The Language of Yoga
The distinction between “Vedic Sanskrit,” which is anything but pure and precise, is different to the later, refined Classical Sanskrit, which itself has multiple layers. This is the reason why scholars can show how various sections of texts were likely composed and inserted later, as the language used is identifiably different.
If the reader is curious, here is some of the original “language of Yoga,” which one could apply some sort of intersectional critical deconstructionist literary theory.
Below are portions of three Vedic poems, the translations are provided by Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton. The first excerpt is taken from the eleventh poem of the second “book” of the Ṛgveda. It clearly shows the virtues extolled in getting drunk, excited, and tending to a clear culture of “toxic masculinity,” which anticipates accumulating wealth, power, and prestige through success in battle.
