is curbed, we can not know anything for what it is. b) The Truth and Its Operating Principle ( Satyam/Riti) which is at the core of the beginning, during, and the end of all can be approached and experienced by a clear mind and from that state of experiential knowledge one can become conscious of consciousness itself.

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