Yoga’s battle… continues: Volume 2

Drinking for courage, forging ahead, stealing cattle, and humiliating losers

Patrick McCartney CC-By Attribution 4.0 International @yogascapesinjap DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/VDQKW

By “battle,” what I mean is the metaphorical battle over the narratives curated on behalf of Yoga. Often, the popular and official narratives that are shared and repeated grow in legitimacy, as time passes. Yet, it is often the case that instead of facts, factoids circulate. In some small way, these irregular posts intend to attenuate the -oids in the fact-…that is, the intention is to address factoids and separate them from the facts.

While it appears commonly held, there is a belief that “namas te” is somehow this ever present term found across the Vedic canon of texts. This does not seem to be the case. For instance, a quick scan of the following upaniṣads does not show any sign of namaste in the: Aitareyopaniṣad, Chandogya-Upanisad, Isa-Upanisad, Kathopaniṣad, Mandukya-Upanisad, Prasna-Upanisad, Sivasamkalpa-Upanisad.

There are 4 poems, below, which demonstrate both the earliest known meanings of “yoga” and “namaste.” Together, they demonstrate some of the moral economy at the centre of “yogic action.” This builds on from the previous Yoga’s Battle rant…