Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

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This is an article about the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. For general information on sutras, see Sutra. For a list of Hindu sutras, see List of sutras.

[edit] Introduction

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are one of the six darshanas of Hindu or Vedic schools and, alongside the Bhagavad Gita and Hatha Yoga Pradipika, are a milestone in the history of Yoga. The book is a set of 195 aphorisms (sutras), which are short, terse phrases designed to be easy to memorize. Though brief, the Yoga Sutras are an enormously influential work that is just as relevant for yoga philosophy and practice today as it was when it was written.

To understand the work's title, it is necessary to consider the meanings of its two component words. The Sanskrit word Yoga, as used by Patanjali, refers to a state of mind where thoughts and feelings are held in check. Sutra means "thread". This is a reference to the thread of a Japa mala, upon which (figuratively speaking) the yoga aphorisms that make up the work's content are strung like beads. For that reason the title is sometimes rendered in English as the Yoga Aphorisms.

The Padma Purana defines a sutra as "A sutra should have few alphabets (alpa-akshara), an unambiguous meaning, be full of essence (sara-yukta), said only after considering all arguments for and against it, infallible and without blemish."

Traditionally, the most prominent commentary is that of Vyasa, to whose work Vachaspati Misra has contributed an explanation of Vyasa's commentary.

[edit] Authorship

There is some confusion as to which Patanjali was the author of this book. Some have identified him with a grammarian by the same name, but the grammarian's dates do not match the age of the work as determined by the internal evidence. It is safe to assume that the Sutras were written somewhere between 1,700 and 2,200 years ago, although they may have existed long before that in unwritten form. Tradition has it that Patanjali is the compiler, but not author, of the Yoga Sutras. Before Patanjali wrote them down, they were learnt by memory and passed down from teacher to student through generations.

Nonetheless, Patanjali is a major figure among the great Hindu thinkers by any measure and, though not the father of yoga per se, he is certainly the father of Raja Yoga as its compiler.

According to legend, Patanjali is an incarnation of the serpent Ananta (Skt: endless), well known in Indian mythology as the thousand-headed naga who serves as a couch for Lord Vishnu and is also the guardian of the world's treasures. Desiring to teach yoga to the world, he is said to have fallen (pat) from heaven into the open palms (anjali) of a woman, hence the name Patanjali.

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[edit] Philosophical Roots and Influences

The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali are generally attributed by scholars to be written around 200 BCE or later. Scholars such as S.N. Dasgupta^[1], claim this is the same Patanjali who authored the Mahabhasya, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar. Other scholars like Hermann Jacobi^[2] believe that there was another Patanjali who has written the work around the 5th c. C.E or later. The Sutras are built on a foundation of Samkhya philosophy and the Bhagavad Gita. Its division into its own version of an Eight limbs of Yoga is reminiscent of Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path and inclusion of Brahmaviharas (Yoga Sutra 1:33) indicate Buddhist influence^[3].

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali prescribes adherence to eight "limbs" or steps (the sum of which constitute "Ashtanga Yoga", the title of the second chapter) to quiet one's mind and merge with the infinite. These eight limbs not only systematized conventional moral principles espoused by the Bhagavad Gita, but elucidated the practice of Raja Yoga in a more detailed manner.

For their part, the Yoga Sutras form the theoretical and philosophical basis of all Raja yoga. It can still today be considered the most organized and complete definition of the Raja Yoga discipline. Moreover, the "eight-limbed" path espoused by Patanjali has formed the foundation for much of Tantra Yoga (a Hindu deific, Shiva-Shakti yoga system) and Vajrayana Buddhism (Buddhist Tantra Yoga) that came after Raja Yoga.

The Yoga Sutras not only provides yoga with a thorough and consistent philosophical basis, but in the process, also clarifies many important esoteric concepts (like karma), common to all traditions of Indian thought.

[edit] The Eight Limbs of Raja Yoga

The eight "limbs" or steps are: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. A number of commentators break these eight steps into two categories. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, and Pratyahara comprise the first category. The second category, called Samyama is comprised of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. The division between the two categories exists because in latter three mentioned steps there is no cognizance whereas in the first five steps cognizance exists.

Patanjali divided his Yoga Sutras into 4 chapters or books (Sanskrit pada), containing in all 195 aphorisms, divided as follows:

• Samadhi Pada (51 sutras)

• Sadhana Pada (55 sutras)

• Vibhuti Pada (55 sutras)

• Kaivalya Pada (34 sutras)

[edit] See also

• Abhyasa
• Pranava yoga

[edit] References

1. ^ Dasgupta, Surendranath. Yoga-As Philosophy and Religion Port Washington: Kennikat Press, 1924
2. ^ Jacobi considers the Yoga Sûtras later than 450 A.D.but if we adopt Péri's view that Vasubandhu, Asanga's brother, lived from about 280-360, the fact that they imply a knowledge of the Vijnânavâda need not make them much later than 300 A.D. It is noticeable that both Asanga and the Yoga Sûtras employ the word dharma-megha.
3. ^ For works on the Buddhist influence on the Yoga Sutras: Eliade, M. Le Yoga, Immortalité et Liberté, Payot, 1954. and Miller Stoler, Barbara. Yoga Discipline of Freedom. The Yoga Sutra attributed to Patanjali. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995

• Master E.K., The Yoga of Patanjali Kulapathi Book Trust ISBN 81-85943-05-2

[edit] External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Yoga Sutras

• Internet Archive of Yoga Sutras translations - Translations in over 35 languages
• Patanjali Yoga Sutras English translation (Astrojyoti.com)
• Yogah Chitta Vritti Nirodah,a page dedicated to Patanjali with an English translation of the Yoga Sutras and a section on Raja Yoga practice
• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (translation by Bon Giovanni)
• Yoga Sutras word-for-word translation