[Advaita-l] Re: yoga and vedanta

[Ramesh Murthy]

Namaste,

All the replies from Bhaskar, Tathagat, etc have only left me
thirsting for more!!

>From what I understand, the word "yoga" is used in 2 senses in the
Hindu scriptures:
1. As any spiritual discipline (jnAna yoga, bhakti yoga, etc)
2. As a reference to patanjali's darshana

Of course, in BG every chaper is referred to as a "yoga" but that
seems to be in broad conformity with the 1st usage above.

So here's my next round of questions:
1. In what sense is "yoga" used in the yoga-upanishads (dhyAnabindu,
yogacUDAmaNi, etc)

2. Swami Vivekananda's writings always mention 4 yoga-s: jnAna,
bhakti, karma and rAja. If rAja yoga is what is emphasised in the
yoga-sUtra and has since been absorbed into advaita vedAnta, then what
is its place with respect to jnAna, bhakti and karma yoga-s. Is jnAna
incompatible with karma but compatible with rAja and bhakti?

3. Or let me rephrase the question above - if jnAna, bhakti and karma
are reckoned as "parallel" paths, with varying degrees of
compatibility with each other, then is rAja another  "parallel" path
or is it "mixed up" with the other three? My own understanding so far
is that rAja is not merely compatible but an essential ingredient of
the other 3, especially jnAna. Is this understanding correct?

4. Regarding sankara's "sub-bhAshya" on the yoga-sUtra, I was
surprised to see in Tathagat's post that it is a "newly discovered
text". If this is so, what is the basis for our traditional
understanding of sankara's views on the yoga-darshana? The very fact
that the yoga-darshana was absorbed into advaita vedAnta is an
indication that sankara's views on the same were well understood by
our AcArya-s.

 
Hari Om
Ramesh