English Does Weber’s notion of salvation goods, along with the connected one of the religious market, apply to the modern history of yoga? The case study chosen here (the yoga of Pattabhi Jois) clearly shows that these notions highlight many aspects of the expansion of yoga into a global market product. However, the notion of salvation goods resists the new hermeneutical situation of encounter and has to be adapted to the present situation of religious “patchwork”. The notion of religious market lacks depth to describe the various understandings and appropriations of yoga in precise historical situations. Other aspects of the current global status of yoga may be highlighted by applying the concept of pilgrimage. French La notion de bien de salut que nous lègue Max Weber et la notion de marché religieux qui en découle peuvent-elles s'appliquer à l'histoire moderne du yoga? L'étude de cas que nous consacrons au yoga de Pattabhi Jois montre que ces notions éclairent bien certains aspects de l'expansion du yoga en tant que produit d'un marché globalisé. Cependant la notion de bien de salut résiste à une réflexion de type herméneutique sur les processus de rencontres et doit être adaptée à la situation contemporaine, ou` les religions se présentent comme des ensembles composites. La notion de marché religieux ne permet pas d'expliquer les diverses compréhensions et appropriations du yoga dans des situations historiques précises. D'autres aspects de la situation du yoga sont mieux explicités si on prend le concept de pèlerinage comme point de référence.

By looking at the itineraries of specific individual Indian and Swiss actors going back and forth between India and Switzerland during the first half of twentieth century, the book explores the history of cultural relations between both countries. The itineraries studied here are those of Frieda Hauswirth, who searched for ways to contribute to the Indian freedom struggle; of Eva Lombard and Elisabeth Petitpierre, who went to India in order to practice medicine and save souls; of Jakob Urner, a missionary who developed an elective affinity for the Lingayat religious literature; of Selvaraj Yesudian, who teamed up with the esotericist Elisabeth Haich, and taught in Switzerland an idiosyncratic conception of yoga; and of Lizelle Reymond who published a widely read book recounting her encounter with the samkhya master Sri Anirvan.

Sant Sundardās (1596–1689) wrote in the beginning of 17th century a versified exposition on yoga, a text entitled

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