Who is known as the father of yoga? Know history and other details

The practice of yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline that has helped and benefited people across the world to maintain a state of physical and mental well-being. Originally, yoga was introduced in India and later was practiced all over the globe. India has many yoga gurus, yoga teachers, who have been travelling the world to teach the art of yoga to millions of people. But did you know, according to religious writings, Lord Shiva was the father of Yoga? Read ahead for more details.  

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"Lord Shiva was the father of Yoga"

Lord Shiva is known as Adiyogi Shiva, i.e., the first yogi. According to the scriptures and its teachings, in the yogi culture, Lord Shiva is considered as the Adiyogi (the first yogi), Lord Shiva was the father of Yoga. It was penned about 15 thousand years ago that Shiva reached to the stage of complete wisdom. As the Hindu writings suggest, Lord Shiva went to the Himalayas and because of his happiness, he started dancing. He danced so wildly that he became very fast or still. People were amazed to see that and wanted to learn the secret of this happiness. 

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People gathered but Shiva cared the least and didn't stop. However, in the end, only seven people waited.  These were the saptrishis, the seven sages. These saptrishis asked Shiva to teach them about his enlightenment and how to achieve such a pleasurable ecstasy state. But Shiva didn’t respond as he was in complete stillness and unaware of the outer world. As time and years passed, yoga was developed and it resulted in modern yoga. Modern yoga includes a range of techniques, asanas (postures) and meditation derived from some of the philosophies, teachings and practices of the yoga school. 

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Father of Modern Yoga

According to various speculations, Patanjali is known as the father of modern yoga. The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali are an aphoristic collection of Sanskrit sutras on the theory and practice of ancient yoga. These commentaries mention following twelve postures but provide no details: Padma asana, Veera asana, Bhadra asana, svastika asana, danda asana, sopasraya asana, paryanka asana, kraunchanishada asana, hastanishada asana, ushtranishada asana, samasansathana asana and sthirasukha asana. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali has been a celebrated text for some who practice modern yoga. 

In some parts of India, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya is also considered as the father of modern yoga. He was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer, and scholar. Krishnamacharya is widely regarded as one of the most influential yoga teachers of the 20th century. 

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