[German Version]

The noun Yoga derives from the Sanskrit root yuj, “harness”; in religious and philosophical contexts, it is understood in the sense of harnessing the forces that lead to a spiritual goal such as redemption (IX; X) and (esp. in the case of Indian authors) in the sense of “connection” (with the divine). The earliest evidence of Yoga appears in the later Upaniṣads and epics (beginning c. 5th cent. bce). The Yogasūtras of Patañjali (c. 4th cent. ce) belong to the six systems of Indian philosophy; they summarize various Yoga systems (including Buddhist) on the…