Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali is
a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga -
195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according
to other scholars including BKS Iyengar). The Yoga Sutra was
compiled sometime between 500 BC and AD400 by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesized and
organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions. The Yoga
Sūtra of Patañjali was the most translated ancient Indian text in the
medieval era, having been translated into about forty Indian languages and two
non-Indian languages: Old Javanese and Arabic. The text fell into relative
obscurity for nearly 700 years from the 12th to 19th century, and made a
comeback in late 19th century due to the efforts of Swami Vivekananda, the Theosophical Society and
others. It gained prominence again as a comeback classic in the 20th century
Before the 20th century, history indicates
that the medieval Indian yoga scene was dominated by the various other texts
such as the Bhagavad Gita and
the Yoga Vasistha,
texts attributed to Yajnavalkya and Hiranyagarbha, as well as literature on hatha yoga, tantric yoa and Pashupata Shaivism yoga
rather than the Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali.
Yoga tradition holds the YogaSūtra
of Patañjali to be one of the foundational texts of classical Yoga philosophy. However, the
appropriation - and misappropriation - of the Yoga Sutras and
its influence on later systematizations of yoga has been questioned by scholars
such as David Gordon White, but reaffirmed by others such
as James Mallinson.
Modern scholars of yoga such as Philipp A.
Maas and Mallinson consider the Bhasya commentary on the Sutras to be
Patanjali's own, and the Sutras to be his summary of older accounts of yoga.
The combined document is thus considered to be a single work, the Pātañjalayogaśāstra.
Author and dating
Author
The colophons of manuscripts of the Yoga
Sūtras attribute the work to Patanjali. The identity of this Patañjali
has been the subject of academic debate because an author of the same name is
credited with the authorship of the classic text on Sanskrit grammar
named Mahābhāṣya that
is firmly datable to the second century BC. Yet the two works are
completely different in subject matter and in the details of language, grammar
and vocabulary, as was compellingly pointed out long ago by Louis Renou. Furthermore,
before the time of Bhoja (11th century),
no known text states that the authors were the same.
Dating
Philipp A. Maas assessed Patañjali's Pātañjalayogaśāstra's
date to be about AD 400, based on synchronisms between its arguments and those
of Vasubandhu, on tracing the history of the
commentaries on it published in the first millennium AD, on the opinions of
earlier Sanskrit commentators, on the testimony of manuscript colophons and on
a review of extant literature. This dating for the Pātañjalayogaśāstra was
proposed as early as 1914 by Woods and has been accepted widely by
academic scholars of the history of Indian philosophical thought.
Edwin Bryant, on the other hand, surveyed the
major commentators in his translation of the Yoga Sūtras. He
observed that "Most scholars date the text shortly after the turn of the
Common Era (circa first to second century), but that it has been placed as
early as several centuries before that."Bryant concluded that "A
number of scholars have dated the Yoga Sūtras as late as the
fourth or fifth century AD, but these arguments have all been challenged. ...
All such arguments [for a late date] are problematic."
Michele Desmarais summarized a wide variety
of dates assigned to Yogasutra, ranging from 500 BC to 3rd century AD, noting
that there is a paucity of evidence for any certainty. She stated the text may
have been composed at an earlier date given conflicting theories on how to date
it, but latter dates are more commonly accepted by scholars.
Compilation
The Yoga Sutras are a
composite of various traditions. The levels of samādhi taught in the text
resemble the Buddhist jhanas. According
to Feuerstein, the Yoga Sutras are a condensation of two
different traditions, namely "eight limb yoga" (aṣṭāṅga yoga) and
action yoga (Kriya yoga). The kriya yoga part
is contained in chapter 1, chapter 2 sutras 1-27,
chapter 3 except sutra 54, and chapter 4. The
"eight limb yoga" is described in chapter 2 sutras 28–55, and chapter
3 sutras 3 and 54.
According to Maas, Patañjali's composition
was entitled Pātañjalayogaśāstra ("The Treatise on Yoga
according to Patañjali") and consisted of both Sūtras and Bhāṣya. According
to Wujastyk, referencing Maas, Patanjali integrated yoga from older traditions
in Pātañjalayogaśāstra, and added his own explanatory passages to
create the unified work that, since AD 1100, has been considered the work of
two people. Together the compilation of Patanjali's sutras and the
Vyasabhasya, is called Pātañjalayogaśāstra.
According to Maas, this means that the
earliest commentary on the Yoga Sūtras, the Bhāṣya,
that has commonly been ascribed to some unknown later author Vyāsa (the
editor), was Patañjali's own work.
Contents
Patañjali divided his Yoga Sutras into
four chapters or books (Sanskrit Pada), containing in all 196
aphorisms, divided as follows:
·
Samadhi
Pada (51 sutras). Samadhi refers to a state of direct and
reliable perception (pramāṇa) where the yogi's self-identity is
absorbed into pure consciousness, collapsing the categories of witness,
witnessing, and witnessed. Samadhi is the main technique the yogi learns by
which to dive into the depths of the mind to achieve Kaivalya (liberation).
