Translating Transcendence: Cultural Transposition between Yoga and Sufism in the Mirror of Islam

Abstract

This article examines the intercultural and esoteric translation of yogic traditions into Islamic Sufism during the Indo-Arabic-Persianate encounter between the 10th and 17th centuries. Focusing on key texts such as the Amṛtakunda and its Arabic adaptation Ḥawḍ al-Ḥayāt, it investigates how yogic metaphysical concepts, ritual grammars, and somatic techniques were transposed into Sufi frameworks. Moving beyond notions of syncretism or mere borrowing, the study conceptualizes this process as “translating transcendence”—a dynamic re-inscription of Sanskrit terms like prāṇa, cakra, and kuṇḍalinī into Sufi concepts such as rūḥ, laṭāʾif, and nūr Muḥammadī. Employing manuscript analysis, comparative philology, and theories of embodied ritual, the article demonstrates how this translation unfolded through both textual transmission and lived practices, including breath control, posture, and the repetition of divine names. It argues that Islam did not simply absorb yogic traditions but refracted them through a Sufi cosmological lens, generating a new grammar of spiritual ascent. By situating this transformation within the broader intellectual history of Indo-Islamic mysticism, the article contributes to contemporary debates in translation theory, comparative religion, and the anthropology of esoteric traditions.

Keywords: Yoga, Sufism, Indo-Islamic encounters, cultural transposition, translation theory, mysticism, comparative religion, Sanskrit–Arabic texts, esotericism, embodiment