Epic Yoga: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

The Mahåbhårata contains a number of passages relating to Yoga, in a broadly Vaishnava context. In particular, the two long books of the Mahåbhårata in which Bhîßma expounds his advice to Yudhisthira (the Såntiparvan and the AnuΩåsanaparvan) contain a substantial amount of teaching which can broadly be called philosophical, much of which is related to the later Såµkhya and Yoga systems, but these two books also include passages relating to a number of other approaches; these are mostly to be found in the third section of the Såntiparvan, called the Mokßadharmaparvan (12.168-353). In addition, there are similar passages elsewhere in the Mahå­bhårata, most obviously the Bhagavad-gîtå, but also the recapitulation of it that Krishna delivers to Arjuna after the battle (the
Anugîtå, 14.16-50), a passage attributed to the mythical sage Sanatsujåta (the Sanatsujåtîya, 5.43-45) and a few others. In contrast, neither Såµkhya nor Yoga occur in the Råmåyana.