The author describes yoga and then the nature and the means of attaining samādhi.
·
This
chapter contains the famous definitional verse: "Yogaś
citta-vritti-nirodhaḥ" ("Yoga is the restraint of
fluctuations/patterns of consciousness").
·
Sadhana
Pada (55 sutras). Sadhana is the Sanskrit word for
"practice" or "discipline". Here the author outlines two
systems of Yoga: Kriyā Yoga and Ashtanga
Yoga (Eightfold or Eightlimbed Yoga).
·
Kriyā Yoga in the Yoga Sūtras is the practice of three of
the Niyamas of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga:
1. tapas -
austerity
2. svādhyaya -
self-study of the scriptures
3. iśvara praṇidhana – devotion to god or pure consciousness
·
Aṣṭānga Yoga is the yoga of eight limbs:
1. Yama -
restraints or ethics of behaviour
2. Niyama -
observances
3. Āsana -
physical postures
4. Prāṇāyāma -
control of the prana (breath)
5. Pratyahara -
withdrawal of the senses
6. Dhāraṇa -
concentration
7. Dhyāna -
meditation
8. Samādhi -
absorption
·
Vibhuti
Pada (56 sutras). Vibhuti is the
Sanskrit word for "power" or "manifestation". 'Supra-normal
powers' (Sanskrit: siddhi) are acquired by
the practice of yoga. Combined simultaneous practice of Dhāraṇā, Dhyana and Samādhi is referred to as Samyama, and is considered a tool of achieving
various perfections, or Siddhis. The text warns
(III.38) that these powers can become an obstacle to the yogi who seeks
liberation.
·
Kaivalya
Pada (34 sutras). Kaivalya literally translates to
"isolation", but as used in the Sutras stands for
emancipation or liberation and is used where other texts often employ the
term moksha (liberation). The Kaivalya Pada
describes the process of liberation and the reality of the transcendental ego.
Purpose of yoga]
A statue of Patañjali practicing dhyana at Patanjali Yogpeeth
Patanjali begins his treatise by stating
the purpose of his book in the first sutra, followed by defining the word
"yoga" in his second sutra of Book 1:
योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥२॥
yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
— Yoga Sutras 1.
This terse definition hinges on the meaning
of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga
is the inhibition (nirodhaḥ) of the modifications (vṛtti) of the
mind (citta)". Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as
"Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from taking various
forms (Vrittis)."Bryant states that, to Patanjali, "Yoga
essentially consists of meditative practices culminating in attaining a state
of consciousness free from all modes of active or discursive thought, and of
eventually attaining a state where consciousness is unaware of any object
external to itself, that is, is only aware of its own nature as consciousness
unmixed with any other object."Where, "yogaś
citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ" is (lit.)"yoga,mastery
envisioned-unforeseen-confluence" or "the mastery of yoga, the
confluence of the envisioned and of the unforeseen".
Ashtanga, the eight components of yoga
Patanjali defines yoga as having eight
components (अष्टाङ्ग aṣṭ āṅga, "eight limbs"):
"The eight limbs of yoga are yama (abstinences), niyama (observances),
asana (yoga postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal of
the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi
(absorption)."
1. Yamas
Yamas are ethical vows in the Yogic
tradition and can be thought of as moral imperatives. The five yamas listed
by Patañjali in Yogasūtra 2.30
are:
Ahiṃsā (अहिंसा): Nonviolence, non-harming other living
beings through actions and speech
1. Satya (सत्य):
truthfulness, non-falsehood
2. Asteya (अस्तेय):
non-stealing
3. Brahmacarya (ब्रह्मचर्य):
chastity, marital fidelity or sexual restraint
4. Aparigraha (अपरिग्रह):
Non-greed, non-grasping, non-possessiveness
The commentaries on these teachings of
Patanjali state how and why each of the above self restraints help in the
personal growth of an individual. For example, in verse II.35, Patanjali states
that the virtue of nonviolence and
non-injury to others (Ahimsa) leads to the abandonment
of enmity, a state that leads the yogi to the perfection of inner and outer
amity with everyone, everything.
In Sutra 2.31, Patanjali calls the
Yamas Mahavratam, which means a Great Vow. Patanjali states that
practice of the Yamas is universal and it should not be limited by class,
place, time or circumstances.
2. Niyama
The second component of Patanjali's Yoga
path is called niyama, which includes virtuous habits, behaviors and
observances (the "dos"). Sadhana Pada Verse 32 lists the niyamas
as:
1. Shaucha (शौच): purity,
clearness of mind, speech and body
2. Santosha (संतोष):
contentment, acceptance of others, acceptance of one's circumstances as they
are in order to get past or change them, optimism for self
3. Tapas (तपस्):
literally translates to fire or heat. But in yogic
context it means persistence, perseverance, austerity
4. Svadhyaya (स्वाध्याय): Self-study, self-reflection,
introspection of self's thoughts, speeches and actions, study of scriptures
5. Ishvarapranidhana (ईश्वरप्रणिधान):
contemplation of the Ishvara (God/Supreme Being, Brahman, True Self, Unchanging Reality)
3. Āsana
Patanjali begins discussion of Āsana (आसन, meditation posture) by defining it in verse 46
of Book 2, as follows,
स्थिरसुखमासनम् ॥४६॥
sthira sukham asanam॥46॥
Translation 1: An asana is what is steady and pleasant.
