Playing with the Winds:
The Place of Yoga in the Vaisnava Movement of Sankaradeva of Assam
Keywords:
Sankaradeva, Assamese Vaiṣṇavism, yoga, bhakti, Five Poets of Orissa, hagiography, Bhakti-ratnākara, Pātañjala Yoga, haṭha yoga, Tantric practiceAbstract
The article "Playing with the Winds: The Place of Yoga in the Vaisnava Movement of Sankaradeva of Assam" by Phyllis Granoff examines how Sankaradeva’s Assamese Vaiṣṇava tradition diverged from contemporaneous devotional movements by rejecting yogic practices, particularly the esoteric breath-control and body-centered techniques embraced by the Five Poets of Orissa. Granoff highlights how Sankaradeva privileged scriptural devotion—especially through his Sanskrit-based Bhakti-ratnākara and vernacular dramas—over yogic self-discipline. Through analysis of hagiographies and textual traditions, the article underscores Sankaradeva’s theological critique of yogic methods as distractions from pure bhakti, shaping a distinctive non-yogic path to liberation within Assamese Vaiṣṇavism.
