Karma And Jnana Yoga In The Vedic Period

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The Vedic Period

The first traces of yoga date back to over 5,000 years ago, or 3,000 B.C, while the first written evidence of yoga was found in the Vedic Period. In this time period, spiritual texts were composed and named The Vedas. There are four of them and each have their own name: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Athana Veda (The Vedic Period). The Vedas were full of rituals and mantras that correlated with the term yoga. Yoga means discipline. The Vedic people relied on the teachings from these books as a guide on how to live their lives. The oldest yogic teachings can be found in The Vedas and are regarded as being rituals and ceremonies that try to inspire past one’s own mental boundaries (History of Yoga).

Pre- Classical Period
The Pre-Classical Period introduced spiritual writings called the Upanishads. The Upanishads contained more discussions of yoga than the Vedas (Being and Becoming). Karma and Jnana Yoga originated from this time period and were developed in the Upanishads (History of Yoga). Karma Yoga is described as being related to selfless actions. It li...

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