Translation 2: Motionless and Agreeable form (of staying) is Asana (yoga
posture).
— Yoga Sutras II.46
Asana is thus a (meditation) posture that one can hold
for a period of time, staying relaxed, steady, comfortable and motionless.
Patanjali does not list any specific asana, except the terse
suggestion, "posture one can hold with comfort and motionlessness". Āraṇya
translates verse II.47 as, "asanas are perfected over time by relaxation
of effort with meditation on the infinite"; this combination and practice
stops the quivering of body.
The Bhasya commentary
attached to the Sutras, now thought to be by Patanjali himself, suggests
twelve seated meditation postures: Padmasana (lotus), Virasana (hero), Bhadrasana (glorious), Svastikasana (lucky mark), Dandasana (staff), Sopasrayasana
(supported), Paryankasana (bedstead), Krauncha-nishadasana (seated heron),
Hastanishadasana (seated elephant), Ushtranishadasana (seated camel), Samasansthanasana
(evenly balanced) and Sthirasukhasana (any motionless posture that is in
accordance with one's pleasure).
4. Prānāyāma
Prāṇāyāma is made out of two Sanskrit
words prāṇa (प्राण, breath) and āyāma (आयाम,
restraining, extending, stretching).
After a desired posture has been achieved,
verses II.49 through II.51 recommend the next limb of yoga, prāṇāyāma,
which is the practice of consciously regulating breath (inhalation and
exhalation). This is done in several ways, inhaling and then suspending
exhalation for a period, exhaling and then suspending inhalation for a period,
slowing the inhalation and exhalation, consciously changing the time/length of
breath (deep, short breathing).
5. Pratyāhāra
Pratyāhāra is a combination of two Sanskrit
words prati- (the prefix प्रति-, "against" or
"contra") and āhāra (आहार, "food,diet or intake")
Pratyahara means not taking any input or
any information from the sense organs. It is a process of retracting the
sensory experience from external objects. It is a step of self extraction and
abstraction. Pratyahara is not consciously closing one's eyes to the sensory
world, it is consciously closing one's mind processes to the sensory world.
Pratyahara empowers one to stop being controlled by the external world, fetch
one's attention to seek self-knowledge and experience the freedom innate in
one's inner world.
Pratyahara marks the transition of yoga
experience from first four limbs that perfect external forms to last three
limbs that perfect inner state, from outside to inside, from outer sphere of
body to inner sphere of spirit.
6. Dhāraṇā
Dharana (Sanskrit: धारणा) means concentration, introspective focus and
one-pointedness of mind. The root of word is dhṛ (धृ), which
has a meaning of "to hold, maintain, keep".
Dharana as the sixth limb of yoga, is
holding one's mind onto a particular inner state, subject or topic of one's
mind. The mind is fixed on a mantra, or one's breath/navel/tip of
tongue/any place, or an object one wants to observe, or a concept/idea in one's
mind. Fixing the mind means one-pointed focus, without drifting of mind,
and without jumping from one topic to another.
7. Dhyāna
Dhyana (Sanskrit: ध्यान) literally means "contemplation, reflection"
and "profound, abstract meditation".
Dhyana is contemplating, reflecting on
whatever Dharana has focused on. If in the sixth limb of yoga
one focused on a personal deity, Dhyana is its contemplation. If the
concentration was on one object, Dhyana is non-judgmental, non-presumptuous
observation of that object. If the focus was on a concept/idea, Dhyana is
contemplating that concept/idea in all its aspects, forms and consequences.
Dhyana is uninterrupted train of thought, current of cognition, flow of awareness.
Dhyana is integrally related to Dharana,
one leads to other. Dharana is a state of mind, Dhyana the process of mind.
Dhyana is distinct from Dharana in that the meditator becomes actively engaged
with its focus. Patanjali defines contemplation (Dhyana) as the mind
process, where the mind is fixed on something, and then there is "a course
of uniform modification of knowledge".
Adi Shankara, in his commentary on Yoga
Sutras, distinguishes Dhyana from Dharana, by explaining Dhyana as the yoga
state when there is only the "stream of continuous thought about the
object, uninterrupted by other thoughts of a different kind for the same
object"; Dharana, states Shankara, is focussed on one object, but aware of
its many aspects and ideas about the same object. Shankara gives the example of
a yogin in a state of dharana on morning sun may be aware of its brilliance,
color and orbit; the yogin in dhyana state "contemplates on sun's orbit
alone for example, without being interrupted by its color, brilliance or other
related ideas", according to Trevor Leggett.
