Etymology and Meaning
Yoga derives from the Sanskrit root yuj (to join, yoke) — pointing to the union sought in spiritual practice: the union of the individual self with the Supreme Self, the union of action and intention, the joining of daily life with the sacred.
Four Classical Contexts
- Yoga as union (saṃyoga) — the jīvātman united with Paramātman in liberation (mukti)
- Yoga as discipline (kāyika, vācika, mānasa) — the disciplined use of body, speech, and mind in spiritual practice
- Yoga as a school — the Patañjali Yoga tradition of eight limbs (aṣṭāṅga-yoga)
- Yoga as path — the Bhagavad Gītā's three yogas (karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, bhakti-yoga)
Yoga in Sri Vaishnava Practice
Nāthamuni (the founder of the Sri Vaishnava ācariya succession) was a master of the aṣṭāṅga-yoga (aṣṭāṅga = eight-limbed) and used it to attain the mystical experience through which he received the Tiruvāymozhi. The Viṣṇu Purāṇa's Yoga system (attributed to Yājñavalkya and taught to Śāṇḍilya) is specifically a Nārāyaṇa-focused yoga.
Bhakti-Yoga as the Highest
In Rāmānuja's Gītā Bhāṣyam, bhakti-yoga — specifically the continuous, uninterrupted, loving meditation on Bhagavān as the ātman of all — is the highest yoga and the direct cause of liberation for those who have the capacity for it. For others, prapatti (a single act of surrender) is the immediate alternative.