Yogasutras

The Yogasutras are a revision of the Yoga doctrine, written in Sanskrit around the 3rd or 2nd centuries BCE. Authorship of the Yogasutras is ascribed to Patanjali. Patanjali's yoga is sometimes called Raja Yoga, or the Royal Path. The Yoga Sutras are divided into four books (Sanskrit pada), containing in all 195 aphorisms (sutras), divided as follows:

I. Samadhi Pada (51 sutras)

Samadhi refers to a blissful state where the yogi is absorbed into the One. The author describes yoga and then the means to attaining samadhi. This chapter contains the most famous verses: "Atha yoga anusasanam" ("Yoga begins with discipline") and "Yogas citta vritti nirodha" ("Yoga is control of citta vrittis" - i.e., thoughts and feelings).

II. Sadhana Pada (55 sutras)

Sadhana is the Sanskrit word for "practice". Here the author outlines two forms of Yoga: kriya yoga (action yoga) and ashtanga yoga (eightfold yoga).

Kriya yoga, sometimes called karma yoga, is reflected in the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, where Arjuna is encouraged to act without attachment to the results of action. It is the yoga of selfless action or as some have observed, of service.

Ashtanga ("eight-limbed") yoga consists of the following aspects:

1. *The five yama (abstentions; the word means "restraint"). These are also found in Jainism; Buddhism has a similarly-conceived list.

(1) Ahimsa (abstention from violence, himsa)

(2) Satya ("truth", abstention from lying)

(3) Asteya (abstention from theft)

(4) Brahmacharya (abstention from sexual activity)

(5) Aparigraha (abstention from possessions)

2. The five niyama ("observances"):

(1) Shaucha ("{purity")

(2) Santosha ("contentment")

(3) Tapas ("heat", i.e., austerities, self-mortification)

(4) Svadhyaya ("self-contemplation")

(5) Ishvarapranidhana "surrender to the Creator")

3. Asana ("seat"). The term which is now generally translated as "physical postures" originally referring to seated postures.

4. Pranayama (control of prana, the vital breath or "life force")

5. Pratyahara ("withdrawal" of the mind from the senses, or the senses from objects)

6. Dharana (concentration, i.e., fixing the attention on a single object)

7. Dhyana (meditation)

8. Samadhi (equipoise)

III. Vibhuti Pada (55 sutras)

Vibhuti is the Sanskrit word for "power" or "manifestation". This book describes the higher states of awareness and the techniques of yoga to attain them.

IV. Kaivalya Pada (34 sutras)

References

• Dasgupta, S.N. Hindu Mysticism. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd., 1977.
• Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree. Yoga: The Science of the Soul, Volume 1. Rajneeshpuram, Oregon: Rajneesh Foundation International, 1976.
• Dvivedi, M. N. The Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali'. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1980.