8. Samādhi
Samadhi (Sanskrit: समाधि) literally means "putting together, joining,
combining with, union, harmonious whole, trance".
Samadhi is oneness with the subject of
meditation. There is no distinction, during the eighth limb of yoga, between
the actor of meditation, the act of meditation and the subject of meditation.
Samadhi is that spiritual state when one's mind is so absorbed in whatever it
is contemplating on, that the mind loses the sense of its own identity. The
thinker, the thought process and the thought fuse with the subject of thought.
There is only oneness, samadhi.
All three (Dhyana, Dharana and Samadhi)
practised on a particular object or subject is called Sanyam by Patanjali.
Discussion
Samadhi
Samadhi is of two kinds, with and
without support of an object of meditation:
·
Samprajnata
Samadhi, also called savikalpa samadhi and Sabija
Samadhi,note
meditation with support of an object.
Samprajnata samadhi is associated with deliberation, reflection,
bliss, and I-am-ness.
The first two associations, deliberation and reflection, form the basis of
the various types of samapatti:
·
Savitarka, "deliberative": The
citta is concentrated upon a gross object of meditation, an object with a
manifest appearance that is perceptible to our senses, such as a flame of
a lamp, the tip of the nose, or the image of a deity.] Conceptualization
(vikalpa) still takes place, in the form of perception, the word and the
knowledge of the object of meditation. When the deliberation is ended this
is called nirvitarka samadhi.
·
Savichara, "reflective": the
citta is concentrated upon a subtle object of meditation, which is not
percpetible to the senses, but arrived at through inference, such as the
senses, the process of cognition, the mind, the I-am-ness, the chakras,
the inner-breath (prana), the nadis, the intellect (buddhi). The
stilling of reflection is called nirvichara samapatti.
The last two associations, sananda samadhi and sasmita,
are respectively a state of meditation, and an object of savichara
samadhi:
·
Sananda Samadhi, ananda, "bliss":
this state emphasizes the still subtler state of bliss in meditation;
·
Sasmita: the citta is concentrated upon the
sense or feeling of "I-am-ness".
·
Asamprajnata
Samadhi, also called Nirvikalpa Samadhi and Nirbija
Samadhi: meditation without an object, which leads to knowledge
of purusha or consciousness, the
subtlest element.
Ananda and asmita
According to Ian
Whicher, the status of ananda and asmita in
Patanjali's system is a matter of dispute. According to Maehle, the first
two constituents, deliberation and reflection, form the basis of the various
types of samapatti. According to Feuerstein,
"Joy" and "I-am-ness"
[...] must be regarded as accompanying phenomena of every cognitive [ecstasy].
The explanations of the classical commentators on this point appear to be
foreign to Patanjali's hierarchy of [ecstatic] states, and it seems unlikely
that ananda and asmita should constitute
independent levels of samadhi.
Ian Whicher disagrees
with Feuerstein, seeing ananda and asmita as
later stages of nirvicara-samapatti. Whicher refers to Vācaspati Miśra (AD
900-980), the founder of the Bhāmatī Advaita Vedanta who proposes eight types
of samapatti:
·
Savitarka-samāpatti and Nirvitarka-samāpatti, both with
gross objects as objects of support;
·
Savicāra-samāpatti and Nirvicāra-samāpatti, both with
subtle objects as objects of support;
·
Sānanda-samāpatti and Nirānanda-samāpatti, both with the
sense organs as objects of support
·
Sāsmitā-samāpatti and Nirasmitā-samāpatti, both with the
sense of "I-am-ness" as support.
Vijnana Bikshu (ca. 1550-1600) proposes a
six-stage model, explicitly rejecting Vacaspati Misra's model. Vijnana Bikshu
regards joy (ananda) as a state that arises when the mind passes beyond
the vicara stage. Whicher agrees that ananda is not a
separate stage of samadhi. According to Whicher, Patanjali's own view
seems to be that nirvicara-samadhi is the highest form of
cognitive ecstasy.
Epistemology
The epistemology in Patanjali's system of
Yoga, like the Sāmkhya school of Hinduism, relies on three of six Pramanas, as the means of gaining reliable
knowledge. Theseincluded Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference)and Sabda
(Āptavacana, word/testimony of reliable sources).
Patanjali's system,
like the Samkhya school, considers Pratyakṣa or Dṛṣṭam (direct
sense perception), Anumāna (inference), and Śabda or Āptavacana (verbal
testimony of the sages or shāstras) to be the only valid means of knowledge
or Pramana. Unlike few other schools of
Hinduism such as Advaita Vedanta,
Yoga did not adopt the following three Pramanas: Upamāṇa (comparison
and analogy), Arthāpatti (postulation, deriving from
circumstances) or Anupalabdi (non-perception,
negative/cognitive proof).
Metaphysics
The metaphysics of
Patanjali is built on the same dualist foundation
as the Samkhya school The universe is conceptualized as of two realities
in Samkhya-Yoga schools: Puruṣa (consciousness)
and prakriti (matter). It considers
consciousness and matter, self/soul and body as two different realities. Jiva (a
living being) is considered as a state in which puruṣa is
bonded to prakriti in some form, in various permutations and
combinations of various elements, senses, feelings, activity and mind. During
the state of imbalance or ignorance, one of more constituents overwhelm the
others, creating a form of bondage. The end of this bondage is called
liberation, or moksha by both
Yoga and Samkhya school of Hinduism. The ethical theory of Yoga school is
based on Yamas and Niyama, as well as elements of the Guṇa theory of Samkhya.
Patanjali adopts the
theory of Guṇa from Samkhya. Guṇas theory
states that three gunas (innate tendency, attributes) are
present in different proportions in all beings, and these three are sattva guna (goodness, constructive,
harmonious), rajas guna (passion, active,
confused), and tamas guna
(darkness, destructive, chaotic). These three are present in every being
but in different proportions, and the fundamental nature and psychological
dispositions of beings is a consequence of the relative proportion of these
three gunas. When sattva guna predominates an
individual, the qualities of lucidity, wisdom, constructiveness, harmony, and
peacefulness manifest themselves; when rajas is predominant, attachment,
craving, passion-driven activity and restlessness manifest; and when tamas
predominates in an individual, ignorance, delusion, destructive behavior,
lethargy, and suffering manifests. The guṇas theory underpins the philosophy of
mind in Yoga school of Hinduism.
Soteriology
The fusion of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi is Sanyama –
the path to Kaivalya in Yoga school.
Samkhya school
suggests that jnana (knowledge) is a sufficient means to moksha, Patanjali
suggests that systematic techniques/practice (personal experimentation)
combined with Samkhya's approach to knowledge is the path to moksha. Patanjali
holds that ignorance is the cause of suffering and saṁsāra. Liberation, like many other
schools, is removal of ignorance, which is achieved through discriminative
discernment, knowledge and self-awareness. The Yoga Sūtras is
Yoga school's treatise on how to accomplish this. Samādhi is
the state where ecstatic awareness develops, state Yoga scholars, and this is
how one starts the process of becoming aware of Purusa and true Self. It
further claims that this awareness is eternal, and once this awareness is
achieved, a person cannot ever cease being aware; this is moksha, the soteriological goal in Hinduism.
Book 3 of Patanjali's Yogasutra is
dedicated to soteriological aspects of yoga philosophy. Patanjali begins by
stating that all limbs of yoga are necessary foundation to reaching the state
of self-awareness, freedom and liberation. He refers to the three last limbs of
yoga as sanyama, in verses III.4 to III.5, and calls it the
technology for "discerning principle" and mastery of citta and
self-knowledge. In verse III.12, the Yogasutras state that this discerning
principle then empowers one to perfect sant (tranquility)
and udita (reason) in one's mind and spirit, through
intentness. This leads to one's ability to discern the difference between sabda (word), artha (meaning)
and pratyaya (understanding), and this ability empowers one to
compassionately comprehend the cry/speech of all living beings. Once a
yogi reaches this state of samyama, it leads to unusual powers,
intuition, self-knowledge, freedoms and kaivalya, the soteriological goal of the yogi.
God
Patanjali differs from
the closely related non-theistic/atheistic Samkhya school by incorporating what
some scholars have called a "personal, yet essentially inactive,
deity" or "personal god" (Ishvara). Hindu scholars such as
the 8th century Adi Sankara, as well
as many modern academic scholars describe Yoga school as "Samkya school
with God."
The Yogasutras
of Patanjali use the term Isvara in 11 verses: I.23
through I.29, II.1, II.2, II.32 and II.45. Ever since the Sutra's release,
Hindu scholars have debated and commented on who or what is Isvara?
These commentaries range from defining Isvara from a
"personal god" to "special self" to "anything that has
spiritual significance to the individual". Whicher states that while
Patanjali's terse verses can be interpreted both as theistic or non-theistic,
Patanjali's concept of Isvara in Yoga philosophy functions as
a "transformative catalyst or guide for aiding the yogin on the path to
spiritual emancipation".
Patanjali
defines Isvara (Sanskrit: ईश्वर) in verse 24 of Book 1, as "a special
Self (पुरुषविशेष, puruṣa-viśeṣa)",
क्लेशकर्मविपाकाशयैरपरामृष्टः] पुरुषविशेष ईश्वरः ॥२४॥
— Yoga Sutras I.24
This sutra adds the
characteristics of Isvara as that special Self which is
unaffected (अपरामृष्ट, aparamrsta) by one's obstacles/hardships (क्लेश, klesha),
one's circumstances created by past or one's current actions (कर्म, karma),
one's life fruits (विपाक, vipâka), and one's psychological
dispositions/intentions (आशय, ashaya).
Philosophical roots
and influences
The Yoga
Sutras incorporated the teachings of many other Indian philosophical
systems prevalent at the time. Samkhya and Yoga are thought to be two of the
many schools of philosophy that originated over the centuries that had common
roots in the Vedic cultures and traditions of India. The orthodox Hindu
philosophies of Samkhya, Yoga, Vedanta, as well as the non-orthodox Nastika systems of Jainism and Buddhism
can all be seen as representing one stream of spiritual activity in ancient
India, in contrast to the Bhakti traditions
and Vedic ritualism which were also prevalent
at the same time. The Vedanta-Sramana traditions, iconolatry and Vedic
rituals can be identified with the Jnana marga, Bhakti marga and the Karma marga
respectively that are outlined in the Bhagavad Gita.
Hinduism
The Yoga
Sutras are built on a foundation of Samkhya philosophy, an orthodox (Astika) and atheistic Hindu system of dualism,
and are generally seen as the practice while Samkhya is the theory. The
influence of Samkhya is so pervasive in the Sutras that the historian Surendranath Dasgupta went
so far as to deny independent categorization to Patañjali's system, preferring
to refer to it as Patanjala Samkhya, similar to the position taken
by the Jain writer Haribhadra in his
commentary on Yoga. Patañjali's Yoga
Sutras accept the Samkhya's division of the world and phenomena into
twenty-five tattvas or principles, of which one is Purusha meaning
Self or consciousness, the others being Prakriti (primal
nature), Buddhi (intellect or will), Ahamkara (ego), Manas (mind),
five buddhindriyas (sensory capabilities), five karmendriyas (action-capabilities)
and ten elements. The second part of the Sutras, the Sadhana, also
summarizes the Samkhya perspectives about all seen activity lying within the
realm of the three Gunas of Sattva (illumination), Rajas (passion)
and Tamas (lethargy).
The Yoga
Sutras diverge from early Samkhya by the addition of the principle
of Isvara or God, as exemplified by Sutra
1.23 - "Iśvara pranidhãnãt vã", which is interpreted to mean that
surrender to God is one way to liberation. Isvara is defined
here as "a distinct Consciousness, untouched by afflictions, actions,
fruitions or their residue". In the sutras, it is suggested that
devotion to Isvara, represented by the mystical syllable Om may
be the most efficient method of achieving the goal of Yoga. This syllable
Om is a central element of Hinduism, appearing in all the Upanishads, including the earliest Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads, and expounded
upon in the Mandukya Upanishad.
Another divergence
from Samkhya is that while the Samkhya holds that knowledge is the means to
liberation, Patañjali's Yoga insists on the methods of concentration and active
striving. The aim of Yoga is to free the individual from the clutches of the
matter, and considers intellectual knowledge alone to be inadequate for the
purpose – which is different from the position taken by Samkhya.
However, the essential
similarities between the Samkhya and Patañjali's system remained even after the
addition of the Isvara principle, with Max Müller noting that "the two
philosophies were in popular parlance distinguished from each other as Samkhya
with and Samkhya without a Lord...." The Bhagavad Gita, one of the chief scriptures of
Hinduism, is considered to be based on this synthetic Samkhya-Yoga system.
The Yoga
Sūtras of Patañjali is a foundational text of the Yoga philosophy school of Hinduism.
Buddhism
Scholars have
presented different viewpoints on the relationship between
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and the teachings in Buddhist texts.
Karel Werner writes, "Patanjali's
system is unthinkable without Buddhism. As far as its terminology goes there is
much in the Yoga Sutras that reminds us of Buddhist
formulations from the Pāli Canon and even more so from
the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma and from Sautrāntika." He adds, "upon
the whole it [Patanjali's Yoga sutras] is more elaborate and summarizes the
actual technique of Yoga procedures more exactly than the Buddhist
exposition". However, states Werner, "The Buddha was the founder
of his system, even though, admittedly, he made use of some of the experiences
he had previously gained under various Yoga teachers of his time. Patanjali is
neither a founder nor a leader of a new movement. (...) The ingenuity of his
[Patanjali's] achievement lies in the thoroughness and completeness with which
all the important stages of Yoga practice and mental experiences are included
in his scheme, and in their systematic presentation in a succinct treatise." Werner
adds that the ideas of existence and the focus on "Self, Soul" in
Patajali's Yogasutra are different from the "no Self" precepts of
Buddhism.
According to David Gordon White,
the language of the Yoga Sutras is often closer to
"Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, the Sanskrit of the early Mahayana Buddhist
scriptures, than to the classical Sanskrit of other Hindu scriptures". He
adds, historical evidence suggests that yoga philosophical systems influenced,
and were influenced by, other philosophical systems in India such as early
Buddhism and Jainism. White mentions controversies about the Yoga Sutras. A
significant minority of scholars, notes White for example, believes that Vyasa
lived a few centuries after Patanjali and his "Hindu-izing"
commentary subverted Yoga Sutras' original "Buddhist" teachings;
while the majority scholarly view disagrees with this view.
Other scholars state
there are differences between the teachings in the Yoga Sutras and those in
Buddhist texts. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras for example, states Michele
Desmarias, accept the concept of a Self or soul behind the operational mind,
while Buddhists do not accept such a Self exists. The role of Self is central
to the idea of Saṃyoga, Chitta, Self-awareness and other
concepts in Chapters 2 through 4 of the Yoga sutras, according to Desmarias.
According to Barbara
Miller, the difference between Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and teachings in
Buddhist texts is, "In Samkhya and Yoga, as in Buddhism and Jainism, the
most salient characteristic of existence is duhkha or
suffering. According to Buddhism, the origin of suffering is desire; according
to Yoga, it is the connection between the observer (Purusha) with the observed
(Prakrti). In both systems, the origin of duhkha is ignorance.
There are also similarities in the means of deliverance recommended by the two
systems. In Buddhism, the aspirant is asked to follow the eightfold path, which
culminates in right meditation or samadhi. In Yoga, the aspirant is
asked to follow a somewhat different eight fold path, which also culminates
in samadhi. But the aim of yoga meditation is conceived in terms
that a Buddhist would not accept: as the separation of an eternal conscious
self from unconscious matter. The purpose of Patanjali's Yoga is to bring about
this separation by means of understanding, devotion and practice."
Robert Thurman writes that Patañjali was
influenced by the success of the Buddhist monastic system to formulate his
own matrix for the version of thought he considered orthodox. The Yoga
Sutra, especially the fourth segment of Kaivalya Pada, contains several
polemical verses critical of Buddhism, particularly the Vijñānavāda school of
Vasubandhu.
Jainism
The five yamas or the
constraints of the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali bear an uncanny
resemblance to the five major vows of Jainism,
indicating influence of Jainism. Three other
teachings closely associated with Jainism also make an appearance in Yoga: the
doctrine of "colors" in karma (lesya);
the Telos of
isolation (kevala in Jainism and Kaivalyam in Yoga);
and the practice of nonviolence (ahimsa), though nonviolence (ahimsa) made its
first appearance in Indian philosophy-cum-religion in the Hindu texts
known as the Upanishads [the Chāndogya Upaniṣad,
dated to the 8th or 7th century BCE, one of the oldest Upanishads, has the earliest evidence for the
use of the word Ahimsa in the sense familiar in Hinduism (a
code of conduct). It bars violence against "all creatures" (sarvabhuta)
and the practitioner of Ahimsa is said to escape from the cycle of metempsychosis/reincarnation (CU 8.15.1). It also
names Ahimsa as one of five essential virtues].
Translations and
commentaries
The Yoga
Sutras of Patanjali was the most translated ancient Indian text in the
medieval era, having been translated into about forty Indian languages and two
non-Indian languages: Old Javanese and Arabic.
·
In early
11th century, the Persian scholar Al Biruni (973-1050
CE) visited India, lived with Hindus for 16 years, and with their help
translated several significant Sanskrit works into Arabic and Persian
languages. One of these was Patanjali's Yogasutras. His translation
included the text and a hitherto unknown Sanskrit commentary.Al Biruni's
translation preserved many of the core themes of Yoga philosophy of Hinduism,
but certain sutras and analytical commentaries were restated making it more
consistent with Islamic monotheistic theology. Al Biruni's version of Yoga
Sutras reached Persia and Arabian peninsula by about 1050 AD.
·
The Yoga
Sutras of Patanjali was translated into Old Javanese by Indonesian
Hindus, and the text was called Dharma Patanjala. The
surviving text has been dated to about 1450 CE, however it is unclear if this
text is a copy of an earlier translation and whether other translations existed
in Indonesia. This translation shares ideas found in other Indian translations
particularly those in the Śaiva traditions,
and some in Al Biruni translation, but it is also significantly different in
parts from the 11th century Arabic translation. The most complete copy of
the Dharma Patañjala manuscript is now held at the Staatsbibliothek in
Berlin.
By the early 21st
century, scholars had located 37 editions of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras published
between 1874 and 1992, and 82 different manuscripts, from various locations in
India, Nepal, Pakistan, Europe and the United States, many in Sanskrit, some in
different North and South Indian languages. The numerous historical
variants show that the text was a living document and it was changed as these
manuscripts were transmitted or translated, with some ancient and medieval
manuscripts marked with "corrections" in the margin of the pages and
elsewhere by unknown authors and for unclear reasons. This has made the
chronological study of Yoga school of philosophy a difficult task.
Many commentaries have
been written on the Yoga Sutras.
Yogabhashya,
separate or integral
The Yogabhashya is
a commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, traditionally
attributed to the legendary Vedic sage Vyasa who
is said to have composed the Mahabharata. This commentary is indispensable
for the understanding of the aphoristic and terse Yoga sutras, and the study of
the sutras has always referred to the Yogabhashya. Some
scholars see Vyasa as a later 4th or 5th century AD commentator (as opposed to
the ancient mythic figure).
Other scholars hold
that both texts, the sutras and the commentary were written by one person.
According to Philipp A. Maas, based on a study of the original manuscripts,
Patañjali's composition was entitled Pātañjalayogaśāstra ("The
Treatise on Yoga according to Patañjali") and consisted of both Sūtras and Bhāṣya.
This means that the Bhāṣya was in fact Patañjali's own work. The
practice of writing a set of aphorisms with the author's own explanation was
well known at the time of Patañjali, as for example in Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (that,
incidentally, Patañjali quotes). These research findings change the historical
understanding of the yoga tradition, since they allow us to take the Bhāṣya as
Patañjali's very own explanation of the meaning of his somewhat cryptic sūtras.
The Yogabhashya states
that 'yoga' in the Yoga Sutras has the meaning of 'samadhi'.
Another commentary (the Vivarana) by a certain Shankara, confirms
the interpretation of yogah samadhih (YBh. I.1): 'yoga' in
Patañjali's sutra has the meaning of 'integration'. This Shankara may or
may not have been the famed Vedantic scholar Adi Shankara (8th or 9th century).
Scholarly opinion is still open on this issue.
Medieval commentaries
Medieval commentaries
on the Yoga sutras include:
·
Vācaspati Miśra (AD
900–980) who composed the commentary Tattvavaiśāradī.
·
Bhoja
Raja's Raja-Martanda, 11th century.
·
Vijnanabhiksu's Yogabhashyavarttika ("Explanation
of the Commentary on the Yoga Sutras" of Vyasa). The writer was a
Vaishnava philosopher and exegete who tried to harmonize Samkhya and Vedanta
and held the Bhedabheda view.
·
Ramananda
Sarasvati's Yogamani-Prabha (16th century).
Modern translations and commentary
Countless commentaries
on the Yoga Sutras are available today. The Sutras,
with commentaries, have been published by a number of successful teachers of
Yoga, as well as by academicians seeking to clarify issues of textual
variation. There are also other versions from a variety of sources available on
the Internet. The many versions display a
wide variation, particularly in translation. The text has not been submitted in
its entirety to any rigorous textual analysis, and the contextual meaning of
many of the Sanskrit words and phrases remains a matter of some dispute. Modern
translations and interpretations include:
·
1907: Ganganath Jha's Yoga Sutras with
the Yogabhashya attributed to Vyasa into English in its
entirety. With notes drawn from Vācaspati Miśra's Tattvavaiśāradī amongst
other important texts in the Yoga commentarial tradition.
·
1896: Swami Vivekananda, Raja Yoga provides translation and an
in-depth explanation of Yoga Sutra.
·
1912: Charles
Johnston Dublin University: The Yoga Sutras of
Patanjali: The Book of the Spiritual Man.
·
1953: Swami Prabhavananda, Patanjali
Yoga Sutras, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, India.
·
1961: I. K. Taimni, The Science of Yoga commentary
with Sutras in Sanskrit and translation and
commentary in English.
·
1963: Swami
Hariharananda Aranya's Bhasvati.
·
1978: Swami Satchidananda, The
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Integral Yoga,
Yogaville.
·
1989: Georg Feuerstein, The Yoga-Sûtra of
Patanjali: A New Translation and Commentary, Inner Traditions
International; Rochester, Vermont.
·
1993: B. K. S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga
Sutras of Patañjali. Harper Collins.
·
1996: Barbara Stoler Miller, The
Yoga Sutras Attributed to Patanjali; "Yoga – Discipline of Freedom. University
of California Press, Berkeley.
·
2003: Chip
Hartranft, The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation with
Commentary, Shambhala Classics, Boulder, Colorado.
·
2009: Edwin F. Bryant's The
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary. North
Point Press, New York.
·
2013: Swami Kriyananda, Demystifying
Patanjali: The Yoga Sutras - The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda. Crystal
Clarity Publishers, Nevada City.
Influence
Indian traditions
Patañjali was not the
first to write about yoga. Much about yoga is written in the Mokṣadharma
section of the epic Mahābhārata The members of the Jaina
faith had their own, different literature on yoga, and Buddhist yoga stems
from pre-Patanjali sources.
Some of the major commentaries
on the Yoga Sutras were written between the ninth and
sixteenth century. After the twelfth century, the school started to
decline, and commentaries on Patanjali's Yoga philosophy were few. By the
sixteenth century Patanjali's Yoga philosophy had virtually become extinct. The
manuscript of the Yoga Sutras was no longer copied, since few
read the text, and it was seldom taught.
Popular interest arose
in the 19th century, when the practice of yoga according to the Yoga
Sutras became regarded as the science of yoga and the "supreme
contemplative path to self-realization" by Swami Vivekananda, following Helena Blavatsky, president of the Theosophical Society.
Western interest
According to David Gordon White,
the popularity of the Yoga Sutras is recent,
"miraculously rehabilitated" by Swami Vivekananda after having been
ignored for seven centuries. It was with the rediscovery by a British
Orientalist in the early 1800s that wider interest in the Yoga Sutras arose
in the West. It has become a celebrated text in the West, states White,
because of "Big Yoga – the corporate yoga subculture